Every You, Every Me by David Levithan {Review}

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: September 2011
Source: Library

Evan is alone.
His best only friend, Ariel, is gone.
Evan is feels responsible.
And in her wake, Evan is left with nothing a conscience and never-ending insomnia.
But then, while walking to school one morning, Evan finds an envelope in his path. Inside is a photograph. Of nothing. Except the spot where he is standing.
The next day, Evan finds another envelope. In the exact same spot as before. Inside is another photograph. Of him.
Evan's not sure what to think. Is Ariel back? Are the photographs her way of tormenting him for reminding him of what he did to her? Or worse--has someone else found out what he did and is toying with him as punishment? Either way, he will not be able to sleep rest until he finds out who is responsible.
As the cryptic photos keep surfacing, Evan's paranoia amplifies, and the feeling that he never really knew Ariel at all starts to paralyze dominate his life thoughts. Will he uncover the truth before he loses his mind his grasp on reality?

Every You, Every Me surprised me, but in a good way. I'd never read a book with photographs before this one, at least, not a book where the photographs are an integral part of the story, so I had no idea what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying it.

Every You, Every Me should have been confusing. There are strikethroughs throughout the story of everything from Evan's thoughts to fake conversation. You would think that something like that may trip you up and having you rereading things just to make sure you know what's going on, but I never found myself confused. Evan's thoughts can also go from past to present with absolutely no transition at all, but it's written in such a way that you know exactly what's going on.

The thriller/mystery aspect was also done really well. As I was reading I had thoughts of what may have happened and what may be going on, but I could never say for sure until Levithan spelled it out for me. I love the subject this takes on. Not just the missing friend, but also the...well, I'll let you read to find that one out. It's not something I see very often in books and I'm pretty sure I've never personally read anything about it.

Final Thoughts: This was a good, quick read. It's definitely worth taking a look into if you've never read anything with photographs before. Heck, you should pick it up even if you think you hate books with photographs in them because, well, look at the author. Seriously though, Every You, Every Me exceeded all my expectations and had me flipping pages to find out what would happen next.

Pages: 245
Series: No
Rating: 4 stars