So last week I read the book Every Day, by David Levithan.

Ah…what a relief to read a book for pleasure. 

Lately, I’ve been reading self-help books (my Books to Read in April challenge was ALL self-help) and while they’ve been good reads and have entertained me somewhat, I miss fiction. I love fiction above all else.

So anyway, this was probably the first time (at least that I can remember) that I read a book AFTER I saw the movie. Last weekend I took a break from writing and blogging and scraping puke off the back of the toilet bowl lid, and just sat and watched a movie.

I have not done that for quite some time. 

I have a really difficult time choosing movies and I usually end up watching the same five movies over and over and over…
(13 Going on 30, The Notebook, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, When Harry Met Sally, Never Been Kissed…) 

Anyway. I generally read a book and then find out that there is a movie. I watch the movie and I usually hate the movie. Or at least, I don’t like the movie nearly as much as I like the book.

I think the only two exceptions to this generalization have been The Notebook and 13 Reasons Why (which was not actually a movie, but a series…just in case you’ve been living under a rock and didn’t know this). Both of these movies were infinitely better than the book. That reminds me…I haven’t seen the Notebook in awhile…

Since I really liked the movie (Every Day) I, of course, took the book out of the library.

(If you have not seen the movie or read the book, I will break it down as spoiler free as possible.)

A is a soul that inhabits different bodies every day. A does not have a specific gender and simply exists as a soul without a set body. The only “rule” is that A always is the same age as A’s hosts (A also ages each year). A does not know any different life as A has always been this way since birth.

In addition, A tries to leave the host body exactly how it was found, not making any changes or creating problems in the day that the body is A’s. A has adjusted to this life and seems as content as one can be if one is ripped from body to body at midnight.

That is, until A wakes up as a boy named Justin.

And A meets Justin’s girlfriend Rhiannon and falls in love with her.
Suddenly, A wants to see Rhiannon every day and actually attempts to share this conundrum with her. The novel takes the reader on a whirlwind ride of A’s life after meeting Rhiannon and how both A and Rhiannon are affected by A’s revelation. 

The book raises some interesting questions, very relevant in today’s society:

Can you fall in love with someone’s soul, no matter what they look like on the outside? Do we fall in love with a “person” rather than a gender or a look or an ideal body? 

Why I Liked the Movie Better Than the Book

While I really liked the book, I think the movie better handled the logistics of how this body inhabiting would actually work. The movie also focused a lot on Rhiannon’s perspective while the book was 100% A’s perspective. Which, I guess, makes sense. A is very introspective. I guess one would be if one was waking up in a different body every day.

I also thought the movie handled the ending much, much better. The book felt very abruptly ended and the very last chapter came across as contradictory of A’s values that A had been preaching to Rhiannon. 

So while I did think the book was very well written and I enjoyed it, I liked the movie more. The movie generally stuck to the manuscript, and I think the ways in which the movie diverged from the book actually made the movie better in my opinion.

But don’t take my word for it. Read the book, watch the movie. Tell me what your opinion is.