Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.  

Another Day

by David Levithan

 hitting shelves August 25, 2015 

from Knopf Books for Young Readers

In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author  of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all.

My thoughts:  Every Day was amazing, one of my favorites (here's my review). So now it's Rhiannon's turn to tell the story and I am so excited!

Amy's View: Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan
♦publisher: Philomel/Penguin
♦release date: May 7th, 2013
♦hardcover, 358 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Stephen has been invisible for practically his whole life — because of a curse his grandfather, a powerful cursecaster, bestowed on Stephen’s mother before Stephen was born. So when Elizabeth moves to Stephen’s NYC apartment building from Minnesota, no one is more surprised than he is that she can see him. A budding romance ensues, and when Stephen confides in Elizabeth about his predicament, the two of them decide to dive headfirst into the secret world of cursecasters and spellseekers to figure out a way to break the curse.

But things don’t go as planned, especially when Stephen’s grandfather arrives in town, taking his anger out on everyone he sees. In the end, Elizabeth and Stephen must decide how big of a sacrifice they’re willing to make for Stephen to become visible — because the answer could mean the difference between life and death. At least for Elizabeth.

Review:  A contemporary read with a bit of paranormal flair. This book is beautifully blended as it quickly immerses you into its storyline.

Invisibility started off as an easy, fast read, told in the first person of both Stephen and Elizabeth.  Angry, frustrated and alone, Stephen’s world is filled with angst from the very first line, “I was born invisible.”  The authors, David Levithan and Andrea Cremer’s writing style captures your heart from the beginning pulling you into Stephen’s spell, even if that spell means he can’t be seen.

Stephen was born invisible and no one has even seen him, not even his mother. Life was simple and loving as he was greatly cared for by his mother, however when she dies his life is left open and uncertain. With his father living across the country and Stephen living alone, the book opens up to what looks like the most vulnerable time in his life;  and yet when you hit rock bottom isn’t it amazing what doors open? That is just what happens when the new neighbor Elizabeth, moves a few doors down, opening up the story line for a sweet, fast moving and delightfully tender relationship. With Elizabeth and her fun loving brother, Laurie, Stephen quickly realizes that Elizabeth has a gift, one that sees him, with her being the only one that ever has. Leaving questions to be answered, as a new ones arise, opening the door to a new world of both spell and curse casters.

This book was eloquently written, with each character being easily identifiable.  With Stephen, you can almost feel his vulnerability and loneliness, even if he can’t be seen. He is a character written to tap into that part of our soul that longs to be seen by others but also that fear of having others see us for who we really are. Whereas Elizabeth’s character, I felt, only wanted to hide. From the tragic events that brought her and her family to this new city, she is forced to feel invisible by being lost inside a big city. Holding to the comfort of starting over and having people see you for who you want be. However the most important value of her character is discovering the greatest lesson of all, “see with your heart.” Seeing others for who they really are, can be the greatest spell you can cast.

Invisibility takes you on a journey of new young love, and the adventures of discovering curses and gifts, powers and spells, hope and longing. All tied up into the greater need and desire of belonging. A great summer read.

Find Andrea Cremer online: Website   •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Find David Levithan online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Invisibily:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Not a trailer, but a super cute video with the authors. :D

Becky's View: Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan
♦publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
♦released: August 28th, 2012
♦hardcover, 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦source: library

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Review:  It’s  seems a strange thing to admit, as someone who devours so many novels from the YA realm, that I’ve never read any of the numerous titles by David Levithan.  Not until this little beauty: Every Day.  And I can say with utter certainty that Every Day has made me a fan and that I plan to go to the library stacks seeking out more gems from this wonderful author.  I am in awe.  The main idea of Every Day is definitely paranormal: a being, not a boy or a girl, just a soul knows as “A” (though for the sake of my sanity in this review, I'll be referring to him as a "he").  He drops into a different life every single day.  There is never any real explanation about why this happens to him or what he is, but in the end, I was so drawn into his story, and cared so deeply about A and his strange dilemma that the "why" didn't even matter.  The lives he takes over are as mundane as they come: a slacker, a druggy, a nerd, an athelete, someone's little sister, someone's twin,---but that is the magic of David Levithan’s writing, in my opinion.  He makes the subtle differences of each life that A drops into seem so fascinating, so special.  This is the norm for A, it’s all he’s ever known.  He goes to bed at night as one person, and at midnight his soul is sucked out and he becomes another person.  There is nothing he can do about it, he’s even tried to stay up all night to stop it from happening, but learned the hard way that it is much better to sleep through the change.  So he deals.  He takes it in complete stride,  going from body to body, place to place, day to day, just trying not to interfere with each life as much as he can. 

That is until he meets Rhiannon.  She is the girlfriend of the life he’s just dropped into, and he knows  this boy is not treating her very well.  When they meet, she seems almost hollow from the way she’s been treated and he somehow sees the kindness and hope inside her.  So he breaks his own rules. He lets himself give her a wonderful day that she might never have gotten from her real boyfriend…and ends up wanting to stay in a life more than he ever has before.  But he can’t stop it. The next day he is someone else---and the next day and the next, but he never stops trying to get back to Rhiannon.

  

I flew through this book, I couldn’t wait to see what new life he would be in each day and what new obstacle it would pose for both A and Rhiannon.  There were funny moments and very trying moments, and moments that had me in tears. The ending, while inevitable and, if you dwell on it too long, is slightly creepy in a "that's all kinds of wrong" sort of way, was still heartbreaking and the heart and thought behind A's sacrifice was still beautiful.  He is just an incredibly good, strong soul that you can't help rooting for and hoping he finds a way to live how he wants to live and to have love that he can keep. 

If you get the chance to read this one, definitely take it.  Don't pass up this amazing story. 

Find David Levithan online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Every Day: Amazon  •  BN.com  •   BookDepository  •  Indiebound

This book has an AWESOME trailer...some of the biggest names in YA reading part of the first chapter. Very cool.