RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) discussion

Hi guys,

Welcome to the buddy read of Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon!

We'll be beginning this buddy read on 1st April and will be concluding it on 30th April. Readers willing to participate can join in anytime. If you've already read it, feel free to share your thoughts on or related review/posts here with the others. You can also share book pictures, fun trivia or interesting facts related to the book.

We welcome everyone, so do share about this buddy read with your friends and followers so that they can join us too!

Thanks a lot Cheryl for hosting this buddy read :)

Happy Reading!!

I'm in!

I think I'm in. My exams got over and I have to pick up the pace. Though I have to arrange a copy. My favorite site is down, lmao.

Dagny wrote: "I'll be participating. The movie was shown on one of the channels a couple of weeks ago during a free preview. I watched the first half or so to get an idea of what the book might be like and it lo..."

There is a MOVIE??? I had no idea! OMG... I need to check it out.
BTW, how was it (howevermuch you watched?)

Shashank wrote: "I think I'm in. My exams got over and I have to pick up the pace. Though I have to arrange a copy. My favorite site is down, lmao."

Hope you can find one in time for the buddy read!

I'm in too! I opened the book and had a peak and... this books looks so amazing!! I mean literally! Did anyone else see the inside of this book yet?

Dagny wrote: "Yes! Here's the link. But don't read too far if you don't know how it ends. I accidentally read a little too far and now I know how the film ends. It's ok though as I'm now curious to know if the movie followed the book right through or if they gave it a different ending.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyth...
I watched about half of the movie (might as well have gone on and watched it all now that I know, lol). It was great. "

Wow, the movie sounds good and the trailer was awesome too! Love the cast, the heroine is so beautiful!
Yes, you should have! Lol. Hope it comes again soon. I'll also have to figure out a way to watch the movie once our read will be over.
When you'll get the book, do flip the pages slowly till the end and have a peak inside... the book is really different and beautiful from the inside... there are scribbles everytwhere and the lettering is in many fonts.

Heena wrote: "Dagny wrote: "Yes! Here's the link. But don't read too far if you don't know how it ends. I accidentally read a little too far and now I know how the film ends. It's ok though as I'm now curious to..."

True. I got a copy fortunately from one of my libraries. At some places, there are dialogues as well. It gives the look of a script.

Shashank wrote: "True. I got a copy fortunately from one of my libraries. At some places, there are dialogues as well. It gives the look of a script. "

I'm really looking forward to reading this one!

Since I'm hosting this buddy read, I went ahead and read this book early. I think the story will bring up some interesting discussions. I can't wait to read your opinions on it!

Dagny wrote: "Good news! I now have Everything, Everything. I wasn't really expecting it for another week, but the person ahead of me flew through it. It will probably be a fast read for me also, especially sinc..."

Wonderful! Be sure to post your thoughts about it here.

Dagny wrote: "It's turning out to be a quick read as I expected. Very short chapters - if you could even call them that. But it's easy to read and keep track of the few characters."

Yes, I found it to be a very quick read.

Guess I'm late to the party...
I agree with both of you, it's a very quick read. I started yesterday and already done with 100 pages.
I like the book so far, but somehow I am finding it difficult to digest the fact that the book is entirely revolving around Olly. Also, the medical condition - SCID, is shown in a very, very light way and, even though I'm liking the story, for some reason I'm not able to feel a connection tot he plot. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Maddy's medical condition comes across a bit fake and a bit too convenient for the plot. I guess I have mixed feelings.Maybe the book gets better further.
Cheryl - I now understand what you told me about the book and the wholr medical thing.

Also, what is it with everything being white? Are colors also a threat to Maddy? It's very strange that for apparantly no reason everything in Maddy's home is white.

Also, the tropical forat thing seemed too... well... let's just sah I was rolling my eyes a LOT when Madd th first descrived the whole tropical theme going on in the sun room.

I guesz if the author would have shown Madd u and her mom struggling, at least a little bit with her treatments and everything, then it would have at least felt somewhat real. It all seems too artificial. Even Maddy's optimism is way too artificial.

God, the more I'm sharing my thoughts, the more I'm realizing that I'm not liking this book. Lol. Let's see what happens next.

Sorry for the typos and mistakes. I'm typing from my phone and it has a mind of its own.

Heena wrote: "Guess I'm late to the party...
I agree with both of you, it's a very quick read. I started yesterday and already done with 100 pages.
I like the book so far, but somehow I am finding it difficult ..."

Heena,

These "red flags" about Maddy's condition will be explained towards the end of the book. I thought it was because I have medical experience with dealing with immunosuppressed patients in a hospital setting that I did not like the way Maddy's disease was shown. But, it's just the way the book is written I guess.

Heena wrote: " Also, the tropical forest thing seemed too... well... let's just say I was rolling my eyes a LOT when Maddy first described the whole tropical theme going on in the sun room..."

Yes, I agree. This book reads like a fairytale fantasy, not real life.

Spoilers below:

A question I had: what do you think of nurse Carla? Is she bad at her job, allowing Olly in the house without the mother's permission? And why doesn't she have Olly gowned, gloved, face masked and shoes covered when he meets with Maddy? He should probably change out of his own clothes and scrub down completely, wearing sterilized clothing like a surgeon does. Even Carla isn't described as wearing a mask or other protective clothing when around Maddy. This does not make any sense, medically.

I just got this novel from my daughter, who prefers Fangirl to this book.

She said that is a so-so book, but glad to lend it to me, will probably read it this weekend.

"But I really agree with Cheryl about Carla letting Olly in without scrubs, mask, etc. Plus, she probab..."

If I recall correctly, all that is mentioned is the fan/filter that blows the germs away. (This is magic, not science. There'd be a HEPA filter, but that's not going to disinfect a person's hair, the bottom of their shoes, etc.) Another thing: no testing is done on Maddy to check her immune cell levels or to see if she has an infection after Olly has been there, or even after Maddy runs outside. Actually, she should have a routine of regular blood cell monitoring, not just temperature, blood pressure, etc. mentioned in the book. And no consultations with specialists (her mom is a doctor, after all) are ever mentioned in the story. Just not realistic.

Cheryl - I'm glad to know that some things are explained further in the story, makes me feel less sceptical.

And I agree with both Cheryl and Dagny, why no scrubs, shoe covers, etc. Sounds immature, to be honest. I understand it's a YA, but I still feel that downplaying the sickness is like saying "oh, so what if I have SCID (or any other serious disease) but what the hell, I have a crush on this guy and he's really awesome so let's talk about him" - or at least so far it feels like it.

The thing is have read The Fault In Our Stars and that book is also based on a disease and is a YA and it was pretty awesome. I don't remember specific details and stuff, but I do remember that I loved that book through and through. The illness did not feel fake, and that I guess is what is missing from this book. It just seems too made up. I'm actually now dreading picking it up again and reading it.
Maybe my main problem is that Maddy is unrealistically positive about her situation. I understand that she might have got used to her condition by now, but still, does she never feel like she simply doesn't want to be ill? Or that she wants to go out. She doesn't even get mood swings, for god's sake! How is that even possible!? I am not ill, but I get a 1000 mood swings some days, but Maddy is all sunshine and rainbows all the time, and she is a TEENAGER, guys! Come on!!

#RantOver - LOL

Though I do love the way the book has small random-but-related doodles all over.

Carla - I like her, but I feel that she let Maddy meet Olly a bit too soon. I mean had Maddy been in "love" with Olly for over a month or something and had been really suffering to meet him or something like that, then it would felt justified that Carla would let Olly in for Maddy's safe, but she does it only 2 (3? 4?) days after Maddy even sees him. It was too soon for it to feel justified, hence I don't think she is a very good nurse because she knows, very well in fact, what is at stake.
Also, why is she okay with Maddy falling in love with Olly (and I felt like she was even encouraging it)? In Maddy's condition wouldn't it had been better if she did not fall in love with anyone (at least not this soon.) To be honest, I don't even feel like Maddy even loves Olly, she's just infatuated by and is curious about him.

Mark wrote: "I just got this novel from my daughter, who prefers Fangirl to this book. She said that is a so-so book, but glad to lend it to me, will probably read it this weekend."

Yes, Mark, Fangirl is way better than this one!

Heena wrote: " Also, why is she okay with Maddy falling in love with Olly (and I felt like she was even encouraging it)? In Maddy's condition wouldn't it had been better if she did not fall in love with anyone (at least not this soon.) To be honest, I don't even feel like Maddy even loves Olly, she's just infatuated by and is curious about him.  .."

I think the author wants to say that without a romantic relationship, life is not worth living. It is worth everything (perhaps this is the meaning of the book's title "Everything, Everything"), even if you have to die to get it. I personally do not agree with this, particularly the "dying" part. This is a teenage girl's first crush. Is that worth dying for? Evidently Carla thinks it is. I think back to my initial infatuations, and see they definitely were not worth dying for.

Heena wrote: "I like the book so far, but somehow I am finding it difficult to digest the fact that the book is entirely revolving around Olly ."

I think this is not ony due to the importance of the romantic relationship in the story, but also to another theme the author is emphasizing: abuse by a parent. You'll have to read the entire book, though, to really see this as being important.

I finished last night. Let me just say - The author totally blew my mind away with that twist! I mean, here I was like the book doesn't feel real, it feels fake and the struggles are not shown properly and many more things... and with a single twist it was all explained... just like that everything made sense.

I'm not sure if we should start talking about spoilers or not, but I'm just gonna say that I'm glad that I read this book!

I love your way of asking questions and picking topics for discussion Cheryl! I'm waiting for your next one, very eagerly!!

Another discussion question:

What do you think of Olly's father? Have you ever known someone in an abusive relationship? Can you imagine why a person in this type of relationship could find it hard to leave?

Everything, Everything

SPOILER ALERT

Review: As is my practice I started off reading the book without looking at any reviews or plot outlines. The first couple of lines when Maddy was getting books anew. I thought " Is this an apocalypse novel?". That got cleared in a few minutes as SCID was described!! The story was great, especially those notes to herself. Then again, the last 30% of the book was quite a twister. Certainly didn't expect that her mom would face OCD with Madeleine. And the link up at the last to the "Reward If Found" was nice..

Shashank wrote: "Everything, Everything

Review: As is my practice I started off reading the book without looking at any reviews or plot outlines. The first couple of lines when Maddy was getting bo..."

Am I too early posting my review? SPOILER ALERT. and Sorry

Cheryl wrote: "Another discussion question:

What do you think of Olly's father? Have you ever known someone in an abusive relationship? Can you imagine why a person in this type of relationship could find it har..."

It's intriguing. While we can easily say that Olly should leave his father immediately, it's definitely not easy to just abandon a loved one..

Shashank wrote: "It's intriguing. While we can easily say that Olly should leave his father immediately, it's definitely not easy to just abandon a loved one.. "

I agree. I think it was hard for Olly's family to leave the father, because he hadn't been like that before he lost his job. They remembered good times with him. But they definitely needed to be safe, and the father did not show any signs of wanting to change his abusive ways.

If you have finished the book, there is something I'll mention that also relates to abuse.

Spoilers below! Do not read if you haven't finished the book.


Ok. I thought that the real theme of the book was abuse by a parent. Both Olly's father and Madeline's mother put their family/children through abuse. Olly's father was verbally and physically abusive. Madeline's mother was psychologically abusive in imprisoning Madeline under the fake SCID diagnosis. Both began being abusive after a loss ( a job or death of family members). Both had psychological problems they needed to deal with, but that is no excuse for their abusive behavior.

One thing I was a bit mad at was that the 2 nurses caring for Madeline never questioned the mother. Carla even said she suspected it. But they told no one and did nothing. Is this right? However, maybe this is to show that in real life, most people do nothing if they suspect abuse is going on.

P.S.
If the truth came out about Madeline's mother - and how can it not come out? - she would probably lose her license to practice medicine.

Cheryl wrote: "If you have finished the book, there is something I'll mention that also relates to abuse.

Spoilers below! Do not read if you haven't finished the book."

I was not surprised by the twist. I thought that either the writer was pretty negligent in her research of this medical condition, or Madeline didn't really have SCID and the mother was faking it. This is a well know psychological syndrome and form of child abuse called Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy. It now has another name, but you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factiti... . While the mother did not do it for attention or sympathy, she did do it to reassure herself that Madeline would never leave her.

Cheryl wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "If you have finished the book, there is something I'll mention that also relates to abuse.

Spoilers below! Do not read if you haven't finished the book."

I was not surprised by th..."

True. Actually as Madeline shows her powers with the internet by getting a credit card, she could have actually researched SCID and found out herself

Dagny wrote: " She really cared for Maddy though and came through later when she wasn't under the mother's thumb so to speak."

Could you refresh my memory about that part? Did Maddy live with Carla at the end? It's been a number of weeks since I finished the book, and I do not have it with me anymore.

Dagny wrote: "I may have been unclear, Cheryl. I meant that Carla wasn't under the mother's thumb as an employee and having to keep her job. I still have the book, I'll look, but I don't think Maddy lived with C..."

Oh, I get what you mean now. Yes, it was harder for Carla to help Maddy while Carla was employed by Maddy's mother.

Dagny, thanks for summarizing this. I thought the section after Maddy returns from Hawaii was pretty rushed.

I wonder why Maddy had never Googled her own condition in depth before? If it was me, I'd be looking for the most cutting-edge treatments out there, names of specialists to see, and want to contact others that had this condition. As Shashank posted, Maddy was internet savvy enough to find a credit card online (she was young and had no credit rating herself). Wasn't she curious about all the tests and treatments out there for her condition? (I've done this before, even though I liked and trusted my doctor - in case they were unaware of a brand new treatment.) I just put this down to sloppy writing by the author.

Dagny wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I wonder why Maddy had never Googled her own condition in depth before?"

I suspect it was a combination of things. She's young, naïve and perhaps the most telling reason is that her..."

I guess I agree with your reasons, Dagny. I forget that Maddy was probably more naïve than other teens her age due to her isolation and dependence on her mother.

Ultimately, I think I'm not the right reader for this book. I have a strong medical background, so right away I'm looking at all things medical in a plot for realism and research by the author. That's why I'll stay away from books and tv shows with a medical theme. (I'm sure those in law enforcement/lawyers stay away from certain crime shows/books, too.)

I agree the main theme was abuse by parents - which is a lot more common than people believe it to be. The physical abuse was pretty straightforward and was not covered in detail, which made me feel disconnected from the entire thing, but I was quite intrigued by the emotional and psychological abuse.

Maddy is naive, too naive in my opinion as I've seen from personal experience that people (young or otherwise) tend to be more mature if they are going through a serious and unfortunate circumstance, but here Maddy was all I-am-getting-tropical-air-from-a-heated-fan-and-am-totally-okay-with-it kind of naive. As Cheryl said, If I too would have been in her shoes, I would have searched the hell out of Google about my condition (As I do now as well, even if it is as minor as a viral fever) and would have tried to help my mom (who I feel so indebted to) by finding new breakthroughs and possible success stories of similar cases.

I'm not exactly sure how nurses work there (in US) but here the pretty much rely on the doctor (at least when it comes to diagnosis of an illness), so I didn't find it odd that she believed Maddy'smom. But when she mentioned that she had a doubt, then I guess she didn't do the right thing by not at least trying to satisfy her doubt by digging deeper. Here she was wrong because I'm pretty sure she knew that the ONLY doctor Maddy was being seen by was her mother, so if she doubted Maddy's mother even for a second, it was her duty to have checked further.

As for the subject of physical abuse, I know no one wants to hear this but a lot of women don't leave their husbands because of financial dilemmas - My father was abusive, but my mother didn't leave him because she didn't want to go out and work and provide for us. She chose my alcoholic but rich father in spite of him being abusive. But she did leave him once he started selling off properties for his addiction and chose someone else (my step) who was financially sound. So there are a lot of things that women take into account when it comes to leaving their husbands - and trust me, women are extremely cunning and smart when it comes to their own survival. I guess Olly's mom would have separated from her husband anyway once Olly would have started working. I know a lot of people won't agree with me, but I've seen far too many cases of divorce, in my own family, where this exact same thing has happened.

In the end, I liked the twist about Maddy's mom lying to her more than anything and that is the only thing that really made reading this book worth it for me. :)

Heena,

Thank you for sharing about the abuse in your family. I'm so sorry you had to go through that painful time.

I wonder if some of the things we didn't like in this book were due to an editor's decision to change or cut out parts of the story? I mention this because of another book I read, We Were Liars. In that story, a group of cousins called themselves The Liars Club but it was never mentioned why they chose that name. The author was answering questions on the book's Goodreads page and explained that her editor cut the scene where she explains the origins of the Liars Club name. (Stupid decision, I thought, since the title references the club.) So, maybe something similar happened to Nicola Yoon and this book? Maybe all the missing medical stuff was edited out?

Dagny wrote: "I don't know if abuse was involved or not, but a girl I went to high school with had a mother who was very unhappy in her marriage for whatever reason. There were two daughter. The day after the younger one graduated from high school the mother left and filed for divorce. "

That's exactly what happens in most of the cases. My mom always told me the moment I would complete my engineering she'll leave my step and come and stay with me so that I can take care of her and my brother. I'm not saying that a mother shouldn't depend on children, on the contrary, I strongly believe that children should take care of their parents, but what I experienced made me feel like I was just another puppet that my mom wanted in her hands. In this case, she was the one who was making me what she wanted me to be. And that was one of the reasons she really went off the rails and got mad at me for not completing engineering and getting married to me (the marriage happened because my step asked me to leave the house and my mom stood by him the entire time.) It's been 7 years now, but she's still upset with me for having not left her with an option, as if I am not a person, but only an option for her.
I hate Maddy's mom for thinking that she can do whatever with her child's life and to be honest, I don't find it odd that she left her mother in the end.
Sorry for the rant. :)

Cheryl wrote: "Thank you for sharing about the abuse in your family. I'm so sorry you had to go through that painful time.
I wonder if some of the things we didn't like in this book were due to an editor's decision to change or cut out parts of the story? I mention this because of another book I read, We Were Liars. In that story, a group of cousins called themselves The Liars Club but it was never mentioned why they chose that name. The author was answering questions on the book's Goodreads page and explained that her editor cut the scene where she explains the origins of the Liars Club name. (Stupid decision, I thought, since the title references the club.) So, maybe something similar happened to Nicola Yoon and this book? Maybe all the missing medical stuff was edited out? "

It was a long time ago, but I do tend to hyperventilate when any related subject comes up.

I guess that might be the case. Editors do go for the commercial value rather than the quality, so they might have done it to appeal young adults as I'm sure youngsters wouldn't have appreciated a lot of details of the medical things.

I would like to share about a book I read in the start of this month, a contemporary book on illness - this was based on an accident, and was definitely more technical than this one. It is a beautiful book, with very strong characterization and if you have some time, then do give one a try - How to Walk Away

Heena wrote: " It's been 7 years now, but she's still upset with me for having not left her with an option, as if I am not a person, but only an option for her.."

That must have been a terrible thing to go through, Heena. Was it a cultural thing for your mother, about not wanting to get a job herself? Was she able to ask her own relatives for financial help or childcare if she worked?

Dagny wrote: "I caught the last part of the movie yesterday during HBO's free preview. Once Maddy dug into her mother's files and then started researching on the Internet, everything seemed to move very quickly...."

Which did you like better, the book or the movie?

Cheryl wrote: "Dagny wrote: "I caught the last part of the movie yesterday during HBO's free preview. Once Maddy dug into her mother's files and then started researching on the Internet, everything seemed to move..."

Not able to obtain the movie yet. :)

Cheryl wrote: "Heena wrote: " It's been 7 years now, but she's still upset with me for having not left her with an option, as if I am not a person, but only an option for her.."

That must have been a terrible th..."

This might come as a surprise, but we do not have any child care system in place here :(
My mom didn't work partly because of social prejudices and partly because she didn't want to.

Joanne wrote: "I have picked up a copy of everything everything am I too late to read it with you.?"

Doesn't matter, we all keep on checking the threads so we all would be more than happy to discuss the book with you while you read it :)