Abducted by Every You, Every Me

*** Don't forget to enter my giveaway of a David Levithan novel! Winner will be announced on February 29th so you have plenty of time to still sign up! Just click HERE!!! ***

My fourth selection for my Levithan Love-a-thon was I believe his most recent novel...

This book made for a very interesting read, but I'm telling you right now, it takes you to a dark dark place!

The story is basically these two guys, Evan and Jack, and this girl, Ariel. Now, Ariel is gone. We don't know where, why, or how. What we do know is that Evan was Ariel's best friend and Jack was her boyfriend, and that they are both not handling her absence very well. Then one day, on his way home, Evan starts to find pictures. He'll just be walking down the street and find a picture in an envelope waiting for him. And he knows they are for him, because one of them is actually of him and some are of Ariel. When Jack gets a picture as well, they have to come together to figure out who is doing this to them. Now, that may not sound too dark, but the story is all told through Evan's perspective and that kid is doing some serious grieving!

Here are some cool things about this book...

1. The title comes from a song of the same name by the British band Placebo. According to Levithan, Placebo's music "very much informed the writing of this book." The song, Every You Every Me was featured on the soundtrack to Cruel Intentions, and here is the video that was made for that movie...

(or at least I hope you can click on the video, at the time of writing this my internet isn't quite cooperating)

2. For this project, Levithan, worked with photographer Jonathan Farmer. It started with the photo that is on the cover of the novel when Levithan saw it on Farmer's refrigerator. Farmer would send Levithan a single photo at a time and then Levithan would write the next section of the book. In the author's note, Levithan wrote; "I never had any idea what photo would come next. And Jonathan had no idea what I was writing. He didn't read a single word until I finished the first draft." That almost seems impossible when you read it because the photos fit so perfectly into the story.

And 3. A good majority of the story is crossed out! Sometimes it is every other line or just certain words, and then sometimes it can be entire paragraphs. In the beginning you get the feeling that the things that are crossed out are whispers. Whispers that represent the difference between what we want/should/need to say and what we actually do say. And also what we want to remember verses the truth. But then, towards the end, those crossed out lines start to feel as if Evan is screaming at himself because he is trying so hard not to think the things he is thinking. Sometimes the lines that are crossed out are lines that other people are saying to him, and that did confuse me at first. But I think it is showing that Evan is choosing not to hear certain things. Also, sometimes the randomness of the narrator's thoughts and the down spiral he is on can be confusing, but it all comes together as being very genuine. 

Every You Every Me is the 9th David Levithan book that I have read and it has definitely left an impact on me. It isn't filled with the abundance of optimism and hope that I like to think of as Levithan's signature style. However, the book is honest and thought provoking and will keep you guessing all the way up until the very end. 

Originally I gave this book a three star rating on goodreads but now I'm going to have to raise it! I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished it and I keep trying to work it into conversations as much as I can! So, I'm going to give Every You Every me an abduction rating of...