Every you, Every me is photographic fiction following the story of Evan as he is faced with the severe mental illness of his best friend, Ariel and the guilt surrounding his part in what happened to her, which is magnified by the accusing and very mysterious photographs that he is being led to find. The novel is written in addressing Ariel, and with the same pacing as his mind, jumping from thought as he does and some sentences have strokes through them (but more on that later) all of which combine to argue what I found to be the main theme of the book: Imagining people complexly.
I feel like I read this at the perfect time in my life to enjoy it as much as I did. Many negative reviews criticise this book for being one full of teen angst, I feel like it was not out of place and it served a greater purpose to the over all novel. It wasn't until after I had completed the novel and read through a couple of reviews that 'angst' was even the word that came to mind. To me, Evan was a character that was suffering from a form of depression, becoming somewhat of a reflection of the Ariel that he knew. Angst feels too much like a typical teenage stereotype and I feel like Evan's feelings ran deeper than this temporary teenage angst. Levithan captured the mindset and symptoms of depression fairly well, even though he occasionally fell into the usual metaphors of "sinking" or "drowning". Though it seems they are so often used because they work so well when addressing the subject. Many dark, and complex themes are displayed throughout the novel mainly in the area of mental health.
Once I got into the book I couldn't put it down. I feel like the pacing of this book was perfect, with enough mystery and tension to pull it through. It can easily be described as eccentric and odd. I really loved the photographs, they were odd, eerie and beautiful. With many photographic novels (see Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) the images can feel random, forced and very out of place. I did not find that to be true with this story. I feel like it flowed in ways that others did not.
I found the strikethroughs quite annoying at first as I could see very little sense or pattern in the words that were struck. It wasn't until further into the novel that I saw it as Evan's innermost thoughts, which he may not have been completely willing to share with Ariel, and it made more sense. While I found it interesting, I feel like there may have been a better way to convey this (italics maybe) although I do see the reasoning.
Ariel is one of the main character's though we never really get tosee her and her character feels almost one dimensional. To me this is the whole point of the book. The only aspects we get to see of Ariel is through the eyes of another character and as Ariel points out in her "I will never get to see every you, and you will never know every me" speech, they do not view her as fully dimensional character, because in her they see a reflection of who they want her to be, or an aspect of themselves. And are therefore unable to imagine or see her in her entirety, or complexly.
I feel like the major let down in this book was the ending. I feel like there was no big reveal (view spoiler). The end felt a little bit monotone and disappointing and did not carry the tone put forward in the rest of the novel. Which is why I was really torn in my rating for the novel. It will remain on my shelf amongst my favourites, but I am hesitant to give it five out of five stars. So I am settling for a *4.5*, and as that is not possible on Goodreads, it will be displayed as a five.
I do recommend this book, and will be passing it on. Levithan uses the images well and brings up many thought provoking ideas. I feel like it would be better appreciated by someone who has experienced depression, and it is important to draw that line between depression and angst.
