Every Me, Every You, by David Levithan and Jonathan Farmer

Evan was Ariel's best friend, and now, he is part of the reason she is gone.  So, when he begins finding mysterious pictures clearly intended for him, he has to wonder, is it possible she came back?  The pictures lead him on a wild goose chase that has him, and others, questioning his own sanity.  In the end, the bigger question is, did he ever really know Ariel at all?

Everything about this book was incredibly intriguing to me.  The picture and print on the cover tipped me off that this was no normal book.  The book is a combination of pictures and and plot, but instead of the pictures complementing the plot, they actually drive it, and I found that to be incredible.  The pictures have a haunting quality that is equally matched by the shadowy nature of the writing.

I like Evan's character a lot, because he reminds me of someone I would befriend.  I find it fascinating the pull that Ariel has over so many people, yet we know so little about her.  In fact, we do not know what actually happened to her until near the end of the book, although I had some suspicions.  In terms of literary techniques, this book took some getting used to.  The author uses the strikethrough a lot in the writing, to allow us to see the thought of Evan's character that he is not quite willing to reveal yet.  So they are struck through like this.  That felt weird to me at first, but you adjust quickly.

The novel has a dark feeling to it, not sinister, but still dark.  I personally love that, it reminded me a lot of my teenage love affair with Twin Peaks.  I think the book is so unique, it will appeal to a lot of young adult readers, and many adult ones as well.

I received a review copy of this book courtesy of the Amazon Vine program.



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