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Back in September 2015, I was approved by Netgalley for Another Day. After an extensive internal argument, I decided to read it without first reading Every Day. It worked out fine. The one thing that puzzled me was my reaction to A. I thought A was horrible and manipulative. I thought that maybe if I read Every Day, I would feel different.

Nope.

A is the actual worst.

If you’re not familiar, the story goes something like this:

A is a genderless, body-less, family-less being who hops around and inhabits a different body every day. A has made a promise to never interfere in the lives of these bodies, to try to keep the day as close to normal as possible. Then A inhabits the body of Justin and falls into instalove with his girlfriend, Rhiannon.

A spends the rest of the book trying to convince Rhiannon that nothing matters but their love. A gets mad at Rhiannon for not being able to get past the fact that sometimes A is a girl. That sometimes A will be in a body that Rhiannon doesn’t find attractive. A thinks that Rhiannon should just get rid of Justin asap, because A’s been in Justin’s head and knows that he’s a jerk. A doesn’t understand why Rhiannon doesn’t want to drop everything to start a new relationship that will be extremely difficult at best. A thinks that Rhiannon’s love should be blind, and her dedication should be absolute, and nothing else should matter.

A is a jerk.

Because not only is A making Rhiannon feel bad about her feelings, but A is also going against the promise to never interfere. A makes these bodies skip school. A makes these bodies break their parents’ rules. A ruins other people’s relationships. All just to get closer to Rhiannon, who takes quite a bit of convincing to even get on the same page about this whole relationship thing.

Let me also say this. I liked Rhiannon’s character in Another Day, and I still like her here. I still feel bad for her, because this is a lot for her to deal with. But my favorite part of this book was the six chapters at the end (which is really the novella Six Earlier Days) that come before Rhiannon. Not because I disliked her presence in the story, but because A was so creepily obsessed with her.

Levithan is a brilliant writer that I’ve been enjoying for at least the last decade, and the concept of this book is great. A experiencing the dilemma of leaving a suicidal body to be, or breaking the rules and interfering to get her help is a great chapter. A inhabiting the body of a drug addict and just persevering until midnight, refusing to give in to the body’s desires, is horrible and amazing. A at the funeral of a young man’s grandfather, sobbing because nobody will ever mourn A’s death the way they’re mourning this man’s death – powerful. But A with Rhiannon? Not my cup of tea.

The ending also left something to be desired, and I am hoping that the third book in the series gives us a sense of closure.

Final rating: ★★☆☆☆

For my 2016 reading challenge, I’m crossing off #26: a book and its prequel.