Another Day (novel)

Another Day is a young adult romance and fantasy novel written by American author David Levithan.

Every Day establishes the story line through the perspective of "A", a mystical soul who falls in love with a girl named Rhiannon.

The novel starts off with what seems like a normal day for Rhiannon; she watches her boyfriend, Justin, pull into the school parking lot, hoping he still was not mad from last night's fight.

Their everyday routine is broken, however, when Justin suggests getting away for the day, to which Rhiannon chooses to go to the beach.

Rhiannon and Justin end up sharing a romantic day, even going as far as pulling the "make out" blanket from the car trunk.

Every now and then, Rhiannon would try to refresh Justin's memory about their day, but still to no luck, he doesn't remember specific details.

The two dance the night away together until the cops show up, which caused the two to exchange emails, so they can continue to talk.

Along the way, things get messy and Rhiannon must face the reality of her near impossible relationship with "A", while dealing with the rest of her life.

Rhiannon now struggles with the reality of learning more about "A" and forming a relationship with someone who is in a different body every day.

Justin fails to recall anything from when Rhiannon and he were at the beach, making her feel helpless in their relationship.

Though her mom is only a minor character, the relationship between the two shaped Rhiannon into the person that she is today.

Rhiannon only has one good memory of her and her mom, which she recalls to Justin, who was actually "A" at the time, about a fashion show they participated in the fourth grade.

“Ashley” tells Justin that she is originally from Maryland but moved to California a couple years ago.

While telling his friends about dinner, Justin consistently makes remarks towards Ashley Rebecca considers racist and sexist, going on to tell Rhiannon that she shouldn't justify the relationship with Justin just because he does not abuse or hit her.

Rebecca just wants Rhiannon to gain more respect for herself and realize that the relationship with Justin is not good.

Reverend Poole: The man who has been helping Nathan convey his story about the demon possession.

In the tree house, "A" tells Rhiannon about Reverend Poole and how they need time to figure things out.

When Rhiannon is talking to "A" in Ashley's body, it is revealed that the novel takes place somewhere in Maryland.

The location also reveals itself when "A" was in Hugo's body, as he mentioned he was in Annapolis for the day at a parade.

David Levithan approached this young teen novel in a way that brings light to gender fluidity and sexuality.

He wanted to showcase how toxic Justin's and Rhiannon's relationship was through her perspective, as opposed to the first novel, Every Day, where the primary focus is A's feelings.

However, Rhiannon believes the verbal abuse is worth it after seeing how Justin acted the day at the beach.

Gabrielle Bondi, from the Young Folks, views the abusive relationship Justin and Rhiannon share an important part of the novel.

[5] On the other hand, Jaime Leigh, of We Are on the Same Page, wrote a review stating, “Justin’s behavior isn’t acceptable, Rhiannon is no longer a good role model and the book is not only not needed, in my opinion, but it could also be potentially detrimental.”[6] Leigh commented how it focused more on the abusive relationship Rhiannon had with Justin, which could send the wrong signals to the targeted audience.

In her review, Leigh also mentioned that Rhiannon is written similar to Helena, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, in the first 50 pages.

While it is strictly her opinion, Leigh feels as if Levithan left out Rhiannon's “sweet characteristics” that was included in the first book, and instead made her clingy and annoying.

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