The story of 18-year-old Madeline is one that is both incredibly rare and deeply relatable. Madeline is inflicted with a rare immunodeficiency condition which prevents her from ever leaving the meticulously sterile environment of her home. She accepts this fate with little resistance until Olly, a mysterious rebel with some major family drama, moves into the house next door. As they grow closer communicating through a variety of media, from emails and chat to dramatic pantomime through their bedroom windows, she becomes less and less happy with her isolated existence, leading to the book's turning point, and ultimately, climax.
As the first half of the story seems to alternate between longform storytelling from Madeline's perspective, emails and texts passed between Olly and herself, and the occasional medical- or scientific-style lists or journal entries, it's clear that Yoon is not exactly the next Jane Austen, in terms of prose. However, Austen, I think, is not what this story needs, despite its protagonist's obsession with Austen and her contemporaries. Indeed, the nature of the story makes this format almost necessary in order for the reader to reach a full understanding of the context of this story. It evokes the scattered media habits of the average teenager - the intended audience of the book - and thus seems more realistic than flowery prose or dense verbiage might have made it.
I especially enjoyed the characterization of Madeline, as she seemed to take on an exaggerated metaphor for my own sheltered upbringing. Her experience of the world forced met o examine my own perceptions - something any good novel should do, really - a side-effect of what seems to be Yoon's calling card, as it appears in reading The Sun is Also a Star, as well. Olly, serving as a rebellious counterpoint to Madeline's sheltered life, creates an interesting conflict that allowed Yoon to explore the YA romance from a unique angle.
Although the story had a few plot holes that stood out to me, these were fairly unobtrusive and largely made-up-for by the story's twist ending, which, although predictable as early as halfway through the novel, still managed to elicit a gasp and a few (loudly voiced) choice words upon its revelation.
Overall, this book propelled me consistently to its bitter end, and opened my eyes to a new perspective on life. It forces the reader to think, to consider their own responses to the situations contained therein, and decide for themselves, "Is life worth dying for?" For me? The answer is an unequivocal yes.
Overall Rating: (4.5 stars)
