5 Reasons You Need to Read David Levithan’s Another Day

But, as it turns out, A might not be alone. There may be others like him/her. And that’s why the masses have been asking, nay, CLAMORING for a sequel. What we’re getting instead is Another Day, a companion novel—the same story told from Rhiannon’s perspective. I recently read Another Day (which is a polite way of saying I devoured it obsessively, at the expense of real-life obligations), and there are a metric ton of reasons why Rhiannon’s story is just as important as A’s. Here are five of them.
The book discusses why people stay in bad relationships.
Why do bad relationships happen to good people? Answer: because sometimes it’s just easier than breaking up. Rhiannon’s boyfriend, Justin, is basically the human equivalent of stepping on a Lego in bare feet over and over again. At best, he rains on everybody’s parade. At worst, he’s a passive-aggressive, emotionally manipulative, and hypocritical turd of a person. But Rhiannon remembers a time when that wasn’t the case, and she stays with him for better or for worse…even though it’s mostly just worse. This is why it’s so jarring for Rhiannon when, unbeknownst to her, A inhabits her boyfriend’s body, turning Justin into Boyfriend of the Year for 24 hours. That being said…
The book is big on the idea that nobody’s perfect.
Compared to Justin, A is a paragon of romantic perfection. But A’s not without faults: s/he can be jealous. S/he can be impatient. S/he wants the consistency of Rhiannon’s presence without being able to offer the same to her. There are limits to A’s perspective, and Rhiannon’s narrative highlights them better than A’s ever could. Example: A tries, but still doesn’t quite get Rhiannon’s reluctance to hop on board with this whole body-switching shindig. Everything depends on whether or not they’ll be able to see each other from day to day, and whether or not she’ll like the look of A’s new body vessel. And A doesn’t fully understand that. Speaking of which…
It explores the dichotomy of personality vs. appearance.
Looks don’t matter, right? Well, sure, except sometimes they do. From A’s perspective, it’s easy to forget you can’t just flip the on/off switch for attraction. Rhiannon struggles with her conceptualization of A’s personhood. She tends to envision him/her as s/he was the first time they met—in the body of Justin. That’s her default. But A has no default. A is whatever A is at any given moment. Another Day explores the question of whether or not you can fall in love with someone based entirely on personality, because really, that’s the only constant A has.
The whole book is one big, frank discussion about sexuality and gender identity.
Switching bodies is all A has ever known. Given the fluidity of A’s existence, it makes sense s/he’s not too bothered about gender. A doesn’t fully identify one way or the other, and has been attracted to all manner of humans. But Rhiannon likes guys, and, when given the choice, she generally prefers them to be Justin-like in appearance (if not in personality, because he’s seriously the human equivalent of finding hair in your food). And that’s okay. It’s okay to have a type, and it’s okay to not be physically attracted to every human vessel your ideal romantic partner inhabits on the daily. But it certainly throws a wrench into their relationship, and the novel drives home the notion that it’s a wrench worth talking about.

It can serve as a stand-alone novel.
Say you didn’t actually read Every Day, or you know someone who hasn’t read Every Day. Fear not, because this book will still totally make sense. In Levithan’s foreword to the reader, he doesn’t call Another Day a companion; rather, he calls it a twin, because they both have their own distinct identity and neither is less meaningful than the other. This is important not just because the book fleshes out Rhiannon’s character (she’s not just another love interest), but also because it reinforces an idea that A sometimes fails to grasp: Rhiannon has her own life, and it extends further than one day.
Another Day comes out on August 25 and is available for pre-order now.