I had heard a little buzz about Everything, Everything by the time I had gotten around to reading it. I try to ignore the hype because it usually ruins things for me, but Everything, Everything delivered like whoa. After I was done losing my mind all over Nicola, she ever so nicely agreed to do an interview.
Before we get to her answers, let’s check out the book.
My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
Sounds good, right?
Where did the idea for Everything, Everything come from?
I started writing Everything, Everything when my daughter was just four months old. I was a very nervous new mom and I worried about lots of things. I worried about her getting a cold, eating dirt (!), falling down and hitting her head. Newborns can be so fragile and my protective instincts were going crazy. It got me thinking about what life would be like for a girl who needed protection for her whole life. What would that do to her relationship with her mom? How would their relationship change as that little girl grew up?
Why do you love Maddy and Olly and why should we root for them?
I love both Maddy & Olly for the same reasons: they both maintain hope in the face of overwhelming obstacles.
What was the weirdest thing you googled while doing research?
Decontamination chambers!
Describe Everything, Everything in five words.
Is love worth risking everything?
Speed {ish} round:
You get the call/email/letter that says you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next five minutes.
I was getting on a plane to go to Hawaii on vacation with my husband and daughter. My agent called just as the flight attendants were telling us we had to turn off our phones. There was no internet on the plane so I had to wait for another 6 hours to find out that I had an offer! The wait was pure torture!
What three things would you take to a desert island?
Besides my husband and my daughter, I’d take a lot of tea, my kindle and a notebook for writing.
You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?
Oh, this a really evil question! It’s too hard! It’s too hard! OK, if I really have to choose, it would be The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Who are your favorite swoony boys/girls?
Too many to list so I’ll just choose two: Ethan Hawke as Troy Dyer in Reality Bites, John Cho as Harold in Harold and Kumar.
You wake up and discover that you are Bella in Twilight. You know how it plays out. What do you do differently? {Huge thanks to Bookish Broads for letting me use this question!}
There’d be no agonizing trying to decide between Jacob and Edward. Edward all the way!!
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Nicola Yoon grew up in Jamaica (the island) and Brooklyn (part of Long Island). She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and daughter, both of whom she loves beyond all reason.
Everything, Everything is her first novel.
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Huge thanks to Nicola for dealing with my flails taking the time. Make sure you’re checking out her website, following her on Twitter and Tumblr, and adding all of her books to your Goodreads TBR.
Now. Haven’t had a chance to get your greedy hands on a copy? I’ve got one up for grabs! I’m going to try my best to get an extra signed copy next week when I see her, but if I don’t the book will be coming from TBD. Either way, the contest is international and additional giveaway rules are here.
**Good Luck!!**
Hi! I would rather lose my sense of touch. I don’t know, I just have a really bad feeling when I can’t see my surroundings. Thanks for the giveaway! Also, I loved the interview! :)
I would say feeling/touch. It would suck but I would still have my memories of it. I think sight is much more important.
Hiii! Thanks for the chance and great interview! :) i think i would rather lose my sense of touch because seeing the people i love is really important to me.
What a tough question! Neither? if I have to pick, sight
I would probably rather lose my sense of touch. Thank you so much for the giveaway! This book has been on my TBR list for a while and I’d love to read it!
Both would be terrible for me but I believe I would choose to loose sense of touch, sight is too precious for me :/
Thank you for the giveaway!
Either would be awful but I’d keep my sense of touch and lose my sight. People seem to adapt well to being blind but to never feel touch again would be torture!
Can I choose neither?? That’s such a tough question but if I had to choose, I’d rather lose sight. Thanks for the giveaway!!
I’d rather lose my sense of touch. I’m pretty clumsy and run into things while staring at them, so I can’t imagine how horrible my life would be if I couldn’t see! There are so many things in life that you can enjoy seeing even if you can’t touch. Take museums for example. No touching, but you take a lot in with just sight. Although, I guess losing sense of touch could be detrimental to a clumsy person too…
Thanks for the giveaway!
I hate the idea of losing either! But I think losing my sense of touch would be worse. Though I’d hate to never see colour again too!
Thanks for the shot at the giveaway!
i’d rather lose my sight! I mean, not being able to see would suck, but the sense of touch is waay more important! like imagine petting a little puppy, but not being able to feel how soft it is??????
I don’t ever want to go blind so I’d rather lose my sense of touch.
Hi! What a tough question! Both would be terrible, but I think I would rather lose my sight, at least I could feel a hug as consolation for that. I can’t imagine losing my sense of touch, that would be horrible!
Thank you so much for the giveaway! Can’t wait to read this book! Great interview! :D
That was a bizarre question. I would rather lose my sense of touch/feeling because I can’t imagine losing my sight. It’s much more important to see what’s around you.
I think I would rather lose my sense of touch- it think going blind would be more traumatic.
I would choose to lose my sense of touch. As lame as this sounds, I would be real bummed not to be able to watch movies or tv again. Of course, I would be able to read without being able to see, but I wouldn’t be able to see adaptations of the books on the big screen. (Like Everything Everything will be!!) I wouldn’t be able to see the beautiful scenery around me and when I travel or watch my son grow.
OMG, that is so hard to answer……sight, seeing my loved ones, and everything beautiful around me. Touch, not being able to feel. Argh, so tough. I will say touch.
Hard question, but I think I’d rather lose my sight.
I’d prefer neither! LOL! But if I had to choose, it’d have to be my sense of touch. At least then I could at least see.
That’s a tough one but I’d have to go with sight. Touch is way too important.
i’d rather lose my sight, losing my sense of touch would feel more traumatic than not being able to see the surface.
I would rather lose my sense of touch than my sight, I couldn’t imagine myself without being able to see things around me and especially the people I love ☺ and oh, I wouldn’t be able to read books and it’s like losing oxygen if that ever happens!
I can’t imagine losing any of those. It’ll be hard to choose because they’re both important for us to live and love our lives, but if it is destined to happen, then we can’t run away from it.
Given the situation, I’d rather lose sight. Feeling tangible things is really something interactive and I don’t really wanna lose that. Blind can still listen, read Braille, etc.
Thank you for the giveaway! :)
Sense of Touch it is. I need sight to enjoy amazing books and travel beautiful places :)