Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick (2016)

Nanette O’Hare feels stuck, and she doesn’t know why. She lives a privileged life, one where her parents can always afford the latest technology, where she’s head of the soccer team and has soccer scholarships lined up, where even if she doesn’t want a scholarship, her family can afford to send her to any school she wants. And she wants none of this. One of the only places she can feel real is with Mr. Graves, who gives her a copy of “The Bubblegum Reaper” by Nigel Booker. Automatically changed by the book, she actually finds Nigel Booker, who happens to live in the same town as her. Through Nigel she meets Alex, a self conflicted poet who is just as devoted to “The Bubblegum Reaper” as Nanette is. Within months, Nanette and Alex are in love, and with a little bit of courage, Nanette has set her world right. Until Nanette suddenly loses Alex, and Nanette is forced to finally come face to face with the problems that have ruined here.

All though Matthew Quick has only written a few books, he has been critically acclaimed and is known for writing raw, quirky books. His debut book, The Silver Lining Playbook, which was also turned into a movie, is about a man and his family after he get’s diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and his struggle to get back on his feet. His first Young Adult book, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, a book that I really enjoyed, chronicles the life of a teenage boy before he opens fire on his high school. To say the least, he’s not afraid to address heavier issues, but I don’t know if he did with Every Exquisite Thing.

There is no one main plot in this book. For the most part, it follows Nanette from the winter break of her junior year, to graduating her senior year. Actually, I think, after reading this book, it could be argued that there are a grand number of plot turners that are responsible for the story. One could be when she is given “The Bubblegum Reaper”, another when she reads it, when she meets Nigel Booker, when she meets Alex, or when Alex dies. However, even though in just about every synopsis of Every Exquisite Thing it is listed that Alex dies, the book still Alex and Nanette’s whole relationship, and Alex is alive for much of the book. Still, with all the plot turners that change the story, I found this book to be quite boring. From the looks of it, it seems as if a lot happens, but it feels like almost nothing does. And I get it, this book is supposed to mimic everyday life, yet something was just missing.

I think another reason I found this book to be boring was that I didn’t connect with Nanette. It felt as if she was written specifically to have problems, that she was written to have every “typical teenager problem” out there to connect with the audience. In my opinion, it didn’t work. Also, in now way do I think she’s a role model for other girls, or just teenagers in general. It seemed that the only way she had confidence was for other people to give her the attention she wanted, and she fell apart when Alex’s attention went away. On the other hand, while I didn’t necessarily like Alex, I did appreciate him as a character. Although it was not discussed in the book, I do think that Alex had bipolar disorder. He had these sort of manic episodes where he did very elaborate things, thinking he was invincible and that he could fix everything, with even Nanette thinking he was manic. I then saw him go into these lows. Now, it could be completely true that he didn’t have bipolar disorder. However, being very familiar with bipolar disorder, his actions were red flags.

In general, I was really unimpressed with Every Exquisite Thing, but I know some people that have really enjoyed. So, I would read at your own caution.

2 Stars