“Here’s one of the many things I thought I knew that turns out to be wrong: you need to fall in love to end up with a broken heart.”
Everything I Thought I Knew is an ambitious, genre-bending, unique young adult novel. I went into the book only knowing it was about a high school student who recently received a heart transplant, and expected a typical contemporary, coming of age story. While the first 75% of it ran along those lines, the final section was a complete 180.
I have heard some people really enjoyed the first part and dislike the plot twist- but I was the opposite. I didn't hate the beginning, but it was pretty average to me. I didn't love our main character and often found myself exasperated at her decisions. The main thing I was interested in was the concept of cell memory and the more sciency concepts (oh, and the love interest!).
"What makes us who we are? Do we actually have souls that exist apart from our flesh, blood, and bones? Or are our personalities determined by the cells that surge through our bodies and the codes embedded in our DNA? Where do our thoughts and memories fit in?"
I admit I kind of saw the basic idea of the plot twist coming, but I didn't guess the full extent of it. I enjoyed how it was executed, but still feel like it needed a little more development. The ending is something that will appeal to some people who don't need things fully explained or wrapped up, but I personally hate the feeling of finishing a book and still being confused. I want to understand what happened, but it is like that feeling of having something just out of your grasp and not quite clicking.
This was a really impressive debut and I look forward to seeing what Shannon Takaoka writes next. I found the whole book easy to fly through and the ending particularly engrossing.
Overall, if you like YA contemporaries with genre-bending elements and don't mind slightly open/confusing endings- I would highly recommend this book! However, if you prefer your books to fall squarely into one box and wrap up neatly perhaps give this one a miss. I fell in the middle, but am definitely glad I read it!
★★★☆☆.5 stars
Thank you to Candlewick Press for this ARC
Release Date:13 October 2020