Analysis Of Never Always Sometimes

Before starting this review, I really want to thank Adi Alsaid for what he did at ALA. There weren’t any copies of his book during his set signing time, so what he did was sign a bunch of note cards for all of us who waited in line, and then when we came back the next day he signed a copy. I am so glad I got to meet him, he was so kind and it made me really excited to read his book.
Never Always Sometimes came off as a little bit strange to me, at first, it didn’t quite fit onto what I would like to call my enjoyment scale. Now, it had an amazing premise and I was anxious to dive into it, but I had a hard time getting into it when it first started. The layout was a little strange and slightly difficult to get used to – but towards the ending

These days, as both characters ironically prove, it is difficult trying to be different when being different is a category in itself. Dave and Julia, the two protagonists of this book, are both the cool, “hipster” type kids that would burn themselves drinking their coffee because they have to do it before it is cool. Both of them think high school is the biggest cliché imaginable, which – when you think about it- it really is. How many of us fantasized over being prom king or queen? Having someone ask you out to a dance in the most romantic, over used fashion possible? Wanted to run for class president or some other office? These are the sort of things that Dave and Julia vow never to do during their four years of high school, until one day everything changes. As the summary explains, Dave and Julia start a pact (which they write down and title the "Nevers List") right before high school, swearing off participating in any of the "cliché" high school experiences that were just bound to arise. The list goes as

Never date your best friend.

The clichés, as listed above, were really enjoyable. Most of them were some of the things I avoided in high school as well, not that I vowed to avoid them at all costs – I just never got around to doing any of them because I was always far too busy reading. I really loved watching Julia and Dave go through their cliché list, though it started off as more of a joke for them rather than a die-hard mantra, but seeing how they experienced the different events and how hard they tried to make some of them happen was really entertaining.

Now, earlier when I said that the layout was a little strange, what I meant was the way the book was sectioned off into three separate turns of Point of View. The first section of the book is told entirely from Dave’s perspective, which I did enjoy. The second half of the book is then told from Julia’s point of view, and reading her thoughts made me sympathize with her more than seeing her through Dave’s perspective – which, sadly, made me want to rip her hair out. The third section, and this is where I got slightly confused, is told through a combination of both Dave and Julia’s voices. One thing I do have to say about this format, though, is that even though I did not partially warm up to it – it was smart. When the book starts off both Dave and Julia are the same person, and I think that giving each of them a section to go through some sort of character arc before switching to where they have dual narration gave