Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 08/01/2018 *Starred Review* Here is the third thought-provoking novel about Levithan’s intriguing character A, the 16-year-old boy (or is he a boy?) who wakes up each day in a different body. As before, he is in love with a girl named Rhiannon, but, given his here-today-gone-tomorrow condition, he wonders how anything could come of his love for her. Accordingly, he has cut off contact and she misses him terribly so she—in concert with Nathan, whose body A had once occupied—begins to search for him. Unfortunately, someone else is also searching for him: X, a psychopath who had previously occupied the body of the evil Reverend Poole, who is now dead. Happily, Rhiannon and Nathan find A first and he and Rhiannon reconnect. But there is much to think about in their reunion. What does the word relationship mean for them? Can they maintain their connection? A also questions his condition of being, the ethics of occupying someone else’s body, and whether or not there are others like him (there are, and Levithan takes readers inside their lives). Things become even more complicated when X, whose condition is identical to A’s, finally tracks him down. Like the other two books about A, this is a novel of ideas that challenges readers to wonder if someday there will be another novel about these wonderful characters. One hopes so. - Copyright 2018 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2018 Gr 9 Up—The saga of A, a teen who awakens each day in a different person's body, comes to a close. In earlier installments, A, who identifies as neither male nor female, fell in love with Rhiannon while in the body of her boyfriend. The two attempted to forge a bond, but A assumed a relationship between them could never work and disappeared. Now Rhiannon looks for A with Nathan, a teenager left reeling when A inhabited him—a rare misstep for A, who's scrupulous about leaving their hosts unaffected. Enter X, a malevolent body swapper hell-bent on teaching A to use their abilities for ill. Though X is at times cartoonishly evil and his fascination with luring A to the dark side goes unexplained, he infuses the narrative with some much-needed conflict, as the romantic angst of the first two books is wearing a bit thin. Notably, Levithan expands the world beyond Rhiannon and A. He draws parallels between other body swappers living in the margins and communities hit hard by President Trump's policies and the rise of hate groups. The recent March on Washington is a vibrant backdrop for the story's climax, but the quieter victories that conclude the tale are far more powerful, encouraging readers to take pride in what sets them apart. VERDICT A must for libraries with patrons eager to see A and Rhiannon's tale through.—Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.