Everything You Ever Wanted by Luiza Sauma: a review

I’m not sure what drew me to this book on the shelf, but once I read the blurb, I knew I had to pick it up. From that moment I was hooked on this book.

            Everything You Ever Wanted by Luiza Sauma follows Iris, a social media manager in London. She’s unhappy with her life on Earth, and suffers with depression. She discovers an opportunity called ‘Life on Nyx’. It allows a select few people to travel to a newly discovered planet called Nyx. To Iris, this seems like the perfect way to bring some meaning to her life, but there’s a catch, she can never come back to Earth.

            While reading this I could feel that every word meant something. Each step is a perfect progression, and Sauma brilliantly knows how to craft her work. This book is perfect for anybody who wants to better their own writing because we can all learn a lot from it.

            One of my favourite scenes from Iris’ life on Earth is the management training scene. The language used by the trainer is so spot on. These people are so irritating, and Sauma captured this so damn well. The mantras, the psychobabble, all of it. I was genuinely giggling throughout that whole scene.

            Just a small thing that I liked about this book is that the chapters have titles. I don’t see that too often anymore, and I think that’s a shame.

The descriptions of Nyx are truly stunning. Everything feels so real. It's not even just the description of Nyx. Every bit of world building is so fantastic. God, I wish I could better describe how brilliant Sauma is. The best thing I can do is recommend that you read this book.

            I love the chapters about what Iris misses about Earth. For a start, I love the way the titles devolve in conjunction with Iris’ mental state. The way these chapters tie into the final chapter, and also, we truly see how Iris felt about her life on Earth. As much as she thought there was nothing for her, there was so much that she loved. Often it was the little things that you’d never think about if you thought about what you’d miss. If I thought the idea of a 'Life on Nyx' style opportunity sounded anything close to ideal, these chapters reminded me that life here on Earth maybe isn’t so bad after all.

            From Chapter 35 onwards I was genuinely crying. The emotions were sky-high, and it was fantastic. I’m going to keep it vague, because I don’t want to do spoilers, but all I’ll say is that secret room had me shook to my core.

            Now, I know it’s still very early in the year, but there is a very good chance that this will make my top 10 at the end. It was a truly fantastic experience every step of the way. I absolutely recommend that you read this book. The pacing, the story building, the world building, the characters, all of it was brilliantly crafted. I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to writers. The crafting of this book is something I feel we can all learn from.