book review: i’ll give you the sun, by jandy nelson

At first, Jude and her twin brother Noah, are inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them.

Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor.

The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant, award-winning novel from the acclaimed author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

Hello, friends!

Today, I bring you a review of one of my favorite books ever. I recently re-read this one and it was a really interesting experience. I already expected to love it, but I was taken aback by how much I actually got this time around and how my feelings changed in general.

1. Noah. I think a big reason as to why I love this book so much, is because of Noah. His narration is so perfect. I know a lot of people actually struggled with the writing style full of metaphors, but I love it. I love the way Noah sees the world and the people around him. How he paints in his head and sees full portraits coming up every time. Even when we’re following Jude’s perspective and Noah has changed so much, there were still be moments where you can see the real Noah within and those broke my heart more than anything. He’s such a fantastic character, with an amazing soul and I wish I could be as smart and passionate as he is.
2. All the talks about art. The first time I read this book, this was actually a big deal for me. I’d never cared that much about art, to be honest, and have just started to develop an interest on it recently. For the most part, I just cared if a painting was beautiful and was clear to require a lot of technique, but I’ve never been that interested in deeply analyzing art. To me, it was just about being pretty. But the way that this book talks about the topic and how much it means to these characters to be able to express themselves, either through painting, drawing or sculptures, was heart-wrenching and made me feel a lot more than I thought.
3. This book is filled with coincidences. “We were all heading for each other on a collision course, no matter what. Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story.”  This is a very important quote to the story because it sums up perfectly. There are some crazy coincidences in this book that perhaps most readers will find absurd, but that I loved to pieces. I believe so much in coincidences, and they’re my particular way of seeing a response of the universe that I am on the right track. The movie ‘Serendipity‘ is one of my favorites ever because it deals exactly with this feeling and so does this book. It’s so much fun.
4. Morally-grey characters. I feel like whenever we mention morally grey characters, people picture a badboy with a good heart in their minds. Like, I have a really bad attitude and I’m mean and snarky, but deep down I’m just soft and broken. I get it – this trope has been done well, and I have my fair share of favorite characters that fit this description, but I’ve never seen anyone write characters like Jandy Nelson. All of them are flawed and a bit messed up. They do things they shouldn’t and they hurt others, and they get jealous and angry and upset. But they’re still amazing people who are just trying their bests. Even though everyone here has fucked up bad, you still love them, and I really wish more characters could be like this.

1. The pacing. I feel like Jude’s narration kind of lacked on plot. There was not much going on and her chapters definitely felt a lot slower. I don’t know if I feel this way because Noah is my favorite character and I was definitely more interested in what was going on with him, but overall, I felt like especially in the middle, there was not much happening around Jude and it felt hard to get through. The first time I read this book, I actually skipped some of Jude’s chapters and went straight to Noah’s, because that’s how much I cared, lol.
2. Jude’s relationship with her love interest. Surprisingly, I did not like this relationship at all this time around. When I first read it, I even though they were cute, but something about the age gap or just the overall sexual tension was making me uncomfortable. I still think this was just a *me* problem, though, as many people actually really like this relationship, but it was a no for me.

Overall, even though there were things about this book I disliked, I still gave it an all-around five stars, because what I love about it compensates for all the moments I was slightly uncomfortable.

I think if you’re a fan of art, you can not pass this book. I believe artists will identify with it a lot more, will be able to recognize all the names and references at first glance and will definitely feel much more inspired. Even though I am not an artist whatsoever, I felt really eager to put my thoughts down in the most creative ways I could think of just because of this book.

If you’ve read it, what are your thoughts on I’ll Give You The Sun? And who’s your favorite character? Let me know in the comments!