AUTHOR: Jandy Nelson
GENRE: YA Contemporary, Romance, LGBT
PUB DATE: September 16, 2014
PUBLISHER: Dial Books
PAGES: 371
SOURCE: Purchased
Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.
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so i picked up this book not really knowing what to expect. i'd heard INCREDIBLE things about it, everyone was saying that it was one of the best books they'd ever read. finally, i pick it up, and W O W. the best way i can describe i'll give you the sun is this: jandy nelson took a million buckets of different colored paint, splashed it on one giant blank canvas, and the results were BEAUTIFUL. i'll give you the sun is one of the few diverse books i've read, (i'm working on reading more at the moment!) and needless to say, i LOVED it. this book is full of love, art, romance, heartbreak, friendship, creativity, and everything i could have ever wanted.
when i read the synopsis, i was intrigued by three things:
1) noah and jude are twins
don't ask why, but i've always had this weird fascination with twins. i've always thought it would be so cool to have a twin, but i'm not really sure why! and the special relationship they have is sibling goals. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
2) they used to be really close, but they've recently drifted apart
WHAT? WHY? WHEN? HOW? I MUST KNOW. curiosity got the best of me at this point.
3) they each tell a different half of their story
okay, dual POV is cool, but each twin telling half? each telling the story from different ages? GIVE ME THIS BOOK!
i'm sorry for flailing around about this book. i can't help it, IT IS AMAZING. i'm having trouble reviewing this because i can't form sentences. I'M STILL IN SHOCK FROM THE ENDING, OKAY? (although i was extremely satisfied with the ending, so THANK YOU JANDY!)
"'Maybe a person is just made up of a lot of people. Maybe we're accumulating these new selves all the time.' Hauling them in as we make choices, good and bad, as we screw up, step up, lose our minds, find our minds, fall apart, fall in love, as we grieve, grow, retreat from the world, dive into the world, as we make things, as we break things."
i'll give you the sun is the only book i've read that has a very artsy concept. noah is a drawer/painter, and jude does the occasional sculpture. there is lots of artistic symbolism, and i'm happy to say that this is probably one of the main reasons i loved this book so much. art has always had a special place in my heart because being an artist was a dream of mine when i was younger. jandy weaved many creative artistic concepts throughout the story and it really got me thinking about life and how to make the most of it.
i'll give you the sun was not only incredible and life-changing but also had lots of very interesting concepts. jude and noah, at a young age, decided to divvy up the world between themselves: someone gets the stars, someone gets the sun, someone gets the trees, the ocean, etc. if there is something one of the twins wants, they may have to be willing to give up a section of the world they have. this is only one of the many unique parts about this book and its characters. they have a very intriguing way of thinking, and this book definitely changed my way of thinking and how i view the world today.
jandy brought to life some of the most well developed, unique, and beautiful characters i have ever read about. jude, the daredevil teen. noah, the shy artist. mom, the girl with all the secrets. dad, who always seems to have a favorite child. oscar, the recovering addict and bad boy who everybody loves. guillermo, the heartbroken sculptor. you eventually begin to fall in love with them and their story and how their paths all intertwine in the end. every single piece of the puzzle comes together to make one big beautiful picture and it is GLORIOUS.
needless to say, i'll give you the sun was perfect and is a 5/5 star read for me!
i could honestly talk about this book and how amazing it is forever, but i don't want to spoil anything for any of you with my flailing. GO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW AND LOVE IT AS MUCH AS I DO. thanks for reading this review! :)
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