REVIEW: I'll Give You the Sun

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson 

Genres: YA, Contemporary, Romance

Published: September 2014 by Dial Books

Pages: 371

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 10/10

Description: 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.

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

This gorgeous, beautiful, haunting, hilarious, poignant, vibrant, and touching (and other adjectives that I left out) is the first book to make me honestly and genuinely laugh out loud and sob loudly. This is not just a book; it is art. 

I'll Give You The Sun is this brilliantly woven and carefully crafted story of family, tragedy, love, and loss. That may have sounded cheesy and clique, but I don't think I can conjure up the right words to describe this book. It is both depressing, yet imaginative and uplifting. It captures the very fibers of humanity and passion in a clear-eyed and vibrant manner. This is the perfect contemporary book. It is perfect both for young adult readers, and beyond. It has the honesty and sincerity of a child and the sober reality of grown-up problems. 

Nelson also adds a lot of tidbits of knowledge: 

“Or maybe a person is just made up of a lot of people,” I say. “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.” 

Jandy Nelson's prose is a gift; it is whimsical and and vivid, and mournful and wistful, all at the right times. The characters all had such distinct voices. They all felt real and authentic. 

This book deals with a lot of sensitive and prevalent issues with finesse. The love that these characters have and the passion they have for each other, whether it be romantic or family, felt so strong and so real. When the puzzles and pieces came together, I felt like cheering loudly, but instead just sort of smiled through my tears. 

This part made me gasp and squeal and put the book down:

“In a flash, we're through the door, across the street and into the woods, running for no reason and laughing for no reason and totally out of breath and out of our minds when Brian catches me by my shirt, whips me around, and with one strong hand flat against my chest, he pushes me against a tree and kisses me so hard I go blind.” 

And my personal favorite quote:

"I'm so happy I'm not a horse!"

I'll Give You The Sun is honestly a masterpiece. I do not cry during books. I didn't shed a tear reading Fault In Our Stars or Perks Of Being a Wallflower or The Book Thief or any other wonderfully depressing novel. However, I cried out of happiness and sadness and relief throughout this book. I honestly surprised myself. It was just so genuine and wonderful. Please, do yourself a favor and read it. 

Next To Normal, because both are absolute pieces of art that showcase family drama and other prevalent issues in the present day. Both capture emotion and love and rage and the very fragile state of a humans mind in a time of tragedy in such a captivating manner. Both are wonderful. If you haven't seen or heard NTN, please do! I had the soundtrack in my brain throughout reading I'll Give You the Sun which simply depressed me further. Wonderful.

GOOD-READS UPDATES:

03/08	marked as:	currently-reading
03/09	page 200		53.0%	"Prose is so vibrant and the characters are so distinct."
03/10			100.0%	"I AM IN TEARS. I never cry whilst reading books. Like ever. This is such a beautiful story. I am going to jump off a cliff. I dO NOT EVEN KNOW! I even went into this book thinking I would be disappointed because of all the hype but IT BLEW ME OUT OF THE FREAKING WATER. JUST family drama and tragedy and love and relationships and the very essence of passion and humanity were captured SO BEAUTIFULLY."