Wednesday, March 25, 2015

I'll Give You the Sun / review

I’ll Give You the Sun is one of the most beautiful, passionate, emotional books I’ve ever read. The writing by Jandy Nelson really pulls you in and makes you feel every little thing that the characters feel. And, oh, the characters. Noah and Jude Sweetwine are some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever had the privilege to read about. They’re so real and make a lot of mistakes and are honest, heartbreakingly so. The two just feel so real, I wanted to pull them out of the pages and give them giant hugs and blankets (because they go through a lot in this book). 

The way this book is written, in two different time streams from two different characters' points of view, was so brilliant. The sister Jude’s chapters were written when the twins were 16, and the brother Noah’s  chapters were written when they were 13. This created a very interesting dynamic. We learned things that had happened and things that were happening, but there was a space of time where events were kept from the reader until the end of the book. It created a very different kind of tension, one that I’ve never experienced before and I thought it was absolutely genius.

The characters in this book are incredibly precious to me. Noah Sweetwine is probably one of the most beautiful and passionate and heartbreaking characters I’ve ever gotten to read about. He made my heart ache and I felt for him the entire book. His chapters were very beautifully written, mostly due to the fact that he’s an artist and everything is amplified to him. Noah will always have a very special place in my heart. Jude is also a very wonderfully beautiful character. She makes a lot of development throughout the book and there’s nothing I love more than great character development. She made a lot of mistakes in her life and seeing her try to deal with the consequences was heartbreaking but also really made you cheer for her. Regardless of what she did, all I wanted was for her to be okay. There are a couple secondary characters in this book that are very vibrant and memorable, but no one was more important than Noah and Jude. 

The thing that really sticks out about this book was how it made me feel. Boy, did it make me feel a lot of things. I felt every emotion that the characters went through. I cried when they cried (and even when they weren’t because, let’s face it, I cry at most things). I loved when they loved. I was angry when they were angry. The way that their emotions were written and described were so painfully real and believable that my heart ached throughout the majority of the book. Probably from page 2 on. No book has made me feel such a range of emotions and feel them so intensely within 370 pages like I’ll Give You the Sun did. It was such an incredibly beautiful experience. 


5 out of 5 stars? I’d give this book 3000 stars if I could. I’d give it the sun.

4 comments:

  1. I'm so excited for the rebirth of your blog!! 💕💕

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  2. I've heard such good things about this book, I definitely need to check it out.

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  3. When was this book published? We dont have it here in the philippines, hope i could have this one too.. Thanks for the review. Keep blogging! 😀

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  4. While I follow you with much dedication, understand that what I'm about to say is not criticism with distaste or disdain, but with sincerity and -- I guess you can say -- love. Like a sisterly love almost.

    That begin said, this review has a lot of words in it...but it lacks content. I understand this is a blog, and maybe I'm taking book reviews a little too seriously... I can concede to that. But a book "review" in its own right, should be about the content, the characters, the feel, the tone. Obviously it needs to include opinion, " I loved it because..." or "This-and-this aspect of it made it relatable, realistic, etc...because...." but it should also include detailed content for someone considering reading the book.


    Idk... I love your IG, your blog, everything you post. I absorb it. Your photos are beautiful, personality shines through everything, and you're so adorable (in a very non-creepy, internet follower way). But reading this review, it seems that everything before it was a crescendo to flat, insipid review. I don't know anything about this book, and I'm probably going to seek amazon.com or bn.com or goodreads for a detailed account on what it's about and what I can come to expect.

    I feel like I ripped you apart in this comment and I just want to reiterate that I had no intention of it being that way. So I do sincerely apologize. Truly, honestly, I love and follow everything you post. Please don't let my comments ruin your day.

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