When I first read Jandy Nelson’s debut novel: The Sky is Everywhere back in 2010 when it came out, I was encapsulated by Nelson’s writing style and the characters that she creates. I’ll Give You The Sun is another magical novel from the mind of Jandy Nelson. A story that will bring you to tears and make you laugh, a story that has characters you will love until the end.

 

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. But something shocking drives Jude and Noah apart to the point where they are barely speaking. Jude meets a broken, egotistical boy who she is dying to find out more about and Noah is falling in love with the new boy next door. Both Noah and Jude are changed in dramatic ways and both halves of their stories need to find a way to intertwine so that they can find their way back to one another, so they have a chance to remake their world.

One of the things that were brilliant about this book was how real the characters were; it felt like I was on their journeys alongside them. I also loved how descriptive the book was and how Nelson made Noah and Jude’s artwork so magical and real, you could smell the paint underneath your nose, you could envision their paintings like they were on the walls around you.

What I also found fascinating about this book was how each character’s story was told from two different age perspectives. Noah’s story is told from the ages of thirteen through to fourteen and Jude’s is told from the age of sixteen and by doing this, we get to see the happenings of the big events in the book through two completely different sets of eyes.

 

“I think you can sort of slip out of your life and it can be hard to find your way back in.”

– Jandy Nelson, I’ll Give You the Sun

 

I will admit at first, I fell in love with the character of Noah and his story and thought that his character was more intriguing than that of Jude, but as the story continued, Jude’s character is fleshed out and becomes this girl who just wants to be seen.

Even the secondary characters in this book are thought out beautifully and jump to life like Oscar, Brian, Guillermo and even Prophet the parrot!

The only thing that I didn’t really like is the reunion of Brian and Noah at the end of the novel. I felt like it was rushed and there wasn’t any description of the scene which was bizarre since there had been loads of description of the two characters in the rest of the book.

But, that was only a few sentences and those few sentences did not ruin the book. I’ll Give You The Sun is one of those novels that I could read, read and read again, a book that I just wouldn’t get tired of and those books – in my opinion – are the best type of books.

I fully recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an emotional rollercoaster of a read and someone who wants to dedicate their heart to characters who need to be loved, who need to be understood and characters that you just want to be real.

Jandy Nelson has done it again – another epic book.

Side note:
Also, look how beautiful the page designs are for the book! They are so amazing and you come across a different design every other page which I find incredible! It’s very rare that I find a book that decorates the pages, so I love it when they do!

 

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