I'll Give You the Sun in Amazon Editors' YA Book Club

Mar 31, 2015 Jackie rated it it was amazing

Though I wasn't sure when I started it (thought it was just another book about accepting your sexuality), I loved this book and became very invested in the characters.

The book is told from two perspectives: Noah at age 14 (from the past leading up to 'it') and Jude at age 16 (after 'it' has happened). They are twins, and for a long time, you are not sure what 'it' is---and it wasn't predictable until near the end...and then I *had* to know how it would turn out.

Noah is an artist; he sketches and Though I wasn't sure when I started it (thought it was just another book about accepting your sexuality), I loved this book and became very invested in the characters.

The book is told from two perspectives: Noah at age 14 (from the past leading up to 'it') and Jude at age 16 (after 'it' has happened). They are twins, and for a long time, you are not sure what 'it' is---and it wasn't predictable until near the end...and then I *had* to know how it would turn out.

Noah is an artist; he sketches and paints and sees the world in vivid colors and in abstract ways. The way he explains how he's capturing what he sees is unique, and he often offers a title for a portrait of the situation going on around him. He relates most to his mother who seems to encourage his talents. His twin sister used to be his metaphorical other half, until 'it' happens. Noah is gay, and he just doesn't fit in the world that Jude lives in. He thinks he's finally found a friend and maybe boyfriend in Brian, the boy across the street. Jude is trying her hardest to fit in, be popular, and feels like her mom doesn't know she's alive. She, too, has artistic talent, but she hides her sand sculptures. Jude has a strange tendency to consult her dead grandmother's 'Bible' of holistic remedies and cures, which becomes interesting and endearing.

Somehow, in Jude's narratives, their mother has died, and Jude--not Noah--has been accepted to the art college. Jude and Noah don't talk anymore. Noah has developed a relationship with their father, though they weren't close before, and he's trying to convince the world he's normal, straight, and a jock--no longer an artist. Jude is trying desperately to create the piece of art that she needs to in order to mend the relationship with her dead mother (who she is convinced is breaking all of her sculptures). She is apprenticed to a famous artist named Guillermo Garcia and his foster son Oscar.

The way the details of this book all come together is like a well-crafted puzzle. I thought for a while I was going to hate what came of these siblings and their parents, but in the end I didn't have to throw the book across the room. The writing is beautiful, vibrant, and honest. The book is not meant for middle schoolers at all. One of the best I've read in a while! ...more

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Apr 28, 2015 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. As a former Art History minor, I was just giddy with the inclusion of art throughout. My only complaint is I wanted more Noah at the end. I love that boy. I love his incredibly strange, overwhelming, beautiful way of seeing the world. It was like I too was seeing the world in a new way when I read his parts. LET'S REMAKE THE WORLD is right--this book, and Noah especially, made me feel like the world was in fact this OTHER-worldly beautiful thing full of beautiful p ...more

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May 24, 2015 Janene Murphy rated it it was amazing

WOW. I really enjoyed this. Though it took me a little while to get into the storyline, the characters hooked me right away. Both Noah and Jude are so interesting and their voices are so unique and fresh! This is a book with a lot of emotional struggle, something Nelson does expertly. Everything felt very genuine, honest and heart-felt in nature. With that said--and I may be saying this because I'm an out-of-touch mom--I found their feelings/actions would have made more sense if they were both a ...more

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May 28, 2015 Collins rated it it was amazing

Extraordinary!

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Feb 02, 2015 Jordan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, bookclub, trc2015

This is probably my seventh time trying to formulate a cohesive and coherent thought regarding this book.

I have been blown away into a new dimension and I don't want to find my way out.

I'll Give You the Sun is a book that deserves to be read. It deserves more attention that it has gotten so far and all the attention that it will get in the future. It is an important book and it means something, which is more than I can say for a lot of books that I've read in the past.

I'll Give You the Sun fo This is probably my seventh time trying to formulate a cohesive and coherent thought regarding this book.

I have been blown away into a new dimension and I don't want to find my way out.

I'll Give You the Sun is a book that deserves to be read. It deserves more attention that it has gotten so far and all the attention that it will get in the future. It is an important book and it means something, which is more than I can say for a lot of books that I've read in the past.

I'll Give You the Sun follows the narrative of two twins, brother Noah and sister Jude. Flipping between points of view, we see the rising action from Noah's 13/14 year old perspective and the rising/falling action from Jude's 16 year old perspective. Something terrible has happened to tear these two apart and we have the pleasure of watching them find their way back.

Jandy Nelson has a poetic heart and uses her talent to weave hundreds of beautifully crafted images through the story. When I first picked this title up, I had a hard time getting into the story. It started kind of slow, and I wasn't sure if I would like the focus on a sibling relationship, and not being a twin, I wasn't sure if the specifics of their relationship would really resonate with me on a "deeper than the surface" level. Boy was I wrong. Their relationship struck me harder than any that I've read before. I honestly can't put it into words. More than that: I don't want to put it into words. To do that would not do them justice, and would certainly not do justice to the time and effort Nelson spent in creating them.

Beyond their sibling relationship, you see father/daughter, father/son, mother/daughter, mother/son, boy/girl, boy/boy, mentor/mentee... and all are done beautifully and are so, so whole. There's a little grief, a little romance, a lot of beautiful torture, and a lot of heartache, but it's all done well. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I panicked and blushed a little at how honest and true some of the situations were to my own life.

I know a lot of this sounds like jibberish, and I should probably wait longer than 12 hours to write a review, but I'm afraid that I'll lose some of the magic as time goes on.

I'm not one to buy every book that I read, and I certainly don't buy books unless I know I love them and will reread them in the future.

This is a book that I will buy. This is an author that I am dying to meet. I will read her other works and I will daydream about this story and these characters for many, many days to come. I will get home at night and wonder what movie it is I was watching but didn't finish, because this is a story that sticks with you. This is a story whose ending you will dread. You will wish these characters were real, and even more: that they were a part of you.

I want to remember how it felt to read this book and I want to strive to write something as perfect as it. ...more

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Mar 09, 2015 Lindsey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Holy cow this is a powerful book!

Everyone should read it! I feel like these characters will be with me for awhile.

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Feb 01, 2015 Genna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2015, books-i-wish-i-d-written, heart-breakers, feel-the-love, queer, family, nyc, art, 2019

Just reread this book and it’s as beautiful and well-crafted this time as it was 4 years ago when I first read it. This is such a gorgeous story and so well-told! Love, love love!

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