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

Jul 02, 2015 Katie Ziegler (Life Between Words) rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary

I buddy read this book with my new booktube friend Hope and it was the most wonderful time! My experience of the book is all tied up with the goodness of getting to know Hope better.

Anyway, the book. Towards the end of the book, Jude, one of the main characters says something like, "all was grace." That's not exactly right, so I may come back and fix the quote later. But anyway, that moment for me was the culmination of what the book was really about. Grace. Jude and Noah are caught up in all t I buddy read this book with my new booktube friend Hope and it was the most wonderful time! My experience of the book is all tied up with the goodness of getting to know Hope better.

Anyway, the book. Towards the end of the book, Jude, one of the main characters says something like, "all was grace." That's not exactly right, so I may come back and fix the quote later. But anyway, that moment for me was the culmination of what the book was really about. Grace. Jude and Noah are caught up in all the things teenagers are caught up in - jealousy, popularity, first-loves, heartbreak, secrets - and in those things they lash out cruelly. Mostly towards each other. It was terrible to witness. Mostly because it was so unavoidable if they'd just talked to each other. But perhaps the fact that they *didn't* was more true to a teenager's heart. And the message is grace. Grace when they learn the truth and forgive anyway - without question. Grace has no caveat. It has no qualifications. It just is. That was the beautiful thing about this book.

I might be in the minority, although I think Hope may have agreed with me? But, I liked Jude's voice better than Noah's (that doesn't mean I liked Jude better, just the way she was written). I loved how quirky she was. I loved that she spoke with her dead grandmother and you were never quite sure if she was really seeing her or not. I loved her little asides where she'd quote the little truisms that her grandmother wrote down in a book. I just felt myself being sucked into her funny little world.

It was when I read Noah's chapters that I sometimes felt bogged down. The writing of the whole book is very stylized. Very aware of how clever it is. And honestly, I didn't really like that; it felt forced and a little pretentious. It was occasionally just too much and pulled me away. I felt it most during Noah's chapters.

But ultimately, that didn't at all take away my enjoyment of the book. It *was* well written - despite my grumbles - and the story felt true. True to teenagerdom. True to grief and growing up. And true to grace. ...more

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May 21, 2015 Kirsty Smith rated it it was amazing

I absolutely adored this book. I read it in less than two days. I could not put it down. It's so uplifting. I could relate a lot to the the characters. They had depth and dimension, not flat like a lot of characters I've seen lately. I highly recommend this book. I didn't want it to be over. ...more

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Jun 25, 2015 Mel rated it liked it

The language was hard to read. Sometimes it seems like there are thoughts and feelings intentionally not written and it is up to the reader to figure out. Put the pieces together. I'm sure if the book is narrated out loud those pieces would mean differently until the end. Just like Noah and Jude. They share the same pain and isolation but the truth gets distorted from the guilt and anger.

It is a lovely story but the end was too tidy and there are too many coincidences. ...more

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Apr 23, 2015 Tabitha rated it it was amazing

The best contemporary book I have ever laid my eyes upon.

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Jan 01, 2015 Alexa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This is by far one of the best books I have ever read. It starts off slightly confusing, but after the first chapter or so you fall in love with Jude, Noah, and their stories. Jandy Nelson is amazing in using prose to narrate the story, and anyone will love this book.

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Jan 23, 2015 Valerie Watson rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2015-reading-challenge, 1-star, dnf

Did not finish.

I wanted to like this book so much, but it was just so over filled with crazy and odd descriptive metaphors that it clogged up the story.

Maybe I will try it again someday, but for now, yikes. Not for me.

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