Book Talk: I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

Jude and Noah are twins and have always been very close — Jude the popular, wild daredevil who is outgoing and fun and Noah the quiet, artistic outcast who loves the boy next door. The cracks in Noah and Jude’s relationship start to form at age 13/14 and one event will completely shatter them (told through Noah’s perspective) and then 3 years later the twins, who are stranger to each other and barely speaking, will start to find their way back to each other (told through Jude’s perspective).
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I had been waiting for this book for FOREVER. Ever since I read The Sky Is Everywhere. I was not disappointed even in a little bit with that kind of anticipation. I gave you some of my early thoughts back when I read it after BEA but honestly I just want to write a love letter to this book and to Jandy Nelson. That’s all I really feel like I want to do. It was the kind of book I am looking for.

1. I’ve read books that I consider great works of art but I’ll Give You The Sun is the Sistine Chapel ceiling of them all: I’ve been to the Sistine chapel and Michelangelo’s creation is breathtaking and one glance up at the ceiling isn’t enough to take it all. That is I’ll Give You The Sun. You just stare up at the magnificent ceiling in awe trying to fathom how Michelangelo even accomplished that which is how I felt while reading this book. How are these words perfectly strung together so perfectly? How do you make me feel that with just a sentence? How did you pull off this storytelling so perfectly? It’s complex and intricate and  just shows the magnitude of Jandy Nelson’s gift — something so rare and special that could give me something new upon every read. There’s an inventiveness that truly is stunning, awe-inspiring and a bit magical.

2. The kind of deep, soul-rooted emotional reaction I had to this book is something I feel like I can’t even explain: The way these words and this story made me feel in the very depths of me is what makes a favorite book for me. This book had the plot and characters and the writing but the emotions that Jandy Nelson evoked with this one just felt like she reached into my soul and exposed the barest of my emotions. I was a flood of tears at certain points of this book because the way certain things come together are just devastatingly heartbreaking or overwhelmingly beautiful.

3. The way this story was told is SO effective: So it takes a little bit to get used to the timeline of this novel but basically we read from each twin’s point of view but at different places in time. So we see the beginnings of the story, and the beginning of their fractured relationship, with a young Noah’s point of view and then it alternates to Jude’s point of few several years later and in the present. It’s heartbreaking because, as the reader, we see some of the things that the other twins know which makes the fracture between them overwhelming and devastating. We KNOW secrets and key pieces that they are missing that could help repair their relationship. We carry the burden of their secrets and biggest hurts. As the story progresses, we find out things and they find out things and you just feel them being pulled back together to the point where they will both know the things that each other knows. The way things are told and revealed just really added to the emotional reaction I had and kept me turning the pages because I needed to know each twin’s part in the story!!

4. I will never ever forget Jude and Noah’s story: Never ever. Their passion and their grief and their sadness and EVERYTHING…it just isn’t something that can go away quickly. It leaps off the pages and I just still think about them all these months later. Their triumphs and their losses and their defining moments felt like they were mine as well.

+ EVERYTHING — but if I have to narrow it down — writing, plot, storytelling, EMOTIONAL REACTION, characters. It’s just a Jamie book so everything is perfect.
– NADA

Re-readability: Oh yes. (update: I did several times and the audiobook is one of the best YA audiobooks ever!)
Would I buy a copy for my collection? UM YEAH.

fans of Jandy Nelson’s The Sky Is Everywhere obviously, people who like poetic and lyrical writing, fans of Melina Marchetta/Cath Crowley/Hilary T. Smith, fans of siblings stories, people who like books that are both heartbreaking and beautiful, lovers of character driven novels, people looking for a unique read, fans of books that make you think, PEOPLE WHO THINK YA CANNOT BE LITERARY (read this and I dare you to tell me that again!)

There is a reason that I said Jandy Nelson was a favorite author after The Sky Is Everywhere and I’ll Give You The Sun solidifies that tenfold. You don’t just read a Jandy book — you live it. I’ll Give You The Sun was one of the most all-consuming reading experiences ever. It’s mesmerizing, beautifully written and packs the kind of emotional depth that feels like a tidal wave to the heart. I’ll Give You The Sun is the best book I’ve read in 2014 and I really doubt anything else can dethrone that this year. There’s a reason we’ve all been waiting YEARS for a new Jandy book.

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
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