REVIEW: I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN by Jandy Nelson

 Summary:

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

Title: I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN

Author: Jandy Nelson

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Dial Books

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

Rating: 3/5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked the plot and thought that plotwise, it was well executed. But I did NOT like the characters or the writing style. Because while I am a fan of "unlikeable" characters -- which typically means they fuck up and do something that makes them feel more real -- I just couldn't connect with Jude or Noah. Maybe it's because I've never experienced their loss or maybe it is because they were SO artsy that I just couldn't get there. Either way I didn't really care about either of their stories on an individual level. 
From a plot perspective, I thought that the story flowed really logically and was paced really well. I liked seeing the bits from both perspectives and the fact that it was from two different ages. However, both narratives seemed to feel at a similar age. If it weren't for the age being written on the start of the chapter, I wouldn't have realized that they were different ages to be honest. And while I could tell the difference between Jude and Noah, it was only because their preferred art style was different -- Noah liked to paint/draw whereas Jude made sculptures. That was it. And the art thing, gosh it felt so forced. Like I got it, they were artists. Artists are quirky and a little different, but I felt like I was listening to the ramblings of those street preachers.

About the writing style, I think Emily @ The Book Geek said it best so I'm just going to link you to her review.

I still gave it three stars and if you're on the fence about it, check it out. I seem to be one of the only ones who doesn't like it but man. It was tough to get through it.

Also, I am participating in a spoiler free twitter chat on November 13th, 7pm ET to discuss this one! Come join us!