SUMMARY

I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson is a rollercoaster ride of a book. It follows the lives of two twins, Noah and Jude as they fall in love, go through the ups and downs of life and grow apart. The story is told from alternative point of views, at different stages of their life. When Noah tells the story, the twins are 13 – 14 years old and when Jude tells the story the twins are 16 years old.

IDEA + PLOT

Firstly, can I just say how beautiful and artistic and brilliant this book is? It’s so flawlessly written, with so much emotion that it just pores of the page. It is realistic and raw and is a must read. I also loved how the book revolves around art.

I have never really read young adult books about art and the way Nelson incorporates art into the twin’s life is amazing. You can see them really live and breathe their art. They are surrounded by it – they want to be surrounded by t and it’s very inspiring. To further emphasize this, the pages of the book has streaks of paint, some of the pages are black and some of the text has been made white, instead of the usual black colour. In fact, the book got me so interested in art that I borrowed a book on Picasso’s art from the library.

I also loved the way the book alternated between the two twins at different ages. I found that to be a very unique aspect of the book. It also added to the mystery and made lots of questions such as ‘what happened to the twins?’ rise up within me.

The plot was also very unique and not the typical and cliché teenage sob story. It was hard hitting and often left me breathless as I scrambled to turn the page. I won’t say its relatable (at least to me) because I don’t have a twin, nor am I artistic, daring or gay. Despite not being to relate to the characters, I found the plot and situations the twins to be in extremely touching. There were moments where I just wanted to jump inside the book and scream at the characters.

CHARACTERS

Jude is a dare-devil. She is the one who is friendly, confident and an extrovert. She likes to go to parties, surf and do everything else that Noah doesn’t. She is quite bold and although there are times in the book where this isn’t a good thing, it’s easy to see she loves Noah.

Noah is a quiet introvert who would much rather paint in his head and spy on people (not in the creepy way…at least I think) than be at parties or surfing. He has never felt like he’s fit in and his only friend at the beginning of the book is his twin sister Jude. The only thing the twins have in common is their talent for art. Jude is good at making sculptures while Noah is amazing at drawing and painting.

Despite their multitude differences, the twins have a very strong bond. They absolutely cannot live without each other, they understand each other without saying anything and they always have each other’s back (or at least they did). We see them playing games when they’re younger such as dividing the world and deciding who they would rescue first between their parents if their parents were drowning.

The friendship between twins is extremely strong and beautifully written. We can see exactly how close they are to each other.

However, the way the twins’ relationship falls apart is also quite beautifully described and laid out. It is a gradual process instead of being a huge fight (which I find quite abrupt when I read in books) and festered over time instead of overnight.

FINALLY…

One of my favourite things in the entire book is not actually in the book. It’s a letter Jandy Nelson writes to the readers before the book begins. In it she explains how the book is about love – but not just romantic love. It’s about the love between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons and finally the twins themselves.

That is one of the most beautiful things about the book. The way the emotion of love has been explored in the book, the way it has been understood by Nelson and then relayed to the reader. It’s hard to stumble upon young adult books that look past romantic love but I’ll Give You The Sun isn’t one of those books. It’s an absolute emotional rollercoaster and a must read.