This book was everything they say it is, and so much more. The language is so poetic, the artistic metaphors so beautiful, the images so vivid, I’ll Give You the Sun struck a chord in me that many books haven’t managed to touch in a long time.
This heart wrenching book follows the stories of twins, Noah and Jude. The narratives are set apart by three years at two different points in their lives. Noah’s part is written when he’s 13 while Jude’s narrative is of her later years, when she’s twenty.
We see the twins being broken in irreparable ways, broken individually, as well as broken together, stuck in lives, surviving circumstances, beyond their control. Jandy Nelson does a wonderful job of displaying the truth about broken people and broken families. The character developments are remarkable in that we see WHY they turned into the persons they were at that point in their lives, what exactly lead them to be the person they turned out to be. Also, the writing is so powerful, so descriptive, almost poetical in nature, it painted in my mind beautiful, beautiful pictures of the art as well as incidences described in the book. I’ll Give You the Sun is also the only book that forced me to take out my doodle-art book and create this.
 |
| (…)new kid floating in the air with his green hat and suitcase full of stars.” – Jandy Nelson, I’ll Give You the Sun |
Apparently, Jandy Nelson took some time working on this novel, and it definitely shows. The plot is seamless. Everything simply works out, and not in a non-realistic way, too. Nothing is clear right at the beginning, and that works out for the best.Jandy Nelson drops hints right from the beginning, at unexpected moments, and very slowly the story unravels in totally unexpected ways. The disclosing of information little-by-little was done in the wonderfully.
Another aspect of this novel that I enjoyed is the various references to famous art by a wide range of artists. Not only were these art described in a manner that paints the most vivid pictures in our minds, but the glimpses we get into Noah’s head was so artistically lively and colourful, it left me breathless with bursts of emotions and colours. His mind is that of a naturally gifted artist (painter). He sees art everywhere, and through him, we see the art everywhere in its rawest of forms.
The characters are their own persons in this book. All the characters and not only the protagonists are very well-drawn, writing each character as the hero of their own stories. The character development is amazing as well written.
By the time I was done with this book, it took me a long time to come out off the high I got while reading the book; it took me a while before I could pick up another book. This book left me out of breath; I was left completely undone. My emotions were raw, my mind in shambles yet refreshed at the same time.
By the time I was done with this book, it took me a long time to come out off the high I got while reading the book; it took me a while before I could pick up another book. This book left me out of breath; I was left completely undone. My emotions were raw, my mind in shambles yet refreshed at the same time.
tl;dr: this book is out of the world with an amazing plot, remarkable well-drawn out characters and vivid descriptive images, and y’all should all go give it a read.
