Saturday 28 March 2015

I'll Give You The Sun by: Jandy Nelson

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Published: September 16, 2014 by: Dial Books
Pages:371
Rating: 3.5/4 Stars
*highlight white text to reveal spoilers*


I'll Give You The Sun was a heartwrenching story about teenage twins who's lives are torn apart by a horrific accident that killed their mother. Jude, is a daredevil diva who's confidence lights up the room. Noah, is the shy one, who is trying to figure love out when he falls in love with the boy next door. The story is told from Noah's perspective at age 13, to Jude's perspective at age 16. They are both trying to come to terms with one another, and with new-found love.

I was debating whether or not to rate this book 3.5, or 4 stars. Initially, I thought the book was kind of weird and confusing. However after I looked more into it, I started to appreciate it more, and I thought that it was really cute. To the positives first, the book was very interesting. It has a strong theme of superstitions, as the twins come from a very superstitious family. Jude is given a bible by her grandmother, that has a lot of good luck-bad luck lessons in it, and I found that really captivating to read. Every once in a while, there was an excerpt from the book about a legend or tale, and that was really cool to read.

I also loved the strong characters. Jude was confident, but not in a cocky way. She had her own flaws, but she was caring to the ones she loved. When her parents divorced, Jude took it the hardest, and we get to see a softer side from her. I really felt for her during those dark times. She was so helpful towards her brother, and essentially saved his life, when he was about to commit suicide. 
Noah on the other hand, still had a lot to learn. I think it's because the story is told from when he was 13, so he was still not very understanding. He was still such a cute character, and he was stronger than everyone thought he was.

To the negatives, I found the book to be extremely confusing. The alternating ages was really hard to follow, and I found myself trying to go back and understand the storylines. I felt as if there were a lot of parts in the book as well that were not very needed. Some of the love stories I didn't really care for, and I wished the book was more just focused on the brother-sister relationship.

Overall, this book was great, I just had some trouble with the storylines. The characters and information was amazing, but some components really bothered me. That's why I settled on 3.5/5 stars.

Have you read I'll Give You The Sun? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess



8 comments:

  1. I am currently listening to it right now on the way to school because I have like an hour commute to my college haha. At first, I was really confused and I didn't understand all of the hype surrounding the book because it wasn't really doing anything for me. Now, I'm more into it and I like it more - I'm only about half way, though! Great review! :)

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  2. I just love this book. I'm glad you liked it, too! :)

    Julie @ Books and Insomnia

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  3. I'm sad this didn't completely work out for you. I'm hesitant to pick it up because I've read it on others blogs too that some found the writing style confusing and I hate those type of books. I think I'll just skip this book, there are many out there that I want to read a 100 times more.
    Lovely review. :)

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    1. Thanks, Veronika! Yes, the writing style just didn't work :(

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  4. I want to read this book as I normally tend to love books about relationships,especially between siblings.

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