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igytsWhat: I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Who: Walker Books Australia

When: June 22nd 2015

How: A copy of this novel was provided by Walker Books Australia for review.

Jude and her twin Noah were incredibly close – until a tragedy drove them apart, and now they are barely speaking. Then Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy as well as a captivating new mentor, both of whom may just need her as much as she needs them. What the twins don’t realize is that each of them has only half the story and if they can just find their way back to one another, they have a chance to remake their world.

5cats2I was equal parts excited and nervous to read I’ll Give You the Sun. I had heard absolutely glowing things about it, and I don’t have the best track record with things that are beloved by my fellow readers.

So even though I desperately wanted to read it because of the LGBT aspect, the art aspect, and the sibling aspect – I was a little apprehensive.

And then I started it. And I didn’t want to stop. I also wanted to stop because I didn’t want it to end.

In short: I’ll Give You the Sun was wonderful. Supremely wonderful. Incandescently wonderful. Every single kind of wonderful.

Because it’s told in two perspectives that are in two different times, I’m going to split my review into Noah and Jude, because reasons and logic or whatever.

Jude:

Jude was gorgeous. I’m going to come out and say that I didn’t expect to love her as much as I did. I mean, Noah is still my favourite, but I thought Jude wouldn’t even come close to my love for Noah, but I was wrong. I adored Jude. So much.

There’s a lot of wondering about Jude, because who you read about in Noah’s chapters, and how she is in her own chapters are so completely different. I, of course, loved the latter Jude because she is completely weird and I love weird. But there’s an air of mystery about her because you want to know why she is so different and what happened to make her change. You do find out, and, like everything else in this beautiful novel, it’s heartbreaking.

The hot English boy, otherwise known as Oscar. Oh, Oscar. He is that perfect book boyfriend. Equal parts of vulnerable and cocky, British, motorbike riding, in pain – the list goes on. I must say that there was a part of me that thought Oscar was a little too good to be true – especially towards the end. But I could forgive that because gorgeous boys have to exist somewhere in the world, right?

Guillermo. He was amazing. I loved him from the first moment he stepped onto the page, and I absolutely love how he turned out to be so much more than I ever would have expected from his character. His and Jude’s relationship totally made me want to go and find an emotionally broken art mentor to lead me through life. Seriously.

I must say there was a moment where I almost completely went off Jude, and I still kind of have negative feels about this certain thing that she did, but I still love her regardless.

Noah:

Noah, baby. Noah, precious. Noah, darling.

Noah. Noah. Noah.

Not gonna lie. Noah is the main reason I loved this book so much. He is seriously one of the most beautiful and gorgeous characters I have ever read about, and my love for him is endless and eternal. Everything about him is endearing, and I fell in love from word one.

I also connected to him. A lot. There were moments when I could just feel his pain, because I had been through the same thing. It’s always amazing to come across a character that you can relate to so much. It just brings them that much closer, and makes reading about them that much more amazing.

His relationship with Brian is possibly the most adorably painful thing in the entire world. I was shipping those two with my usual fiery burning thousand suns passion, and there was so much between them, and it went on for so long. I just. I have so many feels for these two, but I won’t say anything more because the progression of their relationship is possibly the most beautiful aspect of this ridiculously beautiful book.

~

Now I have to say that the relationship between Jude and Noah is supremely gorgeous. And also wrought with pain. I think those two words are the best things to describe this novel: gorgeous pain. Because there are so many gorgeous moments in this book, but there are just as many painful ones to match it.

On another note: I loved Jandy’s letter at the beginning of the book. Knowing how much she loves Jude and Noah made me love them that much more. Because I know exactly what it’s like to feel as if your darlings are real, and I love that Jandy felt this way about the twins.

I am so incredibly glad that I didn’t let the hype for this book scare me away, because it has really cemented itself into my heart as a new favourite. I know I will be returning to these characters before too long.

© 2015, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

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Posted on: June 23, 2015 • By: Chiara

22 Responses to Review: I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

  1. Anne says:

    I’ve seen this book so many times in the last few weeks and had no idea what it was about. But your review has convinced me to put it on the TBR for a time when I need a contemporary. :D

  2. So glad to see you loved this one too Chiara! I love how every character had their role with such complex and beautiful relationships, and everything was intertwined by the end. Plus, those art references made the story so much more meaningful too. Lovely review as always :)

    • Chiara says:

      I absolutely LOVED how everything was so interwoven, and that everything that happened had such an impact on the overall novel. SO GOOD.

      Thank you, dear!

  3. I’ve seen many people raves about this book. It does sounds wonderful and beautiful. I haven’t read many LGBT books lately so I think I’ll try this one. Great review, Chiara! :)

  4. This book made me feel ALL OF THE THINGS. I was totally totally a mess while reading it…just because it was so beautiful and the characters so real and I felt like I’d just swallowed a whole piece of art. It’s one of my TOP favourite books of all time I think. JUDE YOU DARLING. And Noah, my adorable bby. *hugs them both* *then smacks their heads together for being so mean to each other*

    • Chiara says:

      Yeah, this was definitely a book of feels. I was so overwhelmed by it, to be honest. But in the best way possible. It’s definitely in my favourites, too. Way too gorgeous not to be.

      And I LOVE THEM AND WANT THEM TO ALWAYS BE NICE TO EACH OTHER, DAMMIT.

  5. Most reviews I’ve read for this definitely emphasized their love for Noah and put Jude on the backseat. It’s so lovely to hear that you loved her, Chiara! And gah, Oscar sounds too cute. (Obviously this is the part I’m most excited for.) AND THEN YOU TALK ABOUT BRIAN AND NOAH, and I’m like, Which ship will I ship more?! xD

    Authors get bonus points in my heart when they have sweet notes. :) Awesome review, girlie!

    • Chiara says:

      I have noticed that Noah’s been getting a lot of love but they both deserve it because they’re sweethearts.

      UGH. I shipped Brian and Noah more because they’re so sweet and gorgeous and just <3 <3 <3

      Thanks, lovely ^.^

  6. YES!!!!!!!! I am dancing in my room right now. I am so happy that you loved it. I kept thinking what if she doesn’t? Was so nervous, to be honest. But I am happy that you loved Jude and Noah, like I did. I even remember getting so excited because Guillermo was from Colombia and I was like yes! that’s my country! lol I could relate to some of the relationship between Noah and Jude because I have a brother who is 3 years younger than me and we are super close so I know what it’s like to be upset at each other and wanting to seek revenge. The writing was so beautiful and the story in itself was heartbreaking and and beautiful too. This book is definitely in the top 10 of my favorite books and I am sooooooo glad that we now share love for a book :)

    • Chiara says:

      I was so scared that I wouldn’t love it because SO many people have, and it always scares me. But I am so so happy that I loved it so much! :D

      I think it’s amazing when you can really relate to characters in a book – I think it makes it so much more enjoyable because you share something with them.

      I’ll Give You the Sun is definitely a new favourite for me, and I’m pretty sure it will make it into my favourites of 2015 when the end of the year comes!

  7. This was such an amazing book, wasn’t it Chiara? The characters and the romance were so wonderfully developed and the story itself just felt so incredibly real. And I loved how it focused on sibling relationships in such a realistic way – that was by far and large the highlight for me. Thank you for sharing this and, as always, fabulous review! ♥

  8. Chiara, you ALWAYS makes me excited me with your book reviews especially when you loved it. I suddenly want to pick up this book and binge read it. :D Great review Chiara!<3

    • Chiara says:

      YAY! :D I’m so glad that I can share my excitement through my reviews. And this book is 100% worth the excitement AND the read!

      Thanks, lovely :)

  9. I’ll Give You The Sun has been sitting on my bookshelf for awhile now. I hadn’t mustered the motivation to pick it up and begin reading, but your review has convinced me otherwise. So thanks for the well-written review, Chiara. Love the blog.

  10. Valerie says:

    WHY IS IT THAT ALL CHARACTERS/PEOPLE NAMED NOAH ARE ADORABLE? I really think so haha. But I haven’t read I’ll GIve You The Sun yet, (YET) so this is just giving me more motivation to read it.

  11. Romi says:

    Chiara *imagine me wailing, which ought to be easy* Okay, so I was content to have this on my tbr and rather look forward to reading it at some point. I didn’t intend to particularly go to supreme ends to find a copy or anything, just happily wait until- ? one fell into my hands, probably- but then you go and read it and love it and write a gorgeous review and NOW I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO READ IT ASAP. Really. It’s not acceptable how easily you sway me into wanting to read all these amazing sounding books.
    But okay. I’ll take heed of your amazingly beautiful review that paints a gorgeous picture of all the feelings I’ll probably feel when I get a copy of this, and I shall search the earth (and my library) for a copy. It’ll become a new focus.
    xx

    • Chiara says:

      I was the same! For a while, this book wasn’t even on my TBR because of all the hype. And then I caved, and read it, and LOVED IT. I really hope you read it, Romi, because it’s so gorgeous. The way Nelson has written these characters is just gorgeous. You can see how much she loves them.

      I hope your library search was fruitful!

      <3

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