The New York Times Bestselling 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.
"A wild, beautiful, and profoundly moving novel. Jandy Nelson’s writing is so electric, so alive, her pages practically glow in the dark." —Ransom Riggs, New York Times bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City
"Jandy Nelson is a rare, explosive talent, and one of the best writers working today. Her prose is vivid, breathtaking, and drenched in passion, and her stories remind me why words can change the world." —Tahereh Mafi, New York Times bestselling author of the Shatter Me series.
"I love this book. Jandy Nelson is my new writing hero. Read this book. She'll be your favorite author as well." —Holly Goldberg Sloan, New York Times bestselling author of Counting by 7s
"Jandy Nelson’s writing is poetic and mesmerizing. More importantly, Nelson weaves a novel that seeps into your bones like fire on a cold day . . . I’ll Give You the Sun is a novel that promises a story like nothing else and then delivers it.” —Garret Freymann-Weyr, author of Printz Honor book, My Heartbeat
"This is a stunning, artfully woven story. My heart burst open at the blazing, unforgettable end. Magnificent." —Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone
"An extraordinary book! I've never read anything like it. Lyrical-unique-passionate-magical-tragic-hopeful—Nelson's characters will fly off the page and into your heart." —Nancy Garden, author of Annie on my Mind
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
51 of 58 people found the following review helpful.
Word of advice? Read this NOW.
By Sab H.
Holy hell. Quite honestly, I'm dumbfounded.This book has shaken my world. What an effing talent with words! This has got to be one of the most originally written novels I've read in my life. The writing was the most supremely and supernaturally cool weave-of-words that I've ever encountered. It's ridiculous. Jandy Nelson is THE Rock Star of Spot-On writing. And yes, I just stole some words out of this gem of a novel.Jude and Noah are twins. They do what siblings do, love and hate each other. They each have their story and they also share a story, slowly letting us into their worlds and their secrets with their alternating voices. A story filled with love, betrayal, family, secrets, and most of all... magic.I'm probably one of the only people on Earth who did not love-to-death The Sky is Everywhere. I really liked it, but that's it. So I was not jumping at the chance to read this. But then it got to the point where my feed was drowning in 5-star reviews of this thing and I was like, what the hell.What the hell, indeed. Here's what this book is: A magnificently plotted story, characters that will crawl into your heart and squeeze hard, and lyrical singsong prose that will leave you breathless--and salivating for more. The author paints like Noah, sculpts like Guillermo, only she uses the 26 letters of the alphabet. It's astounding.As if I couldn't be more pleased, I'm pretty sure this will become a classic of Magical Realism. I grew up reading, rereading and rerererereading Isabel Allende's The House of Spirits. It's my all-time of all-times favorite book since I was like, 11. So the magic factor in this story was just like my own personal oasis on the driest of deserts.Word of advice? Read this NOW.
34 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
Just Wasn't For Me...
By Tanya Atkinson
Here is another example of me feeling like I read a different book than everyone else. I'll Give You the Sun has been incredibly hyped in the YA book community (and beyond) for several months. When I first read the synopsis last fall I decided it didn't particularly interest me. But the hype grew and grew and, even though I didn't feel excited about it, I decided to read it. So basically I caved to BRPP - book-related peer pressure. (Note to self: Let this be the last time. When I'm feeling ambivalent about a book and decide to read it anyway based on hype I am rarely blown away. I know what I like and don't like and if my initial feeling is 'this one isn't really for me' then it probably isn't.)I enjoyed the alternating POV's between twins Noah and Jude, especially the alternating timeframes - Noah's chapters from when the twins were 13-14 and Jude's chapters at the age of 16. The chapters from Noah's POV focused on a time that was full of change for Noah, Jude and their family. Events that made a huge impact on their lives and who they would become. And, despite this, I often felt the narrative was slow-moving. I found myself thinking "will something please just happen already?"Noah and Jude's relationship was a complex one - filled with competition, jealousy, guilt, sacrifice, connection and love. I did find that I preferred Noah's chapters/POV over Jude's. Somehow I found him more relatable and at times it was almost as if I were experiencing all his feelings of love, confusion, disappointment, euphoria. His exploration of a new relationship and all the intense feelings that go with that were portrayed so well.Unfortunately much of the conflict with the novel was based on one of my biggest pet peeves in fiction: a severe lack of communication. I simply cannot stand it when major issues could be solved by a single conversation. All it would take would be a sharing of information and *poof* problem solved. So that definitely tainted my feelings for the story.The writing style seems to be something that most reviewers gush over. For me, not so much. At times it worked and others times it didn't. A little goes a long way with purple prose and I found it to be overdone and at times distracting. So, the very thing that made others adore this book so much is one of the things that, for me, detracted from it. I did enjoy the various connections throughout the story and the feeling that so many events and relationships were meant to be.In no way was I'll Give You the Sun a bad book. Nor did I dislike it. I simply did not get from it what so many others seemed to. And I do not feel passionately about it like so many do.
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful.A Radiant, Powerful Novel
By Jon (Scott Reads It!)
'll Give You The Sun is an unforgettable, heartbreaking novel that will hit readers with so many emotions and will leave them breathless. Jandy Nelson's writing style is extremely unique and it took me a bit of time to get used to it, but I was extremely impressed with how distinct she made each point of view. Readers will laugh, smile and cry along with Noah and Jude, these are characters that I fell in love with and I just know that countless other readers will too. Few books have emotionally affected me like Nelson's latest and there's something so stunning about this novel. I'll Give You The Sun is told in two point of views and covers two major points in Jude and Noah's lives. Noah tells the story of when he was 13/14 and Jude tells the story of when she was 16/17; in doing so, both twins give one half of the story and together they give a complete picture of their lives. Everything comes together in such a cohesive, realistic way in I'll Give You The Sun and it was impressive how Nelson connected these two storylines seamlessly. The beauty in this novel is truly in the details and how everything seems to come full circle by the time the final pages roll around. Jandy Nelson's writing has an almost dreamlike quality to it and this novel is very heavy on metaphors and hyperboles. Each page is coated with metaphors, something that bothered me initially, but I quickly grew to love the way Nelson writes. Each voice is finely and realistically crafted, giving this novel a sense of authenticity and beauty. I definitely prefered Noah's story with his artistic musings and ability to turn any scenario into a work of art. I did really enjoy June's point of view with her superstitions and quirks, but it just didn't live up to Noah's POV. The romance in this book made my heart beat incredibly fast and I fell for the two couples incredibly fast. I love how Nelson explored Noah's sexuality and his path from questioning if he's gay to his lusting after Brian. The 'questioning' section of this novel was intriguing and not enough LGBT novels address the uncertainty that comes with discovering that you're gay. The romance between Jude and Oscar was incredibly sweet and it definitely made my heart race with excitement. I was initially perturbed by the age difference between these two, but I became so drawn into their relationship that age became a frivolous concern. I loved the way these relationships progressed, the characters fall in love slowly, but surely in a realistic manner. The only thing better than the romance in this novel was the relationship between Jude and Noah. I have never seen such a true portrayal of the relationship between siblings and this novel chronicles the highs and lows that dominate their lives. As much as I rooted for the couples in this novel, I was secretly harboring a hope that the siblings would reconcile and be the best friends they once were. It was so touching watching the younger versions of Jude and Noah interact, yet knowing that the siblings would become estranged broke my heart. YA novels usually skip over familial relationships, but the magic of this novel lies in the bond between Jude and Noah. I'll Give You The Sun shows how beautiful and messy love can truly be and what it truly means to live. Nelson explores the love between the two siblings perfectly and readers will root for them to fall in love with their respective partners and mend their relationship. I didn't expect this novel to be such a whirlwind and powerful novel, but Nelson really surprised me with her unique writing and ability to craft such genuine relationships. I haven't read a novel ever like I'll Give You The Sun and books like this one are rare gems that ought to be treasured.
