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desertcart.com: I'll Give You the Sun: 9780142425763: Nelson, Jandy: Books Review: Full of emotion and power - Friends, there’s very little that’s as immensely satisfying and fantastic as a book you’ve been anticipating for LITERALLY YEARS living up to your expectations of greatness. This is such a confluence of serendipity and the work of so many people that it’s no wonder it doesn’t happen very often. Thankfully for me and all of you and the whole world, Jandy Nelson’s I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN is one of these books. I will always have a very special spot in my heart for THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, but I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN was worth the wait. I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN is about twins Jude and Noah. Their story is told in alternating first-person chapters: Noah’s when they are 13 and Jude when they are 16. In the three intervening years, their relationship goes from good but competitive to completely absent. Noah is a gifted artist who is struggling mightily with his identity and following his heart. Jude also struggles with her art and with her guilt over the THING that drove the two twins apart, not to mention that she is trying to figure out her feelings for the charming and enigmatic Oscar. Both of them are trying to come to terms with the relationships they each have with their mother. Their two stories show how the twins were torn apart, and how they overcome their years of misunderstandings. There is always something that feels magical about Jandy Nelson’s books. The way she writes just weaves this spell over me so that the characters and the setting and everything feel slightly fantastical even when they are just meant to be people that any of us could know. This is what always amazes me about her stories, and what makes me feel so connected to her writing. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE did this over and over again, and I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN did it, too. I have to admit that I was curious about the way I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN was structured before I read it, not so much the alternating points of view as much as the time difference between the two. I was basically SILLY. Jandy Nelson not only pulls it off, but does so in a way that makes your heart break even more for Noah and Jude. Because even though we don’t know the details of how their already mildly contentious relationship (they often are competing for their mother’s attention in Noah’s story) turns into the cold distance of Jude’s, you have this understanding that they’re each missing important pieces. It helps a TON that Noah and Jude themselves are great characters, although I found Noah more empathetic than Jude. Like I spent the entirety of I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN just DYING to give Noah huge hugs all the time. HUGE HUGS. He just broke my heart. He broke my heart when he was a 13-year-old boy fighting himself, and he killed me when he was 16 and still looking for the strength to be himself. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t also feel Jude’s sadness. She is failing out of art school, is a crazy hypochondriac, deliberately wears clothes that are too big, and lives by the wisdom of her dead grandmother, whose ghost slash spirit visits Jude. These twins aren’t very alike, but I loved them TO BITS all the same. I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN wouldn’t be a Jandy Nelson book without some romance, though, and Noah and Jude both get one. Noah’s was incredibly sweet and heartwarming while also being devastating. I ADORED how tentative but all-consuming Noah and Brian’s young love was and the lasting impact it made on Noah. Jude and Oscar have a deep connection as well as a strong attraction, and they made me swoon even when they were fighting it. It helps that Jandy Nelson’s writing is, as always, MIND-BLOWINGLY GORGEOUS. Friends, there are so many meaty emotions going on in I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN. Feelings of love between siblings, romantic love, lost love, misunderstood love, love that saves you, and love that destroys you. This book is also about art and artistry, and about being true. I cannot recommend it enough. I’m ready for more, Jandy. You know, whenever you’re ready. Review: One of the most literary and imaginative YA novels I've ever read - I don't think I can properly review this book without just throwing flails and gifs and barbaric yawps into the air. It's that lovely, that exquisite that any review I write will just pale in comparison to the writing in the book. That said...I want you to read this book, so I have to try. I'll Give You The Sun is probably one of the most literary and imaginative YA novels I've ever read. Everything works - the writing is expressive and nuanced, with unique imagery. You can really tell that Jandy Nelson thought and thought, and thought again about every word in the novel. Every metaphor, every description fits in with the themes of breaking and remaking, family and relationships, art and inspiration. It's an incredibly tight novel, and it's one that could easily have been placed in the literary fiction section of a bookstore. The themes of I'll Give You The Sun are explored exquisitely - and the plot follows in a very sophisticated manner. This is a definitely a form-follows-function book - but it's done so damn brilliantly that you'll be in awe. The premise/form of the book is that Noah and Jude, fraternal twins, each have their own side of the story, Noah at age 13 and Jude at age 16. As a reader, we see both sides and how mistakes and choices change and shape each of them. The brilliance comes through how each reveal is made - to the reader and to the characters. And what makes the book even more complex is how each of those reveals follows the themes of breaking and remaking, of splitting apart and coming together that shape the characters and the novel. The characters and relationships between them are full and clearly realized. I already mentioned the premise of the book, but let me just say that Noah and Jude are probably the most flawed and complex teen characters I've read EVER. I honestly can't think of more broken, fragile and alive characters that exist in YA fiction. We get every crazed, messed-up thought in their heads, all of their stupid actions, all of their esoteric behaviors...and it's just gorgeous to behold. I'll Give You The Sun has one of the most realistic - and sexy - LGBTQ relationships I've ever read. This sounds weird to say, but in most YA I've read, I've never had to fan myself at a gay relationship - maybe that says more about what I read than what I don't read. This book, however, had what I imagine to be a very realistic gay relationship in its teens, and it's tumultuous and hard and beautifully steamy at a few moments. The portrayal of art and the way it touches people will leave you inspired. I am probably the worst artist in the world (I can't even draw a straight line), but I was amazed and gratified by how art shapes the characters, how it changes and hurts them, and how it strengthens them. Art is almost like a secondary character in this book, and the way that Noah and Jude create and destroy is not just a metaphor for what they do but it almost turns into a way of living for them. The romances are soul-crushing and soul-illuminating. Here's the thing: when Noah and Jude meet their respective partners, it's pretty much instantaneous intrigue. It's not quite total insta-love, but it's close. You guys know how I feel about insta-love (and one of them is a bad boy!)...but somehow, Jandy Nelson's writing can break all my rules and make me believe. I'm just going to give you one unbelievable passage, and you tell me you're not intrigued and kind of in love: I know he's taking a hundred pictures, but I don't care anymore. A hot series of shivers is running through me as he continues clicking and saying: Yes, thank you, this is totally bloody it, perfect, yes, yes, sodding hell, God, look at you. It's like we're kissing, way more than kissing. I can't imagine what my face must look like. "You're her," he says finally, putting the cover over the lens. "I'm sure of it." "Who?" I ask. But he doesn't answer, just walks down the aisle toward me, a lazy, lanky walk that makes me think of summer. He's completely unwound now, went from high gear to no gear the moment he covered the lens. As he approaches, I see that he has one green eye and one brown eye, like he's two people in one, two very intense people in one. Jandy Nelson perfectly understands how closely entwined joy and sadness are. Guys, Jandy Nelson KNOWS. She understands why exquisite happiness is sometimes achieved only through understanding loss. She understands how grief can engulf and change and break a family, and how art can save and remake us. I don't know how else to explain the mingled feelings of happiness, bittersweet joy, and infinite sadness that engulfed me while reading except to say that Jandy Nelson is the YA Walt Whitman. The Final Word: I could go on and on about I'll Give You The Sun, but honestly, it won't hold a candle to the book itself. If you like literary novels, if you want all the feels, this book needs to be on top of your TBR list. Read it now. Bask in the beauty. And then give it to a friend, because a book this good demands to be shared.
| Best Sellers Rank | #75,540 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #24 in Teen & Young Adult LGBTQ+ Fiction (Books) #51 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Death & Dying #53 in Teen & Young Adult Siblings Fiction |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (9,633) |
| Dimensions | 5.6 x 1.08 x 8.3 inches |
| Edition | Reprint |
| Grade level | 9 - 12 |
| ISBN-10 | 0142425761 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0142425763 |
| Item Weight | 12 ounces |
| Language | English |
| Print length | 416 pages |
| Publication date | October 27, 2015 |
| Publisher | Dial Books |
| Reading age | 14 years and up |
A**T
Full of emotion and power
Friends, there’s very little that’s as immensely satisfying and fantastic as a book you’ve been anticipating for LITERALLY YEARS living up to your expectations of greatness. This is such a confluence of serendipity and the work of so many people that it’s no wonder it doesn’t happen very often. Thankfully for me and all of you and the whole world, Jandy Nelson’s I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN is one of these books. I will always have a very special spot in my heart for THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, but I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN was worth the wait. I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN is about twins Jude and Noah. Their story is told in alternating first-person chapters: Noah’s when they are 13 and Jude when they are 16. In the three intervening years, their relationship goes from good but competitive to completely absent. Noah is a gifted artist who is struggling mightily with his identity and following his heart. Jude also struggles with her art and with her guilt over the THING that drove the two twins apart, not to mention that she is trying to figure out her feelings for the charming and enigmatic Oscar. Both of them are trying to come to terms with the relationships they each have with their mother. Their two stories show how the twins were torn apart, and how they overcome their years of misunderstandings. There is always something that feels magical about Jandy Nelson’s books. The way she writes just weaves this spell over me so that the characters and the setting and everything feel slightly fantastical even when they are just meant to be people that any of us could know. This is what always amazes me about her stories, and what makes me feel so connected to her writing. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE did this over and over again, and I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN did it, too. I have to admit that I was curious about the way I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN was structured before I read it, not so much the alternating points of view as much as the time difference between the two. I was basically SILLY. Jandy Nelson not only pulls it off, but does so in a way that makes your heart break even more for Noah and Jude. Because even though we don’t know the details of how their already mildly contentious relationship (they often are competing for their mother’s attention in Noah’s story) turns into the cold distance of Jude’s, you have this understanding that they’re each missing important pieces. It helps a TON that Noah and Jude themselves are great characters, although I found Noah more empathetic than Jude. Like I spent the entirety of I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN just DYING to give Noah huge hugs all the time. HUGE HUGS. He just broke my heart. He broke my heart when he was a 13-year-old boy fighting himself, and he killed me when he was 16 and still looking for the strength to be himself. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t also feel Jude’s sadness. She is failing out of art school, is a crazy hypochondriac, deliberately wears clothes that are too big, and lives by the wisdom of her dead grandmother, whose ghost slash spirit visits Jude. These twins aren’t very alike, but I loved them TO BITS all the same. I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN wouldn’t be a Jandy Nelson book without some romance, though, and Noah and Jude both get one. Noah’s was incredibly sweet and heartwarming while also being devastating. I ADORED how tentative but all-consuming Noah and Brian’s young love was and the lasting impact it made on Noah. Jude and Oscar have a deep connection as well as a strong attraction, and they made me swoon even when they were fighting it. It helps that Jandy Nelson’s writing is, as always, MIND-BLOWINGLY GORGEOUS. Friends, there are so many meaty emotions going on in I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN. Feelings of love between siblings, romantic love, lost love, misunderstood love, love that saves you, and love that destroys you. This book is also about art and artistry, and about being true. I cannot recommend it enough. I’m ready for more, Jandy. You know, whenever you’re ready.
M**T
One of the most literary and imaginative YA novels I've ever read
I don't think I can properly review this book without just throwing flails and gifs and barbaric yawps into the air. It's that lovely, that exquisite that any review I write will just pale in comparison to the writing in the book. That said...I want you to read this book, so I have to try. I'll Give You The Sun is probably one of the most literary and imaginative YA novels I've ever read. Everything works - the writing is expressive and nuanced, with unique imagery. You can really tell that Jandy Nelson thought and thought, and thought again about every word in the novel. Every metaphor, every description fits in with the themes of breaking and remaking, family and relationships, art and inspiration. It's an incredibly tight novel, and it's one that could easily have been placed in the literary fiction section of a bookstore. The themes of I'll Give You The Sun are explored exquisitely - and the plot follows in a very sophisticated manner. This is a definitely a form-follows-function book - but it's done so damn brilliantly that you'll be in awe. The premise/form of the book is that Noah and Jude, fraternal twins, each have their own side of the story, Noah at age 13 and Jude at age 16. As a reader, we see both sides and how mistakes and choices change and shape each of them. The brilliance comes through how each reveal is made - to the reader and to the characters. And what makes the book even more complex is how each of those reveals follows the themes of breaking and remaking, of splitting apart and coming together that shape the characters and the novel. The characters and relationships between them are full and clearly realized. I already mentioned the premise of the book, but let me just say that Noah and Jude are probably the most flawed and complex teen characters I've read EVER. I honestly can't think of more broken, fragile and alive characters that exist in YA fiction. We get every crazed, messed-up thought in their heads, all of their stupid actions, all of their esoteric behaviors...and it's just gorgeous to behold. I'll Give You The Sun has one of the most realistic - and sexy - LGBTQ relationships I've ever read. This sounds weird to say, but in most YA I've read, I've never had to fan myself at a gay relationship - maybe that says more about what I read than what I don't read. This book, however, had what I imagine to be a very realistic gay relationship in its teens, and it's tumultuous and hard and beautifully steamy at a few moments. The portrayal of art and the way it touches people will leave you inspired. I am probably the worst artist in the world (I can't even draw a straight line), but I was amazed and gratified by how art shapes the characters, how it changes and hurts them, and how it strengthens them. Art is almost like a secondary character in this book, and the way that Noah and Jude create and destroy is not just a metaphor for what they do but it almost turns into a way of living for them. The romances are soul-crushing and soul-illuminating. Here's the thing: when Noah and Jude meet their respective partners, it's pretty much instantaneous intrigue. It's not quite total insta-love, but it's close. You guys know how I feel about insta-love (and one of them is a bad boy!)...but somehow, Jandy Nelson's writing can break all my rules and make me believe. I'm just going to give you one unbelievable passage, and you tell me you're not intrigued and kind of in love: I know he's taking a hundred pictures, but I don't care anymore. A hot series of shivers is running through me as he continues clicking and saying: Yes, thank you, this is totally bloody it, perfect, yes, yes, sodding hell, God, look at you. It's like we're kissing, way more than kissing. I can't imagine what my face must look like. "You're her," he says finally, putting the cover over the lens. "I'm sure of it." "Who?" I ask. But he doesn't answer, just walks down the aisle toward me, a lazy, lanky walk that makes me think of summer. He's completely unwound now, went from high gear to no gear the moment he covered the lens. As he approaches, I see that he has one green eye and one brown eye, like he's two people in one, two very intense people in one. Jandy Nelson perfectly understands how closely entwined joy and sadness are. Guys, Jandy Nelson KNOWS. She understands why exquisite happiness is sometimes achieved only through understanding loss. She understands how grief can engulf and change and break a family, and how art can save and remake us. I don't know how else to explain the mingled feelings of happiness, bittersweet joy, and infinite sadness that engulfed me while reading except to say that Jandy Nelson is the YA Walt Whitman. The Final Word: I could go on and on about I'll Give You The Sun, but honestly, it won't hold a candle to the book itself. If you like literary novels, if you want all the feels, this book needs to be on top of your TBR list. Read it now. Bask in the beauty. And then give it to a friend, because a book this good demands to be shared.
C**N
I took the book on vacation with me, and found the first 15-20 pages a bit difficult to get into. I persevered and finished by hugging the book close to my chest, inspired, humbled and determined to raise the bar on my own creative and love life!
L**U
AMAZING!!!, very funny, hearthbreaking, love it! Love the characters especially Noah :D, but the story is the best part, love the destiny and the coincidences :D
L**N
...in cambio del dolore e del senso di colpa che soffoca e rinserra la gola in una morsa. Ti darò il sole, in cambio del buio, del silenzio che schiaccia e opprime, del vuoto che ingoia e divora. Ti darò il sole e tu rivedrai le nuvole e gli alberi, le stelle e gli oceani. Perché la morte distrugge ogni cosa, ma e l'emozione fa esplodere la vita che torna a scorrere intorno a noi... Un romanzo di formazione, un inno alla creatività e alla forza irrefrenabile della gioia.
N**1
This book was incredible. It made me super emotional. It had everything: drama, love, laughs, creativity, even some mystery! It was pretty wild. So beautifully written. You should definitely purchase it.
A**E
This is a nice coming of age story between estranged twins. The edition of the book is very beautiful. The pages are a nice thickness and texture. The book is also quite flexible so that you can read it without breaking the spine.
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