Until We Read Again: I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson ~ Book Review

Publication: September 16, 2014

371 pages, Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:

A brilliant, luminous 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.

Thoughts: There has been so much hype surrounding this book. I have had it on my TBR list even before its release date. The synopsis did not instantly grab my attention and it is not something that I would have picked up on my own. This book had so many reviewers buzzing and I knew I had to read it. I am not going to lie- the cover drew me in too! I am sucker for a gorgeous book.

I do not want to go into too much details about this book. I think it is one of those books that it is better not to know too much going into the story.

When I first started reading this book, I was not loving it. Jandy Nelson's writing is so unique and bold that it takes time to get use to the style. It has a very poetic flow and she uses a lot metaphors in her descriptions, a lot. In the beginning, I felt that the writing style was over-powering the story. I persevered through 40 or 50 pages and something magical happened. I. Fell. In. Love. This book so lives up to the hype. This story is so special and so worth reading. I feel so privilege that I had the opportunity to read this book. The characters are so complex and unique. They capture your heart. Not only are the characters amazing, but the story is so captivating and impressive. This book has so many deep connections that are revealed as you read the story and are so meaningful and beautiful. I cannot explain how much I love this book. I cannot do it justice with any words. It simply just needs to be read. Everyone needs to read it. I highly recommend buying the book. You are going to want it and reread it! I made the mistake and borrowed it from my library. Now I wished I had my own copy. I hope to buy me a copy in the near future.

My Favorite Things About This Book:

The uniqueness and complexity of all the characters in the book, especially Noah and Jude.

I loved how this story is told. It is a dual-perpective story, told between Jude and Noah. Jude's story is told in the present and Noah's story is told two years before the present. In the end, their stories merge into the present day. This story would have not been the same without this structure.

I loved how the events connected and how characters stories intertwined. I cannot give details without spoilers. If you have read it- you understand!

This book is just so real! I felt like I was reading into Jude and Noah's true soul.

The writing style matches this story so well. In the beginning, I had such a hard time with it. But, in the end it gave power and purpose to the story.

My Favorite Quotes:

There are so many beautiful passages and quotes in this book. It is really hard to just pick a few to shine. I picked some that did not spoil anything from the story.

"I wish the world would stick like a clock so I could look at him for as long as I want. There's something going on in his face right now, something very bright trying to get out- a dam keeping back a wall of light. His soul might be a sun. I've never met anyone who had the sun for a soul."

"It occurs to me that Jude does this too, changes who she is depending on who she's with. They're like toads changing their skin color. How come I'm always just me?"

"I don't know how this can be but it can: A painting is both exactly the same and entirely different every single time you look at it. That's the way it is between Jude and me now."

"Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story."

" You have to see the miracles for there to be miracles."

"...because we are, each one of us for the other, a key to a door that otherwise would've remained locked forever."

Booktube Shout Out:

On Perpetual Pages YouTube channel she recommended this music fan-mix to go along with the book. It is really awesome!

Fan Mix on 8Tracks

Goodreads Rating: