I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson is told from two different points of view, Noah aged 13 – 14, and Jude, Noah’s twin, at 16 years old. The two almost separate stories interlink, so at the end they become one. Jude and Noah are inseparable, with a special twin link. Jude is the normal one with miles of blonde hair, she is great at surfing, fearless at cliff jumping and everyone likes her. Noah is odd, he barely talks, and spends his time drawing and painting, inside and outside of his head. They start pulling apart when their mum realises Noah’s talent for art and he becomes her favourite.
Jude’s story shows them when they are the furthest apart, Jude now being the arty one (she is also very suspicious and follows her Grandmas rule book), while Noah is the normal one. Jude goes to a specialist art school, but her sculptures keep on cracking. She believes it is her mothers spirit showing her anger, so she seeks the help of the sculptor Guillermo Garcia, however he has not took a pupil on in years and has almost turned wild, but she must do this statue so her mother will forgive her. Both twins fall for boys who they cant have, and this only helps drive them apart.
I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed how it was told, as you would find out bits of information from both stories that would link them together so at the end the story was complete, and this was a much better way than the normal way, with it being at two separate times. I also loved the characters and how they developed throughout the book, becoming their true selves the further though you got through the book. By the end of this book I was crying at the whole story as it all begins to make sense and it was just so moving. I would recommend this to almost everyone over the age of 14 as it could be a bit confusing, and it really affected me
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
Want to tell the world about a book you’ve read? Join the site and send us your review!