Review by servemethesky - I'll Give You the Sun

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servemethesky 's review for:

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

4.5

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I was quite pleasantly surprised by this book! I wasn’t expecting much, but it was full of beauty and hope and art and grief. It does feel very YA, so mentally prepare yourself if you’re an adult to be a little frustrated with the characters. Then remind yourself “damn, they’re only 13 or 16.”

I loved how this author wrote about art. Everything jumped off the page so vividly, from Jude’s sand sculptures to Noah’s murals. Just beautiful. And I loved the characters, like Guillermo and Oscar.

It was beautiful to see the twins work through their grief and unravel the truth eventually so they could be their truest selves. I wish my family could’ve healed and told the truth as much 2 years post our mom’s death as the family in this book did, damn!

It does feel melodramatic at times, which I somewhat expect of YA. Also, someone desperately need to tell this author it’s not okay to say “surftard” 100x in your novel.

Content Warnings