This book left me speechless. I've never read prose like this, never been so very struck by the beauty of words before. I've never wanted so badly to shove a book into the hands of everyone I meet, but I want everyone--friends, family, coworkers, the cashier at the grocery store, the plumber--to read I'll Give You the Sun. Absolutely phenomenal in every way. My new favorite book--and I don't say that lightly. I really didn't think I was going to like this. It took me ages to get past the first few pages, and I was struggling with the viewpoint and the overly metaphorical language. Then I had a four hour car journey and nothing better to do, so I sat and read almost the whole lot in one sitting.It's definitely the way to do it. After a while, I got accustomed to the language and the character points of view - each is very unique and particular to their character, which is excellent writing, but because of the quirks of the characters a little tricky to acclimatise to at first - and really started to get sucked in to the story.Nelson explores the ups and downs of teenage life, emotions and love in a really artistic and imaginative way. So much so that the book has been designed so the words literally explode off the page in places. It's a joy to look at, as it's been really well designed to echo the creative impulses of the characters without detracting from the readability of the text.And the viewpoints that I struggled with became such a huge part of the characters and their particular hangups and world views. It really did feel like existing inside their minds for the pages that were dedicated to them - cleverly showing their character without having to beat you over the head with exposition: Noah is artistic, Jude is paranoid etc. etc.And the way the story all came together was lovely and moving and didn't feel too coincidental or authorial, which was great. I can't really say too much more than that (when trying to describe what this book was about to the Boyfriend, I managed to talk myself in circles and make it sound really dull) you just have to read it. It won't be for everyone - it very nearly wasn't for me - but if you like it, I think it very likely you'll absolutely love it.
Do You like book I'll Give You The Sun (2014)?
I've never really enjoyed romance novels, but I gave this one a shot...so glad I did. This book took universal themes and put a gorgeous, unique spin on them that wasn't too quirky or unrealistic. Freaking loved it.
—canisaythanksforwritingthis
Just too out there for me. Overly wordy, which other may love.
—askaaronk
