I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

"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."

Okay, I know it's been forever. Senior year will do that to you, I guess. I have been reading, though, and I hope to start getting some more reviews up here soon. The first order of business is my latest obsession. I'd been meaning to read it for the longest time, and when I finally found the time I completely fell in love. Seriously. This is the best book I've read in quite a while. I can't even comprehend its amazingness. One of the most incredible things about it was the style of writing--oh my god. It's brimming with vivid imagery and unconventional but piercing language. Noah sees things through an artist's eye--a view huge and without restraints and pushing itself into every crack and right off the page. I swear at one point it probably took my breath away. Jude's perspective is raw and uncompromising and so much more.

Another huge impact of this book was the plot. It was, frankly, amazingly done. The two perspectives switching off between past and present put the picture together slowly. The magic of it is that it starts seeming deceptively simple, but then gaps fill in that you didn't even realize were there, and they change the game completely. Everything connects, and this book is practically made to be read a second time. It's a study in things falling apart, things falling together, and the times when things don't naturally fall together. It was heartbreaking and hopeful and real and dealt with topics so unapologetically human that you can't help but be drawn in.

I'm currently recommending this book to everyone. Seriously. It's worth it a million times over. There's a copy in the new teen section at Kettleson. Go.