Book 51 - Narratives Like Parallel Lines

Title: I'll Give Your the Sun Author: Jandy Nelson Genre: weird and wonderful YA fiction

Well.

WELL.

That, I must say, was very unexpected.

Nothing could have prepared me for the storm of writing that is contained within this book. NOTHING. Not all the reviews I read beforehand, nor the personal messages from friends saying, hey, should should really really read this because the writing is so great.

THE WRITING, YOU GUYS, THE WRITING. 

Oh my god it's so wonderful. It's like lemon zest for the soul. I want to bathe in the words and the images evoked by them, and just live in this incredible world Nelson creates with just - her - WORDS.

The story is distinctly YA, and in that way feels familiar; there's romance and underage drinking, risk-taking behaviour and miscommunication. There's also art and ghosts and wacky Francesca Lia Block-esque superstition, like carrying around an onion and red sea glass for good luck. Nelson manages to tell one story through each twins' point of view, at different times in their lives, and the final smashing together of the two narratives is executed flawlessly and with that kind of monstrously minute sensibility that comes with being an adolescent.

Does that even make sense? Maybe not. Whatever - just read it.

Rating: 🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊/5