top of page
  • Writer's pictureRenai

Keyword Reading Challenge 2020

I've never thought to do a challenge but I really wanted to force myself to look at books in a new perspective. I like to say that I would read anything but I almost always go back to my favorites: romance and fantasy.


The challenge I picked is from the GirlXOXO blog. You can find it here. Their post explains all the rules and includes the keywords for every month.


For this month, the keywords were Water, This, Hello, Sun, New, and Six. I wanted to pick something that I wouldn't normally read if I saw it at the store. The book I chose was I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Jandy Nelson wrote this so beautifully. Every thing she wrote really made you feel what Noah and Jude were feeling. You could see the imagery that she was painting with her words.


This follows the twins Noah and Jude and describes how things between them changes as well as how they came together again. Half of the books is told by Noah when he is 13 1/2 and 14 years. The other half is told by Jude when she is 16. The chapters alternate, giving you a glimpse to both sides of the story in different times. It was so fascinating to read Noah's perspective and then switch to Jude. They change so drastically between the ages of 14 and 16.


Noah is my favorite. Don't get me wrong, Jude is great and wildly different but there is something about Noah that just screams for my attention. He is bullied, an artist, and very quiet. He often keeps to himself unless he is around his mom or Jude. Noah hates his dad for constantly having man talks and comparing him to how much stronger Jude is. His struggles with finding out who he really is felt familiar. He begins to crush on the neighbor boy and he wants more but he also doesn't want to ruin his first friendship outside of Jude. Meanwhile, Jude begins to get jealous of the attention he is receiving and begins to lash out and become rebellious.


Jude's POV is like the twins did a 180 on their personalities. Noah is now popular and runs for track. He no longer paints and is a lot closer to his dad. Jude is quiet, hides among larger clothes, and spends her time alone. You start this book wondering what could have possibly happened to create a drastic change in these two people. What exactly drove them apart? How can they possibly go back to what they once were but for the better?


As the book progresses you start to notice other people that become so important but neither twin even realizes it. For example, Oscar. Oscar meets Noah at the very beginning. Noah so desperately wants to got to an art school and so he sneaks to the outside of a class and take lessons with them underneath the window. Oscar is the nude artist at one of these classes. This is where you begin to realize that Noah prefers men and is incredibly ashamed and embarrassed. This is also where he draws a cubist portrait of him. Jude see's this portrait and wants it desperately.


For Jude, she meets Oscar much later, She's unaware that he and Noah have even met before. Oscar never makes the connection that they are siblings. I mean Noah and Oscar had only met twice before two years earlier. Oscar become so important to Jude and the moment they realize everything going on around them, it's like they along with some other people were meant to be in each other's lives.


"We were all heading for each other on a collision course, no matter what. Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story." - Jude

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It's so insightful. Everything written is absolutely stunning. There were so many quotes that I couldn't help but to highlight on my kindle. I even went to buy the physical copy so I could loan it to a friend. Click the picture to get your own copy.



10 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

IT'S PRIDE MONTH!

June is the month for LGBTQIA pride! Normally I would take this time to focus only on pride but with everything going on (riots, protests, BLM), I would like to also focus on POC authors. I think peo

bottom of page