ARC, 371 pages
Release Date: September 16, 2014Published by: DialStand-aloneSource: Around the World ARC ToursFor fans of: GLBTQ, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Coming of Age, YA, Sparkly CoversA brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell
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.
This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Ever had a book that took so much out of you that you had to sit and think about it, maybe sleep a little afterward? That’s what this was for me. Add on to the fact that I (surprisingly) wasn’t that impressed, I was trying to get to “the good part.”
“‘Embrace the mystery…“
pg. 11
I say surprisingly I wasn’t that impressed because I didn’t really care for it. Normally I’m ALL for any contemporary that has a deeper issue, but this one just didn;t do it for me. Maybe it was the slow start it took for me to get into it? Or it could be the huge reading slump I’m in right now. I think I was just really reading this to hurry and get through it. Lately I really haven’t liked anything I’ve cracked open. Whatever the case maybe, I’m the black sheep and I KNEW I would be.
“‘It’s a sink or swim world, Noah.“
pg. 78
I did like the way the story was told. The two points of views at two different times was pretty unique though. But it did kind of confuse me when I first read Jude’s POV. And then there’s certain scenes where I was sucked fully into the book and didn’t want to do anything but read. The end surprised me. I normally catch things like that, but I think I was reading it and wasn’t trying to stop and over analyze it. But even still, it did not reduce me to tears like I expected it to. I’m normally a huge baby lol
“You’re such bad news.“
pg. 199
I have to admit though, the only part I really liked was Noah’s point of view. I wasn’t really a fan of Jude’s. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t a huge fan of the book. If I hadn’t been stuck in the hospital waiting on my nephew, I’m not sure I would have finished this one as fast as I did. I would have been getting a head start on homework or anything else I could think of while reading Jude’s parts. She just seemed like such a know it all when she really knew nothing. After her first chapter I knew I wasn’t going to really like her lol I don’t even like know it alls in real life.
“The end of the world begins with rain.“
pg. 251
I don’t want to talk too much about the story because of spoilers, but the plot was really slow moving. There wasn’t really anything happening, but because this is a contemp, there’s not really anything that was expected to happen. But at the end when everything came to light, it all came out super fast and was hard to put down.
“The blindness last just a second, then the colors start flooding into me: not through my eyes but right through my skin, replacing blood and bone, muscle and sinew, until I am redorangebluegreenpurpleyellowredorangebluegreenpurpleyellow..“
pg. 175
Although The Sky is Everywhere still tops the list as my favorite Nelson novel, this one wasn’t too bad. I liked Noah and everything that he went through. It served as a great way to escape reality, even for just a few hours.
Overall, I give this