I'll Give You the Sun

Bibliography
Nelson, Jandy. Read by Julia Whelan and Jesse Bernstein. I'll Give You the Sun. Brilliance Audio, 2014. Audio book.
image from: www.titlewave.com

Summary (from Brilliance Audio)
A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell. Jude and her brother, Noah, are incredibly close twins. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude surfs and 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 divisive ways…until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as an unpredictable new mentor. 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, fully alive novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

My Thoughts
I'd seen this book on several blogs I follow, so when I saw it was a SYNC Audio book selection this summer, I was excited to listen. The summary makes the story sound interesting. I like John Green (haven't read Levithan or Rowell yet). Sadly, I really had to force myself to listen. The story just dragged on and on for me. In fact, I didn't finish it. I just couldn't give up the time for something I wasn't enjoying. I had to quit it. This is hard for me to admit, as I usually can power through a book in spite of not liking it. I just couldn't with this one.

The story is told from two points of view (a very popular style right now): Noah and Jude. I almost didn't get to Jude's story. Noah begins the story when the twins are 13. I thought, "oh, my high school kids won't want to read about younger kids." When Jude's story started (picking up three years later--the chronology of the story, but also my feelings a little of listening), I perked up a bit thinking that my high school students might, indeed, listen.

Was it the reader's voice?
Was is the dragging of the story?
Was it that my mind wandered while listening so I'm wondering what the heck is going on?

I just didn't connect with the characters or the story. Maybe it just wasn't the right time for me to read this one.