Author: Jandy Nelson
Rating: 2/5
Noah and Jude Sweetwine are twins. They drift apart, fall in love with some people and, yeah, that’s pretty much all that happens.
Spoilers ahead.
Detailed Summary
This is going to be a confusing mess. The chapters are told from thirteen-year-old Noah’s POV and then sixteen-year-old Jude’s POV. I’ll start with all of Noah’s stuff, then Jude’s. Noah is always bullied for being small and a wimp. He has long hair and always draws. He feels himself growing apart from Jude because she finds him embarrassing. He meets this neighbourhood boy named Brian who loves outer space. Noah’s mother wants him and Jude to apply to this art school called CSA. Noah spies on classes and draws this English model who gets fired after a few classes because he was drinking. Noah doesn’t want the mother to see Jude’s talent. Noah is invited to a party and Jude is there too. They play seven minutes in heaven and Noah has to go in a closet with a girl named Heather. He pretends she’s Brian and kisses her. Jude and Brian get stuck in a closet together. Noah doesn’t talk to Jude for months because he thinks they kissed. The mother and father have issues with each other. The father attempts to get closer to Noah and they finally bond. The mother kicks the father out of the house. After Brian comes back from boarding school, he comes into the kitchen and Noah and Brian go to the woods and kiss each other. A few days later, they share a bed in Noah’s room and the mother walks in on them. Noah yells on the street that Brian is gay when he sees Brian holding Courtney’s hand. He also stalks his mother and learns she is cheating on the father with a sculptor named Guillermo García. He tells his mother he hates her. She goes in a car to where the father is staying to get a divorce with him so she can be with Guillermo but is killed in an accident.
Switching to Jude, she can’t produce anything good at CSA. She thinks her mother’s ghost is destroying her art. She feels she took Noah’s place at CSA and learns that the only reason she got in was because of her sand drawings. Jude gets Guillermo to be her mentor because she absolutely must build a sculptor out of stone. She meets an English boy at a church who takes pictures of her. They’re drawn to each other. The English boy lives with Guillermo and is named Oscar. A lot of stuff is revealed. Jude didn’t mail Noah’s application to CSA. She was pretty much raped by a boy the day her mother died and that’s why she became obsessed with her grandmother’s bible and other superstitions. She falls for Oscar but he’s the typical bad boy but in the end, he admits his feelings for her. Noah gets drunk and wants to jump off a cliff but Jude and Oscar stop him from doing so. Noah has put a message for Brian on LostConnections so Jude sent Brian an email–he got a scholarship to Stanford and is openly gay. He finally replies on LostConnections and when he and Noah meet up, they’re happy and the father finally understands Noah. The family decide to live on an ark? Noah is accepted into an art school, I think? He stopped doing any art when he got rejected but he’s back at it, I guess. Noah tells Guillermo that his mother was going to marry the sculptor and Guillermo is happy.
Plot and Pacing: Honestly, my thoughts are summarised by what this young reader wrote in the library’s copy of the book.
The twins just kept telling each other and their family and friends so many lies. And I just couldn’t understand why! Like, come on guys! If they had just been honest with each other and kind, none of this would have happened. Which I guess is the point but still! I just felt it was so unrealistic that Jude, for example, would be so spiteful as to not mail Noah’s application. Or that Noah would intentionally hurt the sculptor by saying his mother didn’t love him. Although I find that more understandable. I’d hate if one of my parents was cheating on the other and I’d hate the people they were seeing even more.
I did find Brian and Noah’s story compelling but then again, that’s just because I do enjoy LGBTQ+ romances. The best thing about their romance was how slow the buildup was. With Jude and Oscar, I didn’t like the whole “fated-for-each-other” thing. Oscar says at the end that he’s too old for her right now but he’ll wait but then they just end up kissing so, I don’t know. Brian and Noah being together felt very wholesome.
Nelson was probably trying to convey that just because we screw up doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. There’s always a way to mend things and live life the best way you can. Also, you’ve got to seize your opportunities. But this is just me doing my very best to distil a message. I don’t understand why this book, like her other one, received so much attention. That’s probably the worst thing an author could possibly hear and I hate being so harsh but I was quite annoyed with the plot. Also, there were bits which just dragged on FOREVER.
Characters: Brian was the only one I kind of liked. Noah was interesting. I liked how artsy he was. Jude was not bad either but I didn’t like how spiteful she was. Oscar was just too much. The father was alright. Erm…yeah, that’s really all. You can tell this book didn’t have much of an impact on me.
Writing Style: I understand what Nelson was going for but it felt so forced. I much preferred Noah’s POV than Jude’s. Also, what is up with YA authors trying to be so deep? And they do so by using weird fragments and short sentences. WHY?!??! It just makes reading harder! And less enjoyable!
The only reason this book got 2/5 was the gay romance.
Earnestly Eccentric 