“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.”
At first, Jude and her twin brother Noah, are inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them.
Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor.
The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world. (Goodreads)
I literally have no idea where to start for this book. I’ve just finished it and it was so amazing. I AM SPEECHLESS.
I had to read this book along with Ordinary People for my English class, and I can see the multiple similarities between the two stories. Grief and loss and love. (Let me know if I should write a post comparing the two!)
This review is going to be all over the place and probably quite long, so bear with me. I have so much to say.
At first, I was a bit repulsed by the way the story was written. I read this book a few years ago and remember feeling as if reading from two POVs in two different time periods would be confusing-but it wasn’t.
Noah’s story is told when he is age 13 to 14. In this time period, he is his mothers’ favorite child. He’s growing into himself, embracing his sexuality, and is really just learning about himself, like most teenagers at his age (which is the great thing about this book- so many teens can relate because of the two different ages). You see Noah’s life captured in paintings, because he is the artist he is, and I would paint along in my head while he did the same.
During this time period Jude is her father’s favorite. They go swimming together, she wears lipstick and goes cliff-diving for a thrill. She struggles the most out of NoahandJude, because they are both competing for their parents’ attention, which is a huge focal point of the book. Noah and Jude’s mother almost automatically favorites Noah because he seems to have the better artistic ability, which ultimately hurts Jude because she’s growing into a young woman who needs her mother for so many things.
Jude’s story is told when she is age 16. At this point, Noah and Jude’s roles are almost completely reversed. Jude got into the art school Noah was also hoping to be accepted into, which causes the twins’ relationship to do a complete 180. She no longer cliff-dives, is no longer her father’s favorite, and her and Noah’s relationship has changed as tragedy struck. Noah basically forgets he’s gay, and he starts doing the cliff-diving and drinking bit.
During this time, Jude also has become so obsessed with the idea to please her mother that she goes to a somewhat crazy mentor to learn how to sculpt the ultimate piece for her mother and herself. This piece of the story ends up playing a HUGE part in the emotional side of both Noah and Jude’s stories.
The biggest struggles in this story are competition and guilt. Noah and Jude compete in everything- they compete for their parents’ attention, they compete in their art, and they even compete for the moon, and the stars, and the flowers and the trees and so on. The competition between the twins makes the reader feel as if NoahandJude need to become Noah and Jude, because the world is simply not big enough for them to always be together. Competition was such a driving part of the story that I simply cannot explain for the sole sake of spoilers.
Guilt also played a huge role in the books- in between Noah and Jude’s separate stories, tragedy strikes that ultimately causes the destruction of NoahandJude. The story totally changes, and it’s almost as if Noah and Jude switched bodies. They start doing things to hurt each other, which just adds onto the guilt they already have. (I wish I could go into detail but I can’t because SPOILERS!)
So basically, this book was a fantastic whirlwind of emotions because the writing was great, and the plot was amazing, and Noah and Jude’s stories intertwined SO WELL, which I did not expect. I barely even scratched the surface of this story while writing my review. READ THIS BOOK. 10/10 worth your time.
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