This book was magical in a way not many contemporary books manage to be. For the first 50 pages I actually wasn't quite sure if this was contemporary or magical realism, that's how well this was done. 
 It gave me all the emotions, from happiness to anger to sadness to embarrassment. Sometimes I felt like I just got slapped in the face and other times my cheeks hurt from grinning so much. Be prepared: This is a rollercoaster. The writing style was so unique and so raw. I know for some people it might seem to much and not realistic but for me it worked perfectly. I loved the metaphors and how Noah expressed his emotions like the whole world is a painting and every action and emotion adds color to that painting. 
 Overall I fell in love with both Noah and Jude. At first, I only wanted to read Noah's chapters but then Jude came along and I loved her story, too. They're both a bit broken inside and try to find their happiness and family again. They love each other but do such terrible things to each other and other people because their family is slowly falling apart and the relationships within it change and everything felt so REAL! Nothing in this book seemed pretentious or like the author was trying too much. 
 Plotwise this was very cleverly done. We get to know Noah at the age of 13 before the big terrible thing happens, and Jude at the age of 16, two years after it happened. I loved how the two plotlines were being tied together throughout the book and we got to see the whole picture at the end. The only thing I have to criticize is that I need more. I can't deal with that ending, not because it doesn't give the reader closure but simply because I fell in love with these characters so much that I just need to know how their lives continue after this! Other than that, everything about this was perfect!