The way the book is written is interesting and unusual. The perspective changes several times throughout the story. Most of Part 1 is told from a third person narrative, and we only hear about Jude from the perspectives of the other characters. When Part 2 starts, we actually get to see Jude's thoughts and feelings. The most interesting thing is that the narrator never actually says the name Jude, it's always just 'he' so it's a bit confusing at first until it finally clicks that we're in Jude's head. 

Jude is my favorite character. He is just such a sweet and kind soul. He is lighthearted and playful even though he is in chronic pain and is very serious. I just want to be his friend and give him a hug. 

There is a lot of potentially upsetting content in this book. Warnings include: self-harm, physical and emotional abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, suicide. All of these things are not only mentioned in the book but written in extreme detail. 

I think what I loved most about this book is that despite there being so much trauma and suffering, the biggest themes in the book are love and friendship. Jude is a person who thinks so little of himself throughout the book, and yet he brings so much joy to other people's lives. 

One thing to note about this book is that there ARE happy moments. There is a lot of awfulness in the book, don't get me wrong, but it's not just unrelenting sadness. There is a lot of love and good in this book, as well. 

This book is not for everyone.

Favorite Quotes:

• “You won’t understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are—not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving—and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad—or good—it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.” 

• “...things get broken, and sometimes they get repaired, and in most cases, you realize that no matter what gets damaged, life rearranges itself to compensate for your loss, sometimes wonderfully.” 

• “I know my life's meaningful because I'm a good friend. I love my friends, and I care about them, and I think I make them happy.”

• “Wasn’t friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely?”