The Sun is also a Star: Nicola Yoon

Natasha is an intelligent young woman whose belief in science is absolute. Her dream is to go to college and have a career in a practical and fact-based field. She doesn’t have time for love, fantasy, destiny or fate but as she has only 12 hours left in New York City/America before she and her family are deported back to Jamaica, Natasha might have to rely on any help the universe might offer her. She tries to make a last-ditch attempt to stay in the country but what she doesn’t bank on in her last hours is bumping into a quirky, cute boy and falling for him hard. Daniel has always been the responsible one. The second son of a Korean family who loves him but has made him live in the shadow of his more successful older brother. He worked hard and strove to make his parents proud. When his brother Charlie messes up his previously impressive life by getting kicked out of college, their parents shift their focus onto him. They expect great things including him getting early acceptance at Yale and studying to be a doctor. Neither idea appeals to Daniel as he would rather write poetry about life and love. On his way to his college interview, he meets Natasha and he is determined to prove to her that love truly exists no matter what it takes. With time running out for them to have the future that they dream of, will the universe interfere and send them down a different path together or are they fated to keep the hand they were dealt while being separated in the process? 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I loved the setup for this story. Daniel and Natasha are complete opposites but somehow the fact that their lives are shaped both by their families and societal circumstance gives them a common bond. Daniel's sweetness softens Natasha's hard outlook on life while Natasha's pragmatic and strongminded spirit inspires Daniel to stand up for himself. They complement and empower each other as they fall in love. It was a complicated and emotional story that kept me gripped until the very last line. Beautifully written with incredible characters. I highly recommend it.

This novel begins as a simple tale about a girl who believes in science who meets a poet who claims he can make her love him by the end of the day. Natasha has time to kill – she and her Jamaican family will be deported in just twelve hours time – so she explores the streets of New York with Daniel, meeting his Korean family and answering his lover’s quiz. Both characters are funny and likeable and as the narrative viewpoint alternates between them, we learn what it means to grow up as an immigrant in America, trapped between your parents expectations and the prejudices of society. But what transforms this book into something truly special is the omniscient narrator who dips in and out to give us fleeting but powerful insights into the lives that briefly touch our two young lovers: the grieving driver who nearly knocks them over, the bitter and heart-broken waitress who serves them, the conflicted lawyer who tries to help. Unusually for a YA book, we are also given the perspective of both parents, so instead of being allowed to dismiss them as ‘the bad guys’ we are exposed to the pain of their own broken dreams. Nicola Yoon writes with a delicate hand so that whilst the conceit at the heart of the story (just one day to fall in love) might seem far-fetched it felt believable to me. Written with great wisdom and tenderness, this book is not just a celebration of love, it is a celebration of humanity, with all our flaws and weaknesses. As well as being a funny and uplifting story, The Sun is also a Star will help promote understanding and empathy between different races and generations at a time when we need this most. Nicola Yoon should feel incredibly proud of herself for writing this perfect little gem and I cannot wait to read Everything, Everything by the same author.

The Sun Is Also a Star, is a touching story about two teenagers who deserve the chance to get to know each other, but risk having it ripped away from them before it’s even really begun. The novel takes place in New York City, where Natasha is on a mission to save her family from being deported back to Jamaica. On her journey she meets Daniel, who, due to a combination of bizarre and seemingly meant-to-be moments, notices her from afar and feels that he must get to know her. Over the course of their day, Daniel tries to undermine Natasha’s belief that both love and fate aren’t real, and that science explains everything. It’s a beautiful read, consistently making me want to laugh and cry, and question my own opinions in regard to how the universe works. Firstly, I’d like to mention that the cover art for this book is absolutely stunning. Upon finishing it, I understood its meaning immediately: that every second, different people, things and circumstances are all brought together, and they clash to create an outburst of consequences that have a huge impact on the rest of our lives. We make hundreds of decisions every single day, and each of these decisions leads to a different future where hundreds of more decisions lie. The outcome depends on which route we take. The cover and the novel, both encourage readers to think about everything they do with an open mind, and to be careful with how we effect other people’s journeys. Leading on from that, I love how every event in the novel was interlinked with another, how every person we were introduced to either had a hand in how Daniel and Natasha’s lives played out, or vice-versa. It shows how even saying one kind (or rude) word to a stranger can influence them to make a huge life-changing decision. The novel also dealt well with racism and how young people cope with having extremely prejudice parents. Daniel’s father’s disrespect towards Natasha and his embarrassment, I felt was written incredibly well and worked towards giving the characters more dimension. It’s realistic to write, not only about two characters who are both considered minorities in Twenty-First Century America, but who also don’t conform to the stereotypes placed on them. Daniel’s issues with his Korean parents wanting what’s best for him instead of what makes him happiest, and Natasha’s father wanting what’s best for himself instead of what’s best for his family, gives them common ground which many readers will be able to identify with. Yoon portrays realistic family dynamics in showing that they are complicated and hardly ever perfect. Although I loved The Sun Is Also a Star, the reason I’m not giving it five stars, is that it was a little hard to get into. I think this was because the chapters started off very short and kept switching perspectives, however I understand that this was necessary to get the whole concept across. More into the middle I began to enjoy the short chapters because they gave us access to what each character was thinking in any particular moment. Something else that bothered me, was Natasha’s personality. As brutal as that sounds, she was a bit hard to like because of her pessimistic nature and how rude she was to Daniel at times, but as the story went on and he warmed her heart, she was much easier to read. The ending was absolutely amazing – so amazing that it brought tears to my eyes for literally no reason! I wholeheartedly recommend this book as it really can change your entire viewpoint on the world and our day-to-day lives. 4 stars to Nicola Yoon’s, The Sun Is Also a Star. Brilliant.

A whole page was missing

It was a great book. The adventure gave me the chills. The added character and their stories was interesting. The romance between Natasha and Daniel is adorable, Overall amazing book. I totally recommend reading it!

デビュー作のeverything everythingが良かったので、ついでにという気持ちでこちらも購入しました。個人的にはeverything everythingよりこちらの作品の方が好きです！メインキャラクター2人以外の細かい登場人物の事情や心理描写が細かく書かれていて、面白かったです。英語があまり得意でない方でも読みやすい作品だと思います。前作同様映像化もされるようなので楽しみにしています。

I picked up the book “the sun is also a star” because I had watched the movie a while back and enjoyed it. I have also read another one of the author’s books “everything everything” and loved it. The way she switches between points of view in the book really keeps the reader engaged. I never got bored because it felt like there was a constant refresh. She also told a short background story for even minor characters which I loved. I felt like I could empathize with every character in the book. I couldn’t stop myself from offering it to all of my friends to read, definitely on my top 10 favorite list of books! We often give up when tough situations arise, it seems like there is nothing that we can do. This book shows that when times get hard it is worth it to put in your best effort. It takes you through the lengthy yet interesting process that Natasha goes through in order to try and save her family from deportation. It also takes you through daniel putting all of his being into something that he doesn’t want. His parents push him to go to Harvard but all he wants in life is to be a poet. I think that it pushes a message that everyone needs to hear at some point in their life. This book also sheds a light on the discrimination that interracial couples can get. Daniel and Natasha feel like they are being judged all the time just for holding hands, even daniels own parents frown upon him being with a black girl. This book has an amazing way of mixing the conflict of deportation, college, and the possibility of Natasha and daniel being torn away from each other’s grasp. It captures the intense feelings that Natasha and daniel go through as they have grown more and more fond of each other all in one day. I could read this book all in one sitting I wouldn’t just recommend it but rather urge people to read, it’s truly an amazing book.

a must-read. the story takes place in a day, but each minute was worth it. you'll love it.