The Sun Is Also a Star (Yoon, Nicola)

I loved this book SO much but I find it hard to write a long review for books that I love for some reason so I’m simply going to share my feels through lists.What I liked:The Characters:Yoon really has a talent of making her characters so vibrant and fleshed out that they practically jump off the pages. It’s such a diverse cast of characters that it just wasn’t your plain Jane- cyst gendered white individuals.The writing:To my surprise- I really enjoyed Nicola’s writing style. It flowed so well and even if it technically a “slow” part of the story, I still had to force myself to stop reading because I didn’t want the experience to stop.The format:This novel was told in alternating pov’s between Daniel and Natasha which switched every other chapter. Occasionally, there was a extra little chapter written in a pov from someone that you wouldn’t even expect to be important to the story.For example, one of the chapters was in the point of view of a security guard that Natasha comes in contact with for just a mere two pages. You wouldn’t think that the stranger’s point of view had any way of propelling the story forward, but chapters like those were probably my favorite of the book and it just made it so much more unique than it already was before this format was introduced.The story:A huge theme of this book is Immigration. Natasha was born in Jamaica but is at risk, along with her family of getting deported back after her father’s DUI. Yoon does an amazing job at really humanizing immigration so you can actually understand what they are going through, which I think is really important.The romance:Daniel and Natasha fall in love in under 24 hours. While this is technically insta-love, it doesn’t exactly feel like it. They get so much accomplished in terms of getting to know each other in that short of a time that it feels like they have known each other for a span of years.Nicola has also made the characters so opposite from each other but so much alike at the same time so that they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.This was such an incredible story that I won’t be forgetting for a very long time.

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy YA and are looking for diverse representation in your reading.Natasha is being deported today. She's being deported because her father made a mistake. Because of his mistake, her future is ruined. Daniel is on the path that his parents want. Go to Yale, become a doctor, marry a nice Korean girl. Daniel would rather be a poet. He lets the wind blow him where it will before his interview for Yale. The wind blows him toward Natasha.Nicola Yoon. Gets me every time. Her books are light and fluffy, but they also carry deeper things beneath the surface. This book is more emotional and complex than Everything, Everything. The depiction of two children of immigrant parents is absolutely vivid and intricate. I love that this book is written from multiple perspectives, and as always with Nicola Yoon, the chapters are short and you just fly through it. I enjoyed reading from both Natasha and Daniel's perspectives, but I will say that I REALLY love teenage male protagonists. So much sarcasm! :P I also liked how this book contains segments about their parent's history, perspectives of people they interact with, etc. The way it's all woven together is really lovely. I cried a bit, and I felt happy and sad for all of the characters. It's just a really thoughtful portrayal of growing up, families, immigration, etc. etc. With the way it ends, I would love to read a follow-up. :) I hope that she writes more books soon! :)

Nicola Yoon weaves a charming story about two young lovers.Natasha Kingsley is running out of time. She is an undocumented Jamaican immigrant facing deportation to a country that no longer feels like home. Daniel Bae, a first a generation Korean American, is torn between pursuing his passion and living his parents' version of the American dream.By random chance, Natasha and Daniel meet on her final day in the U.S. And what follows is a sweet love story that will help readers believe that love is more than a hormonal reaction.Once I started reading this story, I could not put it down! Daniel is a hopeless romantic, while Natasha is a pragmatic scientist. Their banter left me laughing and crying. I haven't read such a delightful love story in a long time.Nicola Yoon's refreshing writing style will enchant readers. And kudos to Yoon for opening her novel with a Carl Sagan quote. After posting this review, I will definitely re-listen to "Big Blue Dot."5/5 stars

It was between this book and #BadMan (ha!) and I’m glad I chose something a little lighter⭐️! Bright, breezy story about two high school students: a Jamaican girl on her last day in NYC before she and her immigrant family are deported; and a Korean boy on his way to an interview for the college of his parents’ dreams...the two spend the day together, she a realist, he a dreamer, and together teach each other a different way of looking at life ☀️. I thought the teenage characters were believable and interesting and I loved the narrative structure told through different POVs and informative interstitials. It’s YA, but I think it’s a good recommendation for all audiences!

I am such a sucker for cute romances and this book was no less. You must have heard how this book is all about insta-love and how people usually hate that. I agree. I too hate insta-loves in most of the cases, but this book doesn’t fall into that case, for me. Despite insta-love-y storyline, in the beginning, I loved it because it was more than that. I loved both Daniel and Natasha as the characters and I loved Nicola Yoon’s writing, though it was my first ever read of hers.The whole story takes place in ONE day so you can’t argue with the insta-love plot, can you? I mean there are always limitations to writing a story in such a short period of time. I usually don’t understand how two people meet for the first time and fall in love instantly when they are quite different? But believe me, this story was so perfectly written that you would actually ignore the insta-love plot and would start rooting for Daniel and Natasha 🙂Probably, I should talk about the ending at the end of this review but I think it is better if I do it right here. We have a nice perception related to insta-love stories regarding how they would end. I had same expectations from this story too. But Nicola Yoon did a wonderful job with the ending part. Though my little heart broke badly, I was happy that she chose this ending. That made the story more believable but yes I wished it to be a little longer.Natasha and Daniel are two teens who find each other one fine day in New York. Natasha was an undocumented migrant and was about to be deported to Jamaica that day because of a mistake her father made. Daniel was the son of two South Korean parents but was born in America. Daniel and Natasha were totally different. One was a believer in love while another was a believer in science. Nicola Yoon created an atmosphere where two people meet who are so different yet bound together by time, destiny, love and who are “meant to be” somehow.A unique thing about the representation of the story was the change of perspectives. I loved how the story was switched between Natasha’s and Daniel’s perspectives, but the better thing was including the perspectives of minor side characters and third person chapters too, which made the story more interesting. For example, there were chapters related to the history of hair products for black people, which definitely made the little insights into the story more interesting. There were some chapters related to past of a few characters who played a significant role in the story. Those memories show us how the choices made by a person can affect their future and how those choices can impact other peoples lives.This story was more about life than love. No matter what decision you make, it is going to affect your present and future. And if it is meant to be, then it has to be. Life is full of surprises and you don’t know what would come next. But giving up is not the option.Nicola Yoon has presented a lot of diversity in this book. There is a strong representation of immigration issues and race. Daniel and Natasha both are immigrants but the difference is one is legal while the another is undocumented. The migration story from both the perspectives offer their own messages and struggles and represent family and identity thus making the story more than just the romance.Apart from diversity, the issues like loneliness and mental health have also been raised. There is a side character whose story I loved. This tells you that how little gestures can make an impact on peoples lives. This story gives you hope and courage. but most importantly, it makes you find the light within yourself.Overall, this was a fantastic read and now I am a fan of Nicol Yoon’s writing. The build-up of the story was good and the characters were adorable. The story was well written and also it was fast-paced. All the immigrant’s issues were presented so well. They were hard to digest but I am glad that Nicola Yoon has not sugarcoated anything. If you are looking for a diverse YA contemporary read with a cute romance, then this book is definitely for you. This story is just magical!

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.

Despite going in with high expectations, I still found myself pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book! Romance is not normally a genre I particularly enjoy, but I've been making an extra effort to give books like this more of a chance, especially if they come very highly reviewed as this one did. Nicola Yoon has been on my radar for a while, so I was excited to finally give her work a try! The words on the pages felt as fresh and vibrant as the front cover, and it was really unique despite focussing one one of my least favourite types of relationship - insta-love.Yoon's approach to this book was very unique. There were two main POVs, Daniel and Natasha, but there were still snippets of fact and other character POVs that kept the story flowing and provided a different perspective. I really liked the way this book was structured and the length of each chapter especially because it felt like a really quick read and stood out from others as well-written, contemporary and buzzing with both energy and intensity. Natasha and Daniel were really great characters, I liked the book's focus on racism between minorities and immigration (Natasha is an illegal Jamaican immigrant about to be deported and Daniel, of Korean descent, is being forced to live the 'American dream' by his parents who had it harder) which is something rarely covered in books.I have to say though, despite throwing in lots of other distractions along the way, the insta-love still made me eye roll just a teensy bit. Especially as Natasha was so dead-set against it! Some of the quotes in this book are clever and a little cute, but a fair few of them could be pretty vomit-inducing for most of the reading public. As the book was focussing on such serious issues, I really wanted to believe that this story could happen. But it struck me as . little too cringey to be feasible. Of COURSE Daniel is a poet (and boy, do we know it). Of COURSE he sees 'signs' and 'fate' in the most mundane of things. Of COURSE Natasha goes along with it and doesn't report him for stalking her like that. Of COURSE love wins all, even though they have only known each other for a day! Yeah, it definitely felt like a marmite book to me, but it won me round!

YA fiction can be extremely satisfying for older adults, especially when some aspects, be it character, emotions, setting, world building are explored in depth. One thing that drew me to this particular novel was that one of the protagonists, Daniel, is a Korean American. I have read a few Korean novels in the last few years and thought that the New York setting would give a very different cultural feel, especially as he is a member of the first generation of his family to be born in the US. To add to the mix, the other main character is a Jamaican immigrant, a fact which I hoped would lead to some interesting dynamics.To a large extent I was correct. Although 'The Sun is also a Star' is not another 'The Fault in Our Stars' and I was initially concerned that it would nowhere near meet my expectations, as the characters of Natasha and Daniel were revealed simultaneously to each other and the reader, I came to empathize with them both (but especially Natasha, whose character is very well fleshed out) and started to care intensely about their fate both as individuals and as a couple.In addition to the love story, the issues of race, colour, a sense of belonging, and the internal struggle between pursuing one's dreams and following the expectations of others are all explored at least partially, giving the novel some of the depth I was craving - and a greater breadth than I had anticipated, which was a bonus.

"What a difference a day makes." ✨✨The Sun is Also a Star is a novel by Nicola Yoon about destiny, love, hope, family and life. Natasha, a practical girl who was about to be deported back to Jamaica owing to the fact of her being an undocumented immigrant meets Daniel, a Korean boy living in America who is forced by his parents to become a doctor. Natasha makes all possible efforts to stay in America where she feels safe and happy. Their meeting is a sheer coincidence but they experience 'the moment'. However , Natasha lets it go. Why? Why is she sceptical of love? Why is she against dreaming? Why is Daniel forced to become a doctor? Will they meet again? All these simple questions have complicated and heart rendering answers. 🏘👨‍👨‍👧‍👦✨✨I really liked the narrative technique in the book. It is both personal and omniscient, the story goes back and forth to tell the readers about people and their histories. This book will make you believe in dreams, hope and destiny. Plus, it has become one of my favourite books and I had tears in my eyes after I finished reading it. Were they happy tears or was I sad? Grab the book and experience it yourself. Do let me know your thoughts if you've already read this one. 🙎🏾💇🏻‍♂️🎤🌞✨🛩