The Sun is also a Star
Author: Nicola Yoon
Published: November 1, 2016
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: January 12-23, 2018
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
Jessica’s Review:
This novel was perfect for me; in fact it is my first 5 star read of the year. I listened to the audiobook version. There are two narrators, Natasha and Daniel. We experience the story through each of them via alternating chapters. The novel takes place in one 24 hour period: The day that Natasha and her family are to be deported. Life goes in a direction she does not expect and that direction is Daniel.
This is a pleasant YA novel. We know from the beginning of the novel what the end of this day will bring. We see how Natasha tries to fight to keep that from happening. We see how Daniel is basically ‘the perfect son’ who seems to be fated to go to Yale and become a doctor because his Korean parents expect it.
Sun was refreshing for me. Unlike most YA reads, the girl is the skeptic of love and the boy is the romantic. Natasha is math and science oriented, she does not believe in love. Daniel is the poet and falls easily for Natasha. I really liked Natasha and how different both of them were.
There are minor characters that Natasha and Daniel meet throughout the novel who are just as important as our main characters. I liked how we saw little snippets of their lives and how connected we can be to each other without realizing it, and how doing one minor thing can affect someone’s life forever. You never know what someone else is going through.
The ending was perfect for me. It is not a happy ending nor a sad ending: it shows how life can be. Things happen and life goes on.
What drew me to Sun was both the author and narrator. I enjoyed Yoon’s other novel Everything, Everything and I love the narrator Bahni Turpni (whom also narrated Everything Everything). This is the third novel I have listened to that she has narrated. She is becoming a favorite narrator of mine. There is just something about her voice that I like.
The Sun is also a Star is 100% recommended.
