Title: The Sun Is Also A Star
Author: Nicola Yoon
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
First published: November 1st 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Finished reading: January 11th 2017
Pages: 348
“There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will.”
I confess I have been in love with the cover ever since I first saw it… But that wasn’t the only reason for me to add The Sun Is Also A Star to my wishlist, I also really enjoyed Nicola Yoon‘s other novel Everything, Everything last year. Like so many others, I was really excited to read this new story, but after I saw a lot of mixed reviews about this book I was actually kind of afraid to pick it up myself. Luckily The Sun Is Also A Star has proved to be one of the exceptions and I actually more than enjoyed reading it. Apart from the excellent prose that is a real pleasure to read, what really stood out for me were the main characters. I could really appreciate the fact that they are not the typical stereotype ‘white-American’ teenagers and I thought they added a whole different level to the story. As an immigrant living in Argentina I could really relate to some of the problems and challenges they have to face by living in a country that is either not their own or other people think is not their own. Sure, their romantic story is a bit sappy and literally what insta-love is all about, but I forgave the characters for it. Also, just the ending alone deserved an extra 1/2 star to be added to the rating. If you haven’t tried The Sun Is Also A Star yet, I can definitely suggest you do. Not everybody seems to love it, but it is without doubt worth the try. And no matter what happens, you always have that gorgeous cover to stare at, right? 😉
Natasha is a girl who was born in Jamaica, but has lived in the US for quite some years already. She is also a girl who believes in science and facts, and not in fate, destiny or dreams. Especially since her future is about to be shattered as her family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica… But then she meets Daniel by chance. Daniel has always been a good son and student trying to live up to the high expectations of his parents. They want him to be a doctor, but he secretly dreams to be a poet… And he has completely different ideas about dreams, fate and love than Natasha. Especially after he meets her. What will happen to the two after their unlikely meeting?
If you really think about the basic plot, The Sun Is Also A Star is rather tacky and cliche. But it sure doesn’t feel that way while you are reading it. I’m normally allergic to stories with tropes as insta-love, but in this case it was really easy to forgive the main characters. Both the writing style and the character development are excellent and made me thoroughly enjoy this story. The ending really made my day as well… All in all such a great read!
You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Bloglovin’.
