Title: The Sun is Also A Star

Author: Nicola Yoon

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

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?

Review:

Nicola Yoon has a gift.  She understands how humans work and how the adolescent experience can shape a person and change them forever.  I found The Sun Is Also A Star to be an important work of fiction for young adults and adult alike, and Yoon’s writing did not let me down.

The Sun Is Also A Star follows the lives of two star crossed teenagers, Natasha and Daniel.  Both could not be more different from one another, but they both end up changing each other for the better.  Even though this story line can be considered overdone, Yoon turned it into a poetic literary fiction that was very different from anything else I have read.  Her characters were diverse and had great depth, and I fell in love with both of them.  I could tell when reading Yoon’s novel that her heart and soul went into her work, and that is what I look for in an author.

The layout of Yoon’s books are always one of my favorite aspects of her writing.  Each chapter in this novel is labeled after either Natasha or Daniel until they eventually meet and clash with one another.  In this way, Yoon’s writing becomes more a collection of poetry than a novel, and it made for a quick read.  Some chapters were also labeled after those surrounding Natasha and Daniel and by understanding some of the side characters better Yoon’s world came to life.  She clearly outlined the personalities and lives of Natasha and Daniel before and after they meet one another, and the progression of their personalities and evolutions was remarkable.  I have not read another author who can evolve characters as brilliantly as Yoon can in one short novel, and The Sun is Also A Star will stick with me for years to come.

To make a thing as simple as an apple pie, you have to create the whole wide world.

I highly recommend this novel to young adults and adults alike.  It is clean and beautiful, and it will leave you changed.

FOR BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS FILL OUT FORM: Book Review Request Form

IF BOOK REQUEST WEBSITE IS DOWN EMAIL: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com