The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon Review

Hey ForeverBookers, 

I’ve just finished “The Sun Is Also A Star” by Nicola Yoon and I loved it soooooooo much!!!

4.5 Stars!

I read “The Sun Is Also A Star” a few readathons again. They were: 

Reading Rivalry - A book featuring a person of colour - Natasha is a black, Jamaican young woman. 

Litwits - A book that makes you feel warm and fuzzy - “The Sun Is Also A Star” was sooooooo cute and so definitely did this.

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2019 - A book that’s becoming a movie in 2019 - apparently according to Google “The Sun Is Also A Star” is set to release on 17th May 2019. 

Literary Love Affair - I read “The Sun Is Also A Star” for page count points. 

And lastly this time, Contemporary-a-thon 2019 - “The Sun Is Also A Star” can be used for every challenge (except the contemporary that I most recently acquired). I technically finished it after contemporary-a-thon had finished but I still read it in that week so I’m counting it. 

It has purple (so it counts as blurple) on the cover.

It’s a diverse contemporary as we’re reading from a black main character and a Korean main character’s POV. 

It was emotional/hardhitting in some of it’s themes. More details in the spoiler section below.

I honestly meant to read it in 2018.

It has a small part that’s in a play format so is non-traditional. 

It has parts of the explosion/star on the spine so technically a picture. 

“The Sun Is Also A Star” is basically a love story about 2 young people that meet in a day. It tells the story of Natasha, a Jamaican immigrant and Daniel, a Korean-American who both live in New York. They meet accidentally but is what transpires between them meant to be...???

I found a lot of meaning written in “The Sun Is Also A Star,” which I appreciated. I’ve highlighted some parts below, but I think the main message of the book is to not give up on love or your dreams and that with a little hope and persistence anything can happen! I don't normally like standalone novels because I think they're over with too quickly and I normally don't see the point in them. However with "The Sun Is Also A Star" there is definitely a point.  

“The Sun Is Also A Star” is written in first person for the most part from both Natasha and Daniel’s perspectives. This worked well, I thought, as I could see the thought processes happen for both characters. I appreciated this because I could get to know both characters on a deeper level. I like this in any book, be it contemporary like this or fantasy, my two favourite genres. 

I will say that the story really only started for me after the first 50 pages or so. Daniel and Natasha meet here. Before this it’s like a long introduction, which could in my opinion have been cut down by at least 25 pages. 

Note: there are a few racist remarks in “The Sun Is Also A Star.” Not enough to be jarringly obvious but it goes along with one of the storylines in the book. They are there for a reason. The two main characters don’t feel as though their skin colour matters, which it shouldn’t. They’re trying to be who they want to be without any expectations. I admired this. Also, I would say this is more for the 14+ age range because I don’t think many children younger than that would understand about immigration. Our main characters are older than 14 too. Some people class this book as very much instalove. I don’t because I don’t believe there’s such a thing as instalove. I think that as long as the characters have frank and honest discussions, like Natasha and Daniel do in “The Sun Is Also A Star” it’s like they’ve known each other for years, so the the time they take to fall in love, whether it is a day as in this novel or months or more as in others doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. 

Spoilers Below! 

          “When Natasha thinks about love, this is what she thinks: nothing lasts forever,” is from early on in the story when Natasha and Daniel have only just met. Natasha is very book smart. She wants to be a scientist, which is proved below. 

          “A data scientist,” she says with no hesitation.”

Natasha speaks very much to the point throughout “The Sun Is Also A Star.” She’s quite stunted at the beginning of the novel, and thinks she knows what she wants, I’d say but learns to grow throughout. Whereas, Daniel, our other lead considers himself a poet and creative.

          “Are we really supposed to know what we want to do with the rest of our lives at the ripe old age of seventeen?”

Daniel asks himself this question because he’s not sure what he wants to do, unlike Natasha. They’re very different characters but can a relationship work with two very different people? That’s the point of “The Sun Is Also A Star” also, I believe. Don’t let anyone tell you that something won’t work out. Always persist and whatever it is could work.  

Natasha is Jamaican, while Daniel is Korean American. Both families, who we see snippets of within “The Sun Is Also A Star” hold true to their culture - Natasha’s mother doesn’t think life in the US is worth it. She’s very much in favour of going home to Jamaica. It’s Natasha’s dad, Samuel that made her move in the first place so that he could chase his dreams of being an actor. Samuel comes across as quite a selfish character, at least to me. It was all about his dreams. He didn’t care about the rest of his family. “He used to think I was the greatest thing ever,” is what Natasha believes of her dad before they moved. Now, during the novel, Natasha is telling Daniel that she thinks he doesn’t care about her anymore. A lot of “The Sun Is Also A Star” is made up of moments between Natasha and Daniel getting to know one another. It’s their will they/won’t they be together love story at heart, after all. 

Daniel’s family is Korean. His brother, Charlie is Korean-American like him but acts like their father in that he thinks Daniel shouldn’t be falling in love with Natasha. As Charlie is the older brother, he’s jealous that Daniel has found his way in life and he’s still looking for it. When Natasha meets Daniel’s dad things take a turn for the worst when he sees that she’s not Korean, or even American. 

          “I saw the way you look at that girl,” he says. “But that can never be.”

          “I think you’re wrong,” I tell him 

          “Doesn’t matter what you think. You do the right thing.”

is an honest exchange is between Daniel’s father and Daniel, himself. His dad is very much against Daniel doing his own thing and appears to be very controlling of both his sons. Daniel’s family have a set outline for him to follow and they think, fleetingly falling in love with a Jamaican girl while he’s still a teenager isn’t a part of it. His father is of the older generation of Koreans, it’s said in the book so he’s very dominant about his beliefs. We never see Daniel’s mother but she is of the same thinking, according to Daniel. 

I noted above that this could be a taboo contemporary in part. I think this is true because of how Natasha and Daniel’s parents think. 

         “Do your parents care who you date?”

         I shrug. “I’ve never asked. I guess probably they would prefer me to eventually marry a black guy.”

         “Why?”

         “Same reason as yours. Somehow they’ll understand him better. And he’ll understand them better.”

This is an honest exchange between Natasha and Daniel where Daniel is asking Natasha if her parents would care if she was to tell them she’s dating him. Happiness doesn’t seem to matter to the parents it seems, just skin colour. That’s how this is taboo. 

         “Got anymore of those love questions for me?”

         “You’re not in love with me yet?” His voice is filled with mock incredulity.

         “Nope,” I say and smile at him. 

         “Don’t worry,” he says. “We’ve got time.”

Here, Natasha and Daniel are asking love questions to each other. When they first meet after the first 50 pages Daniel tells Natasha that after so many questions they’ll fall in love because he’s a hopeless romantic. Natasha on the other hand is a scientist in practice, as I noted above so she doesn’t think it’s possible to fall in love that quickly. Daniel wants to try asking the questions to see if they can prove his theory correct.

        “I didn't know you this morning, and now I don't remember not knowing you.” 

This is a sweet moment from “The Sun Is Also A Star.” There are a lot of these peppered throughout the book. I was actually reading this on Valentines Day 2019, so it haphazardly fit. Natasha and Daniel truly fall in love, I believe at the Norebang, which is Korean karaoke.  

        “I kiss him to get him to stop talking. If he keeps talking I will love him, and I don’t want to love him. I really don’t.” Natasha truly doesn’t want to fall in love but she can’t help herself. 

As well as Natasha and Daniel’s storyline, there’s another romance also bought into “The Sun Is Also A Star.” It’s between Natasha’s lawyer, who is trying to make sure she can stay in the country and his secretary, Hannah. This romance really isn’t the main part of the book, however it’s nice to see an older romance too.

        “and while the Natashas are all quite lovely, none of them is my Natasha. Who knew that name was so flipping popular.”

This is another sweet and tender moment. Here, Daniel is trying to find his Natasha desperately after learning that she will in fact be deported that evening. I thought it was cute how Daniel refers to her as “my Natasha,” as if no other girl, a Natasha or otherwise would do. Will he find her??? Will they get their happily ever after??? You’ll have to read to find out...

Overall then, I loved this book! It had everything I look for in a YA romance book. That’s why I’m giving it 4.5 Stars. The only reason it’s not a full five is the long winded introduction. It will be a definite reread in the future for me, maybe when I need something cute! Stand by to see what I read next!