― Nicola Yoon, The Sun Is Also a Star
My Rating: 4 Stars
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?
1. Diversity! The part that stuck with me the most how diverse these characters were. I don’t often read works from POC authors (although it was one of my goals to incorporate more diversity into my reading choices this year), and when I do, I find the plot often feels forced, or the book focuses on historical events. Yes, absolutely, we need to go back and inform people about the POC accomplishments in history, but that shouldn’t be the only story written.
2. A love story. This was, in fact, a millennial love story. Girl who is on the brink of being deported spends the day trying to avoid leaving the country (and her life) behind. Boy who is pressured by his parents to be a good student has to come to terms that he may not want to live up to his parent’s expectations. They meet and have this quirky relationship in the course of a day.
3. So cheesy, and a bit stereotypical. There were points in the book that felt forced… the author occasionally fell into tropes rather than creating real, well-rounded characters. It was a bit expected and sometimes completely obvious. But… I didn’t mind it so much. I saw the purpose and I was able to look past some of the cliches.
4. Sidenote. Hands-down, the best parts of the book were the sidenotes. Every couple of chapters, the author would give us some historical facts on a random plant or animal that the characters were talking about. Or she would expand on a random character that the main characters met in passing. Or she would expand on the idea of love or music. And these were the best parts! It was a pleasant surprise to get a bit of side story in the midst of this crazy plot.
