Book Review: TSIAAS

September 14, 2019

Book Review: TSIAAS

THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR, NICOLA YOON

“People make mistakes all the time. Small ones, like you get in the wrong checkout line. The one with the lady with a hundred coupons and a checkbook. Sometimes you make medium-sized ones. You go to medical school instead of pursuing your passion. Sometimes you make big ones. You give up.”

― Nicola Yoon, The Sun Is Also A Star

Title: The Sun Is Also A Star

Author: Nicola Yoon

Publisher: Corgi Books (Penguin Random House)

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, Romance

Format: Paperback

Language: English

Pages: 384

Synopsis:

The Sun Is Also A star follows two teenagers. A Korean boy named Daniel, who is kind of a dreamer. He is a poet, an artist, but his parents have high expectations from him and aspire him to be a doctor.
The book also follows a Jamaican girl Natatsha, who has a logical approach to life. She believes more in Science and facts than destiny and fate. She is twelve hours away from being deported back to Jamaica from New York and is doing everything she can to stop the deportation.

Somewhere along all this, Daniel and Natasha's paths collide. With such unsure futures ahead of them will they give each other a chance in the present or will they let this connection pass by? They have no idea what the universe conspires for them and what might happen in just a matter of a few hours.

What I liked:

1. The different POVs in the book.
I've never read a book that was narrated by the minor characters as well. It's an interesting take as we get different point of views. There were several small chapters which gave us the glimpse of the lives of the people like Daniel's brother, the guard, waitress, conductor and many others. It also has chapters about love, multiverses, I especially loved the chapter on Fate, the little mythological story was interesting to know about.

2. The blend of art & science.
I love a logical explanation about things. Topics about love, fate, etc. was a fun thing to read and made me think about how people shape their thinking based on their emotions and believes. I loved how the universe and fate and destiny played a big role in the book. Those are some things that are not explainable through science and facts but we all do believe in them somehow and see them as driving factor of our lives.

3. The main characters.
Daniel & Natasha were such lovable characters. Daniel was a more artsy guy & Natasha was a logical one. She had & needed a solid explanation about everything. I related to Natasha a lot. She believed in facts and figures more than a whimsical, emotional reason behind things. Also, you could feel the struggles they both were going through in their life. You could very well connect and understand the pressure than Daniel was constantly being put under about his career choice by his family.

4. Short chapters.

There’s something about short chapters in books that I love. The sun also a star is made up of several short chapters. I always feel like they are less draggy, more interesting than long chapters with unnecessary details and descriptions. Short chapters don’t feel heavy and are easier to go through. The chapters in The Sun Is Also A Star is short, crisp and comprises of various different perspectives. Not just perspective of different people but also from a philosophical point of view.

5. The feel-good but realistic love story.
It wasn't a 100% instant-love situation but let's be real it kind of was. I usually hate instant love stories in books. The same cliched boy meets girls and they both fall in love within a short frame of time, but this book did it well. You couldn't help but root for the characters. The writing in this book is simple.

6. The writing.

The language used is not tough to read and is easily understandable. Nicola Yoon has a way of saying things that is just beautiful. This main plot of the book takes place in only a span of one day and this book isn’t very short. It’s a 384 pages long book which is a lot of pages to fill with a story of just one day. But the author did a great job and not in one bit did the story drag or feel boring.

6. The ending.
The ending was the cherry on top of the cake! This story couldn't have had a better conclusion the one written by Nicola Yoon. The climax and the denouement of the story come together perfectly to give this book a beautiful and heart-warming ending. Saying anything more could spoil the ending, you need to read to experience the emotions yourself.