Sarah has done it again. Another great plot and wonderful characters. A definite must for school, pupils will love it.

I'm sorry but I just did not get this.
It was slow and just plain silly.
Not for me.

After her bestseller-turned-movie, „Everything, Everything“, Nicola Yoon has written an enchanting New York love story that reads like a modern fairytale.

Daniel is a Korean-American teenager living in New York City, struggling with his parents‘ ambitions for his life. They want him to go to college and become a doctor or a lawyer. Daniel, instead, wants to become a poet. He (literally) runs into Natasha who, together with her Jamaican family, is facing deportation. Their flight is supposed to leave on the same day, and Natasha is desperate to find a last-minute way to stay in the United States.

Changing back and forth between Daniel’s and Natasha’s POV, interspersed with explanatory „dictionary entries“ and the POVs of different people they meet, Yoon squeezes an epic YA love story into this single day. It is full of fateful coincidences and seemingly insignificant encounters which turn out to be life-changing. Little things that happen to, with and around these two instant lovers prove to be of huge impact. There is the constant feeling of interconnection, of „meant-to-be“, and when, in the end, things come full circle after all, the reader closes the book with a happy sigh – and the realization of having read a fairytale that doesn’t happen in real life.

Daniel and Natasha, on the one hand, are typical teenage fiction characters. They fit into defined molds. Daniel is the dreamer who writes poems in his little notebook, secretly rejecting his parent’s expectations yet not daring to openly rebel against them. He believes in love at first sight, in shooting stars and fate.

Natasha, in a nice upside-down-turn to the usual boy/girl cliché, is driven by logic and believes in science and numbers and facts. She holds a deep grudge against her father, a failed actor, and blames him for their imminent deportation.

These two, as different as they are, find each other, and sparks fly. They follow each other through the day and through New York, lose sight of one another and, with fate clearly intervening, stumble upon each other again. They meet each other’s families, struggle with questions of ethnic identity, expectations and prejudices. Daniel strings Natasha along by means of a questionnaire which, when completed, is supposed to have made them irreversibly fall in love with each other. Natasha is determined to prove him wrong (and, of course, fails hopelessly).

Daniel softens Natasha’s factual, unsentimental approach to life. Natasha, in turn, helps the hopeless romantic Daniel touch ground. To a certain degree. After all, this is a YA love story, and there is the appropriate emotional drama and unfathomable depth typical for this genre. The world seems to stand still around these two as they hold hands in the subway or kiss on a rooftop and feel as star-crossed as any teenage couple has ever felt. Plus, with all the side characters whose depressing stories magically get turned around by chance encounters with Daniel and Natasha, this story screams fairytale around every corner.

Compared with „Everything, Everything“, Daniel and Natasha feel a bit more complex, a tad more interesting. Yoon plays with gender roles, assigning each of them traits and talents usually expected of the opposite sex. Being Jamaican-born herself, Yoon gives Natasha’s complicated sense of identity and association a very authentic feel.

All in all, „The Sun Is Also A Star“ is an incredibly romantic teenage love story touching upon the serious issues of immigration, deportation and what it means to identify as „American“. In the final few pages, just when the reader thinks Yoon gives her own beautiful story a realistic punch in the gut, she turns the whole thing around into a delayed happily-ever-after. Is that a smart decision? It’s not what happens in real life. But it certainly feels good to believe that, once in a while, it does.

Nicola Yoon’s books are definitely illustrious in the book community. I’ve heard so many things about her works that I knew sooner or later I’ll read something of hers as well. As it seems, the time has come.

The Sun Is Also A Star centers around a science-minded girl who is trying to keep her family from being deported, a romantic boy on his way to an interview, and everything in between. Natasha doesn’t believe in fate while Daniel is convinced their meeting is anything but chance. As they spend the day together, he tries to convince her that they belong together by the way of the universe. Natasha is determined not to prove him right, but as they spend the day together Daniel’s words start to make sense.

I’ve been eyeing this book for a long time, partly because of the hype and mostly because of the cover. I saw it at the city book fair’s foreign editions stall and it was in that moment that it was decided that I’ll definitely be reading it (because at least I can find a copy here, which is a rarity.) Then I saw it on NetGalley and well, here I am. (Granted, a few months late, but still here.) To be quite honest, it’s been a month and I still don’t know how I feel about this book exactly.

The writing style is nice and distinctive. It captures both Natasha’s science-oriented mind and Daniel’s poetry-inclined character perfectly without the two bleeding into each other. I also really enjoyed the added perspectives – they remind you that each person you pass has their own story to live and write about. There were also some nice science facts, which I greatly appreciated. Everything tied together very nicely.

The characters, by themselves, were well-written and I enjoyed getting to know them. Natasha’s struggle and her determination to do anything possible not to have her family deported stick out and I wish we’d gotten more of that side of the story. I enjoyed Daniel’s side as well, feeling his parents’ pressure and his internal dilemma with following through with their expectations or following his own dreams. The book looks light and fun, but it holds some real weight and its characters carry it all on their shoulders.

The reason I’m still not sure how I feel about this book is the romance part – which takes up a huge chunk. On the one hand, I found it cute and lightweight, it made me smile. But on the other hand, it was a little weird to me how all of these emotions surfaced in the span of a day. As a lover of the slowest of slow burns, this love didn’t capture me as it was intended to. I guess I’m kind of a blend of Natasha and Daniel in this case. The ending still made me tear up, so I’ve got to give bonus points.

Overall, The Sun Is Also A Star offers a little something for everyone. It’s a cute book about love, science, some quite important topics, and all the things in between. If we put the rushed romance (I’m aware it was supposed to be this way, but still) this book is quite a good read.

A mixed junction of fate, love, desires and teenage dreams!

Wow. I haven't read much lately and due to many factors I find myself leaning on young adult books to overcome this reading slump with lighter reads. Which is kind of odd and even a bit funny, since I almost stopped reading young adult books a long time because I can't find myself enjoying them as much as I did in the past. Nevertheless, I'm still keen of a good story and "The Sun is Also a Star" had all the right ingredients to get my attention. Starting by the author's nationality.
Ever since I started thinking and preparing the project of the World Book Tour (now in partnership with my friends Cata and Jojo ) I started to look out not only for books representing diverse public segments but also different authors, with different experiences and a wider spectrum of analysis. And this book had it all: a Jamaican author, Jamaican characters, Korean characters, and a bit of youthful, confrontation between a magical fate and logic and some scents of the historical paths that brought two different branches of immigration to the United States of America.
It's also a test to life in general, calling the readers to decide where is the line that divides a predisposed destiny and the cadence of small happenings which, in the end, transform who we are and what are our next steps.
Firstly I considered a bit annoying all the parallel stories to which I couldn't find a reason for them to appear constantly, since they interrupted the main plot quite often and line of the story I was designing on my mind. Therefore, I understood near the end their purpose and I could even understand the little magic created from them. It's amazing to conceal how small moments and differences can change someone's life! Nevertheless, they weren't my favourite part of the story for sure.
Natasha and Daniel couldn't be more different from each other. That's why it's so lovely to find them in love, surpassing the inconveniences of family's expectations, emotional baggage, a timeline they can't avoid and their personal insights about how life should be or shouldn't be lived.
It's a love story, but it's also a bit more than that, fruitfully resulting from the dimensions created by their family stories. In the middle of all the unbelievable situations and actions during that 24 hours, that elements added new memories and moments for both of them to cherish. This book also adds a dimension of real life, when discussing that being a teenage is not always so easy as it seams, since many of the major decisions responsible for defining our future are taken so early.
Because of that, I felt there was a realm of reality claiming to make the readers think about what they are expecting to build on their paths (or what they did in the past) and what it means at the present moment. It's also a lucky charm against blue days, because I doubt that someone isn't going to fall for Daniel, he has that spirituous and free mind we all would like to keep on us (even just a little) every time we see ourselves on the mirror, besides he is a dearest and it's impossible not to smile at his blind faith in the world.
Finally, I enjoyed the last chapter, it felt realistic and honest and as sincere as it could get. Until the author decided to add that small plot twist at the very last. Even if I still understand why she did it, I find it a bit pushed. I just hope her choice was done due the need to create a more enjoyable ending for her readers and not because she thought her readers couldn't handle a bit of factual happenings and life in general. Because every young person conscious about the world knows life isn't perfect and many times isn't fair either. But it always teach us something and leave marks to never be forgotten. If not by memory, at least by heart.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the story, the coming together of two characters that seemingly are from different backgrounds: Jamaican and Korean but in reality share the experience of being children of immigrants. I loved the chapters of contextualisation interspersed between Natasha and Daniel's points of view. It is tale that feels very relevant in times when people are being uprooted and deported left, right and centre.
This book is poetic, funny and thought provoking.

Fun, cute, and romantic, Nicola Yoon’s latest book definitely has the “awww” factor! Its a YA contemporary that will give you the feels and keep you entertained! Ok. So yes there was some istalove going on, and usually I really hate that, but with The Sun Is Also A Star it somehow seemed to work really well. It was unique and touched on some really important issues while still keeping that adorableness that keeps you smiling and turning those pages!

Full review on my blog...

The Sun Is Also A Star swept me away with its intricacy, and intimacy. Set over the course of a single day in New York City, where a Jamaican illegal resident and a second-generation South Korean poet meet, become friends, fall in love, and fight for a happy ever after.. It's both very sexy, romantic and also honest and practical, and features cultural issues like racial prejudice between on-white groups, and immigration politics. The main characters' - Natasha and Daniel - are also orbited by a cast of others, made up of the people they interact with over the course of the day, leaving the reader with the thought that every action had a ripple, and each ripple can become a wave. A glorious book.

This book took a while to get into. But then it was one I had to continue with and finish. Very original. Very satisfying.

DNF I know this story covers important issues, but I found it way to rambling to make any sense of it. I loved everything, everything and this just didn't live up to it.

Sweet romance with characters to really engage with & some entertaining sub-plots & diversions. Epilogue end a touch cheesy perhaps but it's a good read

This was a very cute, incredibly readable love story, and a massive improvement on Everything Everything. Diversity is clearly important to Yoon, but unlike a lot of recent "diverse books" at no point did this feel like a box ticking exercise. Yoon's characters are incredibly believable as well as being representative. The romance is so skilfully built and not rushed at all, I loved the pacing of this book and was hugely emotionally invested. The butterfly effect side notes were a really original feature and prevented the small scale main plot from becoming dull. Probably the best contemporary YA of 2016, this was a great and incredibly commercial read.

I didn't enjoy this as much as Everything, everything but if I had read it without that prejudice it would have been in my top five books read last year. Contemporary teenage fiction at its best!

This was an easy ready, a few hours, the chapters are short and interspersed throughout the chapters dedicated to Natasha and Daniel are chapters focused on minor and supporting characters and themes which the book seeks to tackle. The history of African American hair has a chapter, it is that fantastic.

I started reading this book with very high expectations of being completely in love with the writing and to connect with the lead character, Natasha who is Jamaican but no such luck. As I continued to read, I began to appreciate Natasha for who she was instead of trying to squeeze her into my preconceived notion of "Jamaicanness."

As a Jamaican living and working in Jamaica, I have very strong feelings and thoughts on US immigration, undocumented persons and deportation. This is all so very topical now, such a nuanced sensitive matter. I was very satisfied with how this story ended.

Reading this book is like skipping all your meals for the day, and then once you start reading...you gulp and gulp, intoxicated by the loveliness of the feeling.

Yoon nailed it.

I was really, effing scared and fascinated by the prospect of this book and she slayed it. In my humble opinion, it's way better than Everything, Everything.

Will my students like it as much or better? Probably not.

But as an adult, I appreciate the romanticism and longing and disappointment of this complicated love story on a much higher level. This made each twist and a turn so delicious. I simply cannot fathom that Natasha and Daniel are not real.

Daniel is one of the most amazing, male characters that I've ever read. He's lyrical and loyal and earnest and touching and tender and endearing and naive and brave.

Natasha is fantastically crafted and so stoic and complicated and forceful, too.

I loved al the unique points of view. I loved the humor and the softness. I.Loved.It.All.

3.5 Stars in my Sky!

The Sun Is Also a Star provides a beautifully awkward and honest look at love, the universe and everything in between.

I liked the mixed POVs and really felt as though they gave a heightened insight into what motivates the characters. Natasha and Daniel start as strangers but quickly become invested in each others lives. I laughed, cried and felt all the emotion along with them.

Nicola Yoon is very good at creating positive representations and racial diversity in her books. I really appreciated the portrayal of Natasha's Jamaican culture. Daniel's Korean-American representation works well, from his demanding parents to his confusing brother - I found Daniel particular interesting.

I'm going to add an ugly cry warning to this one. Oh the romance and drama! I'm usually pretty anti-instalove but I really wanted to be won over here. Do I believe in instant love? Probably not but I did like them and how Nicola Yoon tells their story.

I received a review copy

I loved that it was from different points of view
I loved that the ending couldn't be predicted!

I think if I had read this as a young adult it would have melted my heart and been a favourite of mine.
It was touching with a slightly different storyline.
As I'm a woman in her 40's it wasn't really aimed at me though I quite enjoyed it.