The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Amy   
Lynnie

young adult, contemporary fiction


Full of teen drama and well-deserved angst, The Sun is Also a Star is told from several viewpoints and includes details of several characters’ lives. It is the story of two teens who are the subjects of cosmic turns of fate. One of them is going through a major life event—the impending deportation of her family to Jamaica—and the other is questioning his parents’ expectations for his future.

Amy's Review

Okay. Wow. This book deserves all the positive reviews and accolades it has received. What fun! How current.  While I tend to dislike books where there are too many convenient coincidences, the idea of coincidence and predestination is a central character to this story. I loved it! I loved the fact that the story was about immigrants. I loved the characters. I was never bored and kept wanting to hear more. (Yes, I listened to the audiobook and the three narrators were wonderful—“A”s all around for them. The female narrator was the same woman who narrated Nicola Yoon’s other novel, Everything, Everything. I recognized her voice immediately even though her main character had a New York accent in this one.)

Yoon has, so far, titled both of her novels based on a single sentence within her novels. Another of my favorite YA authors, Jandy Nelson, does the same thing. I’m not sure I love that strategy but I don’t hate it. I think they’ve done a good job of it.

The crafting of the story was masterful. The storyline was engaging and gripping. Truly, a fantastic novel. I’m giving it 5 stars—the first novel to which I’ve given 5 stars in 15 months!

Lynnie's Review

I have always enjoyed a book that takes place over 24 hours or less. There's a sense of urgency to the story that you don't get with a novel that takes place over an extended period of time and it's this dynamic pacing that made reading this book such fun. Add to that two main characters who sound real and are entertaining from beginning to end and you have a book that is great fun to read.

Natasha and Daniel are captivating narrators- strangers who meet at just the right (or wrong?) time to have a whirlwind day in NYC while trying to put their varying futures in order and decide who they really are. Coincidence, fate, love, science, uncertainty, and even desperation are guiding forces through this story and while often far-fetched, it still brought a smile to my face.