Publication: November 1, 2016, by Delacorte
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 344
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating:
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?
My Thoughts:
I'm kind of dreading to put this review up into the big, scary world right now. Every review I have read for this book, Nicola Yoon's newest contemporary romance that was supposed to be better than her debut, Everything, Everything, which completely stole my heart last year and made it onto my top ten favourite books of 2015, The Sun is Also a Star, was positive. Everyone is giving this a big fat five star rating, but to be honest, I'm just not feeling all of this "diverse romance." I appreciate it so much, though. Seeing two beautiful characters who each have their flaws and who each have struggled in different ways in the second biggest city in the world, New York City, seeing them fall in love is gorgeous. I love how Nicola Yoon based the romance of Daniel and Natasha off her own marriage with her husband. I love how much potential this book had. But now, I was completely disappointed with the outcome of this one. The Sun is Also a Star has proved that the sun is also a star, but nothing more, to be quite clear.
Nicola Yoon is a talented author and I adore her writing completely. Something just fell apart when I read The Sun is Also a Star. I found the romance to be too good to be true, too much relied on fate (especially on those random appearances where they would find each other in the middle of a huge city) and I just didn't feel like fangirling or shipping Daniel and Natasha, because obviously, this is a contemporary romance, and they are bound to end up together. Bound to be together. This might have been my reaction because (A) I have been reading better contemporary-romances lately and (B) when I picked this up, I was on the plane heading on vacation. I might have been too distracted and excited that this ended up seeming... well, bland. I'm hoping that that was not the case at all, because I don't want to pick this one up again.
The thing is that I just didn't feel the romance. It didn't seem powerful, or rooted by something or a relationship that has been sewn together for a longer period of time. Daniel and Natasha meet, Natasha initially thinks that she's not ready for a relationship, and they end up making out and throw away all of their life's desires. It happened so suddenly, and I just don't get why anyone isn't commenting on the fact that this kind of was an instant romance, in a way. I love Yoon's writing most definitely because she easily transports readers into another world for a few hours, or at least, until we finish the book or decide to give reading a rest.
I adored Daniel and Natasha both as separate characters. They are so similar in so many ways and I loved how Yoon compared their struggles and made them stick together during their hardships. Daniel is used to be the son of Korean parents who has to be perfect, who has to go to an Ivy League school, who has to be a doctor, who will not disappoint his harsh parents, and remind them of his Harvard-dropout brother. Natasha, on the other hand, also has family struggles, but different ones. Her family is on the urge of possibility of being deported back to Jamaica, where they came from, and Natasha doesn't want anything to do with her father, who ruined their family.
The setting of this book couldn't be in a better place: NYC. I have such a huge connection to NYC, after visiting it twice and adoring everything about the busy life. There are so many landmarks included here where I have personally visited, and I loved the city lifestyle incorporated into these characters' lives. It's so... personal. I feel like comparing this whole book to Everything, Everything, and if I seriously did that—everything would change here. Everything, Everything had things that this surely did not have. We had a real story that we have never read about before. This is nothing special, though I did fairly enjoy it either way because I like romance. We had a believable romance that makes me jealous because I'm nearly the same age as the characters in Yoon's books.
For some positives, I adored the ending and Natasha's obsession with science and stars. It makes us think, you know, that the title has so much meaning to it, unlike some books we read today, those books that make us sit and wonder why the title even exists.
One word I would use to describe The Sun is Also a Star is "meh." It was interesting enough to make me want to read and discover what is going to happen to the characters by the end of it (because we all know that relationships don't always last), but it lacked a lot of things that the author's debut definitely had (and had an overdose of). That gorgeous cover just wants to make me cry. I WANTED THIS TO BE 1000 STARS AMAZING.
*A review copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*
Nicola Yoon is a talented author and I adore her writing completely. Something just fell apart when I read The Sun is Also a Star. I found the romance to be too good to be true, too much relied on fate (especially on those random appearances where they would find each other in the middle of a huge city) and I just didn't feel like fangirling or shipping Daniel and Natasha, because obviously, this is a contemporary romance, and they are bound to end up together. Bound to be together. This might have been my reaction because (A) I have been reading better contemporary-romances lately and (B) when I picked this up, I was on the plane heading on vacation. I might have been too distracted and excited that this ended up seeming... well, bland. I'm hoping that that was not the case at all, because I don't want to pick this one up again.
The thing is that I just didn't feel the romance. It didn't seem powerful, or rooted by something or a relationship that has been sewn together for a longer period of time. Daniel and Natasha meet, Natasha initially thinks that she's not ready for a relationship, and they end up making out and throw away all of their life's desires. It happened so suddenly, and I just don't get why anyone isn't commenting on the fact that this kind of was an instant romance, in a way. I love Yoon's writing most definitely because she easily transports readers into another world for a few hours, or at least, until we finish the book or decide to give reading a rest.
"Rob says I don't believe in true love. And he's right. I don't. But I might want to."
I adored Daniel and Natasha both as separate characters. They are so similar in so many ways and I loved how Yoon compared their struggles and made them stick together during their hardships. Daniel is used to be the son of Korean parents who has to be perfect, who has to go to an Ivy League school, who has to be a doctor, who will not disappoint his harsh parents, and remind them of his Harvard-dropout brother. Natasha, on the other hand, also has family struggles, but different ones. Her family is on the urge of possibility of being deported back to Jamaica, where they came from, and Natasha doesn't want anything to do with her father, who ruined their family.
The setting of this book couldn't be in a better place: NYC. I have such a huge connection to NYC, after visiting it twice and adoring everything about the busy life. There are so many landmarks included here where I have personally visited, and I loved the city lifestyle incorporated into these characters' lives. It's so... personal. I feel like comparing this whole book to Everything, Everything, and if I seriously did that—everything would change here. Everything, Everything had things that this surely did not have. We had a real story that we have never read about before. This is nothing special, though I did fairly enjoy it either way because I like romance. We had a believable romance that makes me jealous because I'm nearly the same age as the characters in Yoon's books.
For some positives, I adored the ending and Natasha's obsession with science and stars. It makes us think, you know, that the title has so much meaning to it, unlike some books we read today, those books that make us sit and wonder why the title even exists.
One word I would use to describe The Sun is Also a Star is "meh." It was interesting enough to make me want to read and discover what is going to happen to the characters by the end of it (because we all know that relationships don't always last), but it lacked a lot of things that the author's debut definitely had (and had an overdose of). That gorgeous cover just wants to make me cry. I WANTED THIS TO BE 1000 STARS AMAZING.
*A review copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*
What did you think of Everything, Everything? What do you think of books just focused on romance? Do you support instalove?
Ohh, that's too bad!
ReplyDeleteI liked Everything, Everything until the "shocking" end, but I hoped this one will be better.
I still plan to read it, of course, but I think I'll go into it with lower expectations.
Ohhh, you didn't like the ending?! I LOVED IT. Different strokes for different folks! XD I really really hope you'll enjoy this one, Irena! Tons of people are rating it with high ratings, so I wouldn't be surprised if you adored it!
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