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The Sun Is Also a Star

Nicola Yoon

Start date: June 1, 2017

Finish date: June 30, 2017

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: June is Classism. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
[close] June is Classism. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

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What Members Thought

May 29, 2017 Jeanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-around-the-world, read-2017, read-women, ya

I wasn't excited when my book club chose The Sun Is Also a Star, as I didn't want to read a YA book. Actually, I didn't want to read a YA book at this time. I've gotten irritated by the angsty teens in Thirteen Reasons Why and The Magicians – in both cases the TV series, although was ambivalent about The Magicians when I read it a number of years back.

Also a Star was refreshing. The story centers around two bright, interesting teens, who have, as Daniel, a Korean American says, koi no yokan... t I wasn't excited when my book club chose The Sun Is Also a Star, as I didn't want to read a YA book. Actually, I didn't want to read a YA book at this time. I've gotten irritated by the angsty teens in Thirteen Reasons Why and The Magicians – in both cases the TV series, although was ambivalent about The Magicians when I read it a number of years back.

Also a Star was refreshing. The story centers around two bright, interesting teens, who have, as Daniel, a Korean American says, koi no yokan... the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will (p. 74). Teenagers are often drawn in one-dimensional ways: there's one thing that they are good at and one they worry about. Instead, Daniel and Natasha discuss college and attempt to reverse her deportation to Jamaica. They consider the nature of love, debate whether passion is necessary for work, wonder about the meaning of dark matter in the universe, respond to the racism that they experience, and just have fun.

Daniel, especially, is sweet. He is passionate about life, love, and poetry. Like Natasha, we have a hard time resisting him. But Natasha is also difficult to resist. She wears a large Afro and is considering tipping it with pink hair dye. Just the thought makes me smile. And, as Daniel observes, something about being with her makes me my best self (p. 273). That is love.

Chapters in Also a Star are very short – generally a page or two – and are alternately told from Daniel's point of view and Natasha's, with occasional historical interludes and perspectives provided by the adults in their lives. Their chance meetings with strangers make a difference, although they don't seem to have the same kind of impact on their own parents. Like many YA novels, the adults here are often tuneless, misguided, and irrelevant. While they impact the adults around them, the adults do not generally intentionally and thoughtfully influence them. Are we that out of touch in real life?

This is a quick read and so happy that it feels like eating cotton candy. Still, it's like eating really good cotton candy, where you never resent a single bite and feel good afterwards.

Note: I'm not sure I've ever eaten cotton candy. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Dec 11, 2016 Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

"What a difference a day makes."

This book is AMAZING. Seriously amazing. It made me laugh out loud and cry like a baby. It was tough, beautiful, insightful, and heartbreaking-but totally in a good way.

...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2017 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017

I was unable to put this book down and finished it in a day. Loved the characters, the quick-moving plot, the poignant issues - it was so good. I especially enjoyed that it was told from multiple perspectives.

This book really made me enjoy the genre of YA again. I can't wait to read her other book. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 20, 2018 mythicgeek rated it it was amazing

I burst into tears at the end of this, surprising myself because I do not cry easily. This was so well written, beautifully done, and so emotional. I love Natasha and Daniel and I rooted for them from the very beginning. I love the interjections of everyone else's story and how everything interconnected. Highly recommended. ...more

1 like · Like · see review