The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (2016)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think all the good parts of us are connected on some level. The part that shares the last double chocolate chip cookie or donates to charity or gives a dollar to a street musician or becomes a candy striper or cries at Apple commercials or says I love you or I forgive you. I think that's God. God is the connection of the very best parts of us. – Daniel Jae Ho Bae
There is so much to love about The Sun Is Also a Star it deals with some pretty heavy topics (immigration, deportation, suicide) with grace and dignity showing the humanity behind them. Natasha is a science-loving, illegal immigrant facing deportation back to Jamaica her values are facts, science, to her love is just chemistry. Daniel is a first generation American facing familial pressure from is Korean parents to become a doctor, his passion is poetry, to him love is everything, the very thing holding the universe together. Their very roles are wonderful because to me they feel like a role switch, usually it is the male character rooted in science and fact and the female in the arts and passion.
In some ways, Everything, Everything (which I have also read and enjoyed) and The Sun Is Also a Star are total opposites. While Everything, Everything is slow build gradual leisurely, The Sun Is Also a Star is so fast, all taking place over the space of less than 24 hours (excluding the epilogue). It is the sort of book that asks to be read fast, it is possible that the most enjoyment could be got out of it be devouring it in one or two sittings. Time is important, essential to the story. But the chapters are written in much the same way alternating between the two protagonists. To create reasonable breaks and a sense of world there are chapters telling other characters history's, futures and the explanation of concepts that are relevant.
One of my favourite topics discussed is time travel. Nicola Yoon has done a fantastic job of explaining multiverse theory in a way that is accessible. Multiverse theory becomes a core concept to the story. And it does allow the reader to come away feeling better about their place in the world. The God discussion (see the quote) is also fantastic, and it does align quite well to my personal views.
On a scale of books I think libraries should have to books I think are everyone must read (aka essential reads) I think this is somewhere in the middle. It is non-essential, I'm not sure how well it will stand the test of time, and the issues discussed by all the characters are so topical right now. But for many, they will see themselves or a version of what their life may have been should the universe have fallen a different way. For that, it is essential to libraries.
My reading experience in a gif:
Crossposted from Goodreads
References
Cover for 9780553496680. (n.d.-c). Penguin Random House. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://images.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/9780553496680
Fuck Yeah Reactions. (2016). Anime girl reading. tumblr. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://78.media.tumblr.com/ef21c23991ec3dad1b4f52bfada7d6c0/tumblr_inline_ns8p2cgt0a1qafrh6_500.gif
McPherson, C. (2018a, April 9). Catherine McP's review of Everything, Everything. Goodreads. [Goodreads Review]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1974949090
McPherson, C. (2018f, April 9). Catherine McP's review of The Sun Is Also a Star. Goodreads. [Goodreads Review]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2353231282
Yoon, N. (2015). Everything, everything. London, UK: Corgi.
Yoon, N. (2016). The sun is also a star. London, UK: Corgi.
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