The Sun is also a Star

The Sun is Also a Star is a book by Nicola Yoon which chronicles the life of two very different individuals. Daniel Bae, an American Korean whose parents own a hair care store and Natasha Kingsley, whose parents are undocumented Jamaicans who moved to America when she was 8. They connect when Daniel saves Natasha from a car accident. 

Both the characters are 17 years old, but their outlook towards life is very different. Daniel is a poetic dreamer who does not want to follow his parents’ version of the American Dream and become a doctor. Natasha is a practical, science-oriented individual who does not believe in love and wants to become a data scientist because it’s a good and decent job, not because she likes it.

They meet through a series of coincidences involving a lot of minor characters (whose perspectives are also detailed) and fall in love during the course of the book. For Daniel, it is love at first sight, whereas Natasha tries to fight her feelings for him but eventually opens up to him. 

But there is a catch! They have only one day together. Natasha and her family are to be deported that very night. 

As the day goes by, Daniel, with his teasing banter and poetic overtures, teaches Natasha to let go of some of her pragmatism and pursue something that she is passionate about. Natasha, on her part, asks him to follow his heart since he is clearly unhappy about becoming a doctor. The interaction between the lead characters is revealing and gives us a sneak peek into life as an immigrant in America. 

As coincidences go, even the lawyer who handles Natasha’s deportation, as well as Daniel’s entry into Yale (for a medical career), are one and the same. 

Thus, on the whole, the book urges us to nurture hope and to believe in fate.

So how does it all work out? Is this a happily-ever-after story? Or will these two very different characters be torn apart due to their impossible situations? 

Read the book and find out!