The Sun is Also a Star by: Nicola Yoon

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Published: November 1, 2016 by: Delacorte
Pages: 348
Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Natasha is an aspiring scientist whose family is about to be deported back to Jamaica. Desperately trying to get out of the situation, she spends her last day in America circling around an immigration lawyer, and waiting for his call back. It is during that day that she meets Daniel, an aspiring poet that wishes for his parents to recognize his true passions. During this one day, the universe will bring Natasha and Daniel together more than once, but what else does it have in store for them?

This book was one of those books I was really looking forward to reading and then kind of went like: meh? It's safe to say I had high expectations of this because I do like Yoon's style of writing and her diverse characters, but to be honest, the characters are what annoyed me the most about this.

First it's worth mentioning that I really like the cover of the book. Yoon puts so much life and colour into her covers that really draws you in. It's definitely a selling point.

I also kinda enjoyed the plot? I mean, it was cute and I think was a good representation of the struggles of undocumented immigrants, and definitely gave me new information on immigration and deportation. The topic of immigration always interests me in YA and I was happy to read about it again.

I liked how diverse the characters were, Natasha was obviously Jamaican and even rocked her natural hair, and Daniel was Korean. However this was pretty much the only thing I liked about them. Natasha was extremely judgemental of people who pursue art careers, and didn't really develop to realize that this was wrong. I found her to be really uptight to the fact that she was smart and she really seemed to look down on everyone else. Plus, she was way too much of a realist and questioned everything, which got on my nerves. Daniel on the other hand, was way too much of a dreamer and was incredibly obsessive to the point of being creepy. Like dude, you just met her, calm down.

There's also instalove in this book, which I don't particularly enjoy. Sometimes it's not the end of the world, but in this case it seemed so out of place and odd. How can two complete strangers know by the end of the day that they need to be together, forever? It's super unrealistic.

At the end of the day, I am happy I tried this book because I did like the plot, but I wanted more from pretty much everything else. And that was disappointing.

Have you read The Sun is Also a Star? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Everything, Everything by: Nicola Yoon

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Published: September 1, 2015 by: Delacorte Books

Pages: 320

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Madeleine has always lived in a bubble. Her rare immune disorder leaves her practically allergic to the world, and forbids her from leaving the confines of her home. The only person who understands her, is her spunky and caring nurse Carla, who defends her against her mother’s over-protectiveness. But when charming and comical Olly moves in next door, Maddie will do anything to be close to him. Even if that means endangering herself.

Everything, Everything was a difficult book to review. That is because I have read and loved similar books in the past, but this book just fell flat and unoriginal for me. While I loved the concept and theme of the book, I think a lot more could have been delivered on plot.

Maddie’s disease is extremely rare and was extremely fascinating to read about. I think the author did a great job at covering a unique topic that is not widely known. I can’t imagine what anyone living with the disease would have to go through. I think that the author provided a great breath of fresh air from the disease that is usually portrayed in YA, as well as the topic was extremely interesting and made me want to read more about it.

I liked some of the characters, but not all. I loved Maddie’s nurse Carla. She was a great maternal/big sister force in Maddie’s life and I felt as if she was the only one who truly understood her. That being said, Maddie’s character for me was flat. I loved her love for reading, I think that was a great touch that I could relate to, but she was just too cookie-cutter for me. Olly was the same.

Here’s something that really surprised me: the ending. You kind of get this sense in YA contemporaries portraying disease that there will be a predictable ending. However this ending shocked me and left me wanting more. It was extremely different and something that I was totally not expecting, which I thought was a great way to end.

I just couldn’t connect with the main characters as a whole. Maddie was extremely impulsive and dull. She thought with her heart before her mind, which can work in some instances, but didn’t work for her. Olly was your typical male lead, he didn’t strike out at me at all and he didn’t affect me one bit.

Even though the ending to this book was amazing, the leading up to it was pretty predictable and boring. I could get a full sense what was going to happen in the beginning and middle, and the chemistry between characters was nothing to cry about. They were just your typical YA couple, which bored me.

So overall, this book was good, but not great. I was mostly swayed by the cover, which is gorgeous by the way, but I didn’t think that there was anything besides the end that sets it apart from all the others.

Have you read Everything, Everything? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess