The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Nicola Yoon is the current "it girl" of young adult literature.  Both of her books are New York Times Bestsellers, and her previous book was recently released as a film.  The cover art of this particular book is STUNNING.  Seriously beautiful.  I'm sure you've all heard the adage to "never judge a book by its cover" before, but I'm positive that people have picked up this book purely because of the beautiful cover art.  I wouldn't be surprised if this book is a movie in a year or two based on how well it has been doing.

"The Sun is Also A Star" is a story about Natasha and Daniel.  Daniel is scheduled to have a recommendation interview so he can attend Yale in a few years.  Natasha's family is going to be deported at the end of the day, and she is desperate to find a way to stay.  The book follows all of the details and happenstance moments of the one day they have together in New York City.  Natasha is a realist, cynic, and data driven pessimist.  Daniel is a hopeless romantic, a poet, and waits for the wind to blow him in the right direction.  Opposites truly attract in their situation.  Daniel falls head over heals for Natasha within moments of meeting her.  He then tries to convince Natasha that he can make her fall in love with him.  Throughout the day, we also catch glimpses into the backstory of why Natasha's family is being deported, Daniel's resistance to attending Yale, and other people they meet along the journey.

Similar to my "Catcher in the Rye" review, I think you will appreciate the book more if you truly enjoy the young adult genre and/or you are a young adult.  It had the tear-jerking, heavy make-out scenes, and easy-read style of a young adult book, but it doesn't have the same romantic capacity of a Nicholas Sparks book.  I thought it was really sweet and endearing to peak into the character's lives for a day instead of spending years following a relationship.  It makes it a much more casual read, but you still feel invested in the outcome.  I can understand why the young adult generation is raving about the book so wildly.

I think a lot of people are drawn to the book for her diversity in character development as well.  The typical blonde-hair, blue-eyed, popular girl is such romance novel trope character.  Seeing teenage characters that are actually outside that realm is refreshing and different.  The plot lines around deportation and family loyalty were such a lovely dynamic.  Granted, I haven't read a wide selection of other romance novels recently, so they may all revolve around similar themes nowadays.  Maybe I need to read other romance books to truly compare.  Perhaps that will be a future review for a different month!