Book Review: The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun Is Also A Star is an unashamed love story, but even though it’s about two 17-year-olds who manage to meet and fall desperately in love in the space of one single day, author Nicola Yoon manages to scrape through without succumbing to implausibility and mushiness.

It’s quite a feat really, but perhaps understandable when you consider how expertly Yoon frames the love-struck duo – hopeful Korean American Daniel and scientific Jamaican immigrant Natasha – grounding it in discussions of undocumented immigration, family expectation, racism, parental incompetence, broken American dreams and sibling hatred.

Of course, it’s not all heavy ethical questions and legal dilemmas, there’s also karaoke and snogging and highly embarrassing moments as the pair stagger about New York City together, working each other out, coming to terms with love and reality as they go.

Timely, sweet, pacy, intense and thought-provoking, this is much more than a sappy romance.