The Sun is also a Starcovers one pivotal day in the lives of two American teenagers.
Natasha, an illegal Jamaican immigrant has 12 hours before her and her family are deported. The thing is, this whole deportation thing is not Natasha’s fault! She’s lived in New York longer than she has lived in Jamaica – her dad made a mistake and now she has to pay for it. Determined to set things right, Natasha goes to the immigration office one last time to plead her case and stay in her home.
Daniel, a Korean-American poet, is delaying his inevitable interview that will help him get a place in his parent’s dream school. With the disappointment of his older, ‘golden boy’ brother’s fall from grace, the pressure on Daniel to make his family proud is overwhelming.
When these two bump into each other, Daniel falls for Natasha immediately. Natasha is not so easily convinced. Natasha is a scientific girl; she believes in facts, numbers, and data. Daniel believes in fate and he is going to convince Natasha, through science, that they are meant to be together. Time and again throughout the day, Natasha and Daniel find themselves thrown together, be it by fate or coincidence.
These 12 hours of Daniel and Natasha’s life swing from each character’s perspective, giving the reader a chance to get to know each character and their family. Issues of immigration, family expectation, and racism are all covered in this romantic tale, giving it so much more depth than you’d expect from the average romance novel.
This book gives you authentic perspectives from fully realized characters. Daniel and Natasha are flawed, relatable people that are easy to connect with. Not only do Daniel and Natasha have a voice in this story, random people that encounter them along the way also get little chapters of perspective. These interesting and touching glimpses into periphery character’s lives gives the book yet another layer that brings the story together.
If you are a bit of a romantic at heart, and believe in fate, this book is for you. The Sun is also a Star is more than a romance novel, it’s a touching story on the human condition.
Similar readers are: Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven and Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland.