The Sun is Also a Star -- Athena Dumlao
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is a great romance novel that highlights the relationship formed by complete opposites in a less-than-ideal situation. Daniel, a Korean-American aspiring poet, means Nashta, an illegal immigrant from Jamaica living in New York for her last few weeks before her family is scheduled to get deported.
The book is written in multiple perspectives, which is often a controversial but often used style in novels. Some people say that it may ruin the breath-taking ‘chance’ aspect that is sought after in romance. However, I think the way it’s used in this novel is done really well.
One thing that this book has that I think makes the perspective change stand out well is the fact that it isn’t simply switching from one’s thoughts to another. The writing style completely changes to match the personality of the character. Even with only a few chapters and switches in, it was easy to be able to tell which character the point of view was currently in without having to read the header. In some novels, the change is only to clarify things, and make the writing go quicker or to clarify that both the characters feel the same way, etc., etc., without additional gain. In this novel, however, especially since Nashta’s character is so stubborn, it helps outline the development of each character.
Another thing about this novel is the perspective change isn’t only between the main characters, Nashta and Daniel. There were shorter, occasional chapters that would feature side or “irrelevant” characters that could have been only briefly mentioned in the quick dialogue. A good example of this is the chapter, in the beginning, featuring the thoughts and personal life of a security guard that cleared Nashta. These chapters give a lot of depth to the book and the characters, they aren’t needed, but I think they do help with the overall idea of the book, especially with Daniel’s belief in fate and how everything happens for a reason that is introduced.
Overall, I think The Sun is Also a Star is a great novel for anyone looking for a good romance that is easily read but can still be looked into!
- Athena Dumlao
Hey Athena! I have always wanted to read The Sun is Also a Star but I never got around to reading it. Your blog post, made the book seem really interesting. I agree that usually when books are written in different perspectives, you don't gain much additional information. I think you should try reading Everything Everything if you haven't already. It's by the same author and from what I read from your blog post, both books have a similar structure.
ReplyDeleteI have read a lot of books that use the multiple perspectives, but they have never fully utilized the technique or made use of it in terms of incorporating it into the story. But it sounds like this book uses it well and really pays attention to the details, like using it on side characters and distinguishing between the different personalities of character. I would definitely be interested in reading this book since I've always wanted to read a book that made the multiple perspectives feel natural and actually crucial to telling the story.
ReplyDelete-mengtong
I have read a few books featuring more than one perspective and I have enjoyed them. I think "The Sun is also a Star" sounds like an interesting novel because when the perspective changes, the writing style changes. I have read a few books where the author used this style but not to the extent of being able to know who is talking by what is written. Overall I really enjoyed reading your blog and now I want to learn more about "The Sun is also a Star"
ReplyDelete-Kai
Reading books with multiple perspectives something I find interesting. I feel like adds to our knowledge of characters as we see them through different points of views. This specific book sounds interesting though, like you truly gain more information about these book because of the writing style.
ReplyDelete-Cate