“The Sun Is Also A Star” is a novel that makes a person believe in chances. Every event points to the idea that love, pain, and fate intertwine in a never-ending cycle. The story portrays its characters at the worst points of their lives and shows that love can prevail through sorrow and tribulation.
Historical Context
“The Sun Is Also A Star” received positive praise on its publication. It became the New York Times bestseller and received nominations for multiple awards.
Relevance of Period
“The Sun Is Also A Star” was written in 2016. During this time, the world had advanced rapidly, and the United States had just gotten its first black president, Barack Obama. The American Dream was still bright, and many people hoped to attain it; this ideology influenced Nicola Yoon’s story.
Major Historical Events’ Influence
It had already been eight years since the 2008 financial crisis when “The Sun Is Also A Star” was published. As the world healed from the devastation caused by the crash, many people started hoping to regain their footing in a new world. Six years earlier, in 2012, Barack Obama had signed an executive order that created the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) policy; this was to ensure that children of undocumented immigrants could apply for a renewable two-year differed action, which could keep them in the country.
Socio-Political Influence
Though Obama’s DACA policy improved the lives of many immigrant children, the president was also known for his strict enforcement of other immigration policies that cut the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States; these actions featured in “The Sun Is Also A Star” with Natasha’s family.
Novel’s Historical Context
“The Sun Is Also A Star” has left its mark in young adult fiction and romance. Every tragic event strikes a chord in the readers’ minds and forces them to reflect on the real world, and every character has a distinct story, adding an incredible layer of realism to the novel.
Besides the main characters, the novel portrays multiple stories of others’ lives. The Conductor, the White BMW Driver, Irene, and The Waitress are all stuck in their reality and seeking an escape from the pain that haunted them.
Author’s Background
Nicola Yoon is a Jamaican-American writer famous for “Everything, Everything.” After her first novel’s success, Nicola started working on a story that portrayed some of the challenges she faced while growing up; this turned out to be one of her popular novels: “The Sun Is Also A Star.”
Influences and Motivations
Nicola Yoon has noted many aspects of her love and family life inspired her. She was inspired to write her first novel after giving birth to her daughter. Nicola stated she was scared for her baby’s future in an uncertain world and came up with a story about a girl whose overprotective mother almost ruined her life.
Impact of Previous Works
Nicola’s first novel “Everything, Everything,” critically influenced her writing journey. After its publication, the book became a New York Times bestseller; this inspired Nicola to focus her stories on her life challenges.
Cultural Context
“The Sun Is Also A Star” heavily focuses on the relevance of culture to young adults’ minds. It shows how different ethnicities influence a person’s perspective of the world.
Novel’s Critique of Contemporary Politics
In the last few years, many people have become more critical of immigration, and many politicians have used this as a talking point to gain more support. “The Sun Is Also A Star” humanizes immigrants and shows the world from their perspective. It shows the pain and uncertainty of immigrants and portrays how the pressure to succeed and prove everyone right can weigh them down.
Influence of Cultural Movements
“The Sun Is Also A Star” portrays culture’s influence on people’s lives. Daniel Bae was a young boy who loved poetry and the arts. However, his parents, being hardcore traditionalists, wanted him to follow the same predetermined path of becoming a doctor and having a family. Though their dreams for him were good, Daniel knew none of that would make him feel fulfilled. He struggled between following his culture and chasing his dreams.
Literary Context
Since its publication in 2016, “The Sun Is Also A Star” has opened a path for the romance and young-adult fiction genre. It showed that intricate stories focusing on characters and not just their romance journey massively succeed.
Genre and Its Conventions
“The Sun Is Also A Star” refreshes the young adult romance genre. It creates a distinct and intricate story that focuses on the influence of culture, the past, fate, and future motivations on love. Every character in the novel has a background that humanizes their existence and portrays the realism of trying to chase after a dream.
Literary Movements
“The Sun Is Also A Star” is a novel that has an alternating structure. Three narratives are occurring. The first is Natasha’s narration. She is the primary protagonist and experiences most of the story personally.
The second perspective comes from Daniel Bae, another primary protagonist. He observes Natasha’s actions and acts as a witness to what occurs. The last perspective employed is omniscient. It takes the reader through time and shows how the past influenced the characters’ present. It also shows their future, giving some closure to their tribulations.
Comparison to Other Works
“The Sun Is Also A Star” is a novel that stands tall among its peers. It focuses on many aspects of its characters’ lives and dives into the intricate nature of human thinking.
Critical Reception
“The Sun Is Also A Star” is a beautiful novel that portrays the love between two young adults struggling to find their place in the world.
Initial Reception
“The Sun Is Also A Star” received incredible praise on publication. Many outlets and critics praised the novel’s uniqueness and cited Nicola Yoon’s dedication to writing about real-world issues. It received positive praise from organizations like The Horn Book, Booklist, School Library Journal, Shelf Awareness, and Publisher’s Weekly.
Critical Analysis Over Time
In an interview with Publisher’s Weekly, Nicola stated the world needs more love stories and thrillers. She also once admitted to wanting to write a book that focused on fate’s role in human lives and said it led to the making of a story of a cute boy and a beautiful girl whose family has to leave the United States back to Jamaica.
Some of the praise “The Sun Is Also A Star” received from fans and organizations include:
“The Sun Is Also a Star”– an exhilarating, hopeful novel exploring identity, family, the love of science and the science of love, dark matter, and interconnectedness–is about seeing and being seen and the possibility of love… and it shines.
Karin Snelson from Shelf Awareness
Within the first 20 pages of THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR I knew I was reading something special, and within the first 50, I knew this was going to be one of my favorite books of 2016. Natasha and Daniel are funny, flawed, fully-developed characters who feel as familiar as old friends. Their love story is anything but simple, and you will root for them until the very last page.
Sabaa Tahir on Goodreads.
A rewarding adaptation of a memorable novel.
Booklist on the audiobook’s adaptation.
Though there were mostly positive reviews, the novel also received some negative remarks:
First, let me say this: I’m a nihilist. I think life is inherently meaningless. I also don’t believe in romantic love. Our main character, Natasha, claims to feel the same way. You’d think I’d be into that – like, whoa, cool! A YA protagonist who isn’t just, like, laying in the middle of a highway waiting for a car to hit her so she can fall in love with it! But no. As soon as Natasha revealed herself as a nihilist, I felt an existential dread. And the same thing happens anytime a YA girl says she doesn’t believe in love.
Emma on Goodreads.
Has this changed my mind about romance novels, YA or otherwise?
Karen on Goodreads.
No.
But it was not as bad as I’d feared.
On the one hand, yes, there’s LOTS of goopy stuff in this. lots of goopy, earnest, ‘Lalala we just met but it’s true love and fate and destiny’ stuff that’s just not my bag.
On the other hand, there’s a good deal here that is unconnected to the romance that I did like. For example, the chapter narrated by the waitress at the Korean restaurant was a perfect bittersweet amuse-bouche.
Impact on Literature
Though it is no “Lord of the Rings,” “The Sun Is Also A Star” has uniquely influenced the young adult fiction genre. For a while, most young adult novels solely focused on the romantic aspect of their characters’ lives. They created somewhat bland challenges for characters and put them in low-stakes situations.
However, “The Sun Is Also A Star” brought unique challenges. It showed that a romance novel can have a story involving multiple secondary characters and have deep themes about poverty and the American Dream.
Nicola Yoon addressed issues relating to immigration, despair, suicide, and grief in the novel and shed light on characters that would have been filler.
“The Sun Is Also A Star” impacted literature and young adult fiction through its unique storytelling. The novel follows the life of Natasha Kingsley, a Jamaican girl, and Daniel Bae, a Korean-American boy. It portrays how an intricate combination of action and inaction leads to them falling in love. What sets the novel apart is Nicola’s alternating switch between the third and first-person point of view.
Most young adult novels prefer first-person perspectives as they give readers a closer look into the characters’ minds. However, Nicola used the third person perspective to create the existence of an outwardly being; this showed the presence of destiny and fate in her writing as she gave glimpses of the characters’ future.
Modern Relevance
“The Sun Is Also A Star” remains a relevant novel in the romance genre, and its story has inspired other works of art.
Themes’ Relationship to Contemporary Issues
“The Sun Is Also A Star” focuses on the effect of culture, immigration, the American Dream, pain, regret, and grief on people’s actions, showing the intricate relationship between humans and their society. The story portrays immigrants’ problems and shows how the tiny decisions of others alter their lives.
Adaptations and Awards
After its success, the story of “The Sun Is Also A Star,” got an audiobook that received positive praise. It starred Bahni Turpin as Natasha, Raymond Lee as Daniel, and Dominic Hoffman as the narrator.
Warner Brother adapted “The Sun Is Also A Star” with director Ry Russo-Young and writer Tracy Oliver in 2019. The film starred Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton as Natasha and Daniel. It received an average rating across multiple platforms and bombed at the Box office, earning 6.8 million dollars against a production budget of 9 million.
“The Sun Is Also A Star” was nominated for 13 awards. It won one, the John Steptoe New Talent Award for Author.