The Sun is Also a Star

Book 1 of my 2017 Reading Challenge
read from January 01 - 03

**I received a copy of this book via Blogging for Books and would like to thank them as well as the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it.**

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Summary (via Goodreads)
Natasha: I'm a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I'm definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won't by my story.
Daniel: I've always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents' high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store - for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

My Opinion
5 star read.  I just finished it and my head hurts from the overwhelming feelings I have.  I almost feel like I want to cry but not really from happiness or sadness, just because I have to release what this book made me feel before moving on.

I laughed.  I swooned.  I felt a little jealous because I'm married and there are many great things about growing old with someone but reading about those first moments of "am I falling in love? maybe I'm falling in love" with the kisses that feel like they last for days and everything heightened and brightened...it took me back and those are things we hope live in our memory bank because they can't be replicated.

I loved the short snippets from other people because it reaffirmed my life's faith in the littlest interactions resonating with people.

The ending didn't go the way I expected, especially since this is a YA read, but it wasn't a cop-out and perfectly fit the tone.  It was heartbreakingly hopeful and should be experienced spoiler-free so I'll leave it at that.

A Few Quotes from the Book
"Bev's always been relentlessly optimistic, even in the face of dire odds. She's the kind of girl who buys lottery tickets. I'm the kind of girl who makes fun of people who buy lottery tickets."

"As our eyes meet, I get a kind of deja vu, but instead of feeling like I'm repeating something in the past, it feels like I'm experiencing something that will happen in my future."

"Observable Fact: I don't believe in magic.
 Observable Fact: We are magic."

"Can you imagine if everyone had the power to mess with everyone else's live? Chaos.
 But of course that is the problem. We already have that power over each other."