The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

"Maybe part of falling in love with someone else is also falling in love with yourself."

 —The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Title: The Sun Is Also a Star

Author: Nicola Yoon

Page Count: 384 (eBook)

Synopsis: 

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 be 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? 

Thoughts:

At first, I didn't know what to feel about the book overall because I keep on coming back to the fact that most of this happened IN A DAY. But I remember the lessons we had on Literature about stories taking place in a day, too, but ended up affecting the lives of the characters for their lifetime. And the events of today affects the ones of tomorrow, right? Also, you know what; I don’t really know how to review books objectively. At this moment, i think it’s great and right now that’s all that matters. Gally, I am clearly overwhelmed~!

This story, despite being on the highest scale of impossible for all the coincidences it has, still makes me want to believe AND despite being cheesy, makes me want to forgive it. I even forgot to note how many open and close parentheses there are and how I’m kind of confused about Charlie lmao! I mean I can’t even compose a proper review right now so who am I to judge, really? Maybe one in i-don't-know-how-many odds, something like this COULD really happen.

Many lines spoke to me even if my situation was entirely different from what’s happening in the book. They just hit close to home I guess.

I really like how there are a lot of stories within Daniel’s and Natasha’s. Knowing the stories of others showed cause and effect which contributed to the overall theme of the book. Another thing I like is how there seems to be a debate but no one is counting the points. Does anyone even care to win? Also the amount of new things to learn! Lastly, the obvious and subtle talk of “love” (in all forms!)—for your lover, family, friends, self etc. Whether you are for the sappy, fate believer kind one or the chemically, science produced one, I hope we all take something from this story.

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

"Don’t think about what you’ve lost. Think of how much you have to gain. Live."

—Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott 

Title: Five Feet Apart

Author: Rachael Lippincott

Page Count: 288 (eBook)

Synopsis:

In this moving story two teens fall in love with just one minor complication—they can't get within five feet of each other without risking their lives.

Can you love someone you can never touch?

Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn't care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he'll turn eighteen and then he'll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will's exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot in the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn't feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?

Thoughts:

It reads a bit like The Fault in our Stars in a way that “let’s do all these dangerous things for experience since we are dying anyway”. But at least for FFA I genuinely liked Poe. Honestly, I would have been okay even if the story was only about Stella and Poe’s friendship. 

I would still recommend this book even though I have some concerns because to be fair, I did enjoy the book and it introduced me to CF. I laughed, thought some parts sweet and teared up a little bit (bec POE!) but at the back of my mind I know there’s something wrong. Everything is just so convenient for them. Where are all the hospital people when they sneak off? How could they spend those times breaking rules about being too close, even touching, and somehow be okay? And that bit at the end:

SPOILER ZONE!!! Only click if you have finished the book

Why would you suddenly throw that ‘chance for a little more time’ you’ve been fighting for all your life? If a friend dies and you contemplate how his loved ones might be feeling—even literally saw it—why would you knowingly subject your own loved ones to the same?? Yes, they may be fearing for it all your life too. But knowing something would eventually happen doesn’t really prepare them for that death they’ve been dreading. Stella even knows this herself, that her death will break her parents. So her actions in the end was insane and out of character if not completely unrealistic. You love him so it’s okay to die right about now and okay to potentially kill him too!? When you both can live at least some years more and still be in love even if you’re apart. That act of Stella kind of ruined the end bit for me. Well, at least Will got sane enough to leave.

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Fire and Ice #1) by George R.R. Martin

"Nothing burns like the cold."

―A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin 

Title: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Fire and Ice #1)

Author: George R.R. Martin

Page Count: 880 (eBook)

Synopsis:

Winter is coming, and in the frozen wastes to the North, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a region of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale rife with plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, as each faction endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

Thoughts:

Read together with my boyfraaaan for fun.

I have mixed feelings towards this book. It's good, I admire George R.R. Martin for coming up with all the elaborate stuff within his series. However, I find myself getting irked (if you will) with the characters. And I think that affected my overall reading experience.

When a story is as long as this, you ought to get bored on some parts. So I was already expecting that but what really threw me off is how females are 99% of the time brought down, viewed or portrayed negatively. The book is already massive and it doesn’t help that the narrative can be dragging for me at times. It made me unmotivated to continue for days after I pick it back up. Most of the characters I don’t really care for, too lmao. Ned is hopeless, Sansa’s annoying and Cate can be so stupid for someone who’s supposedly witty. Dany interested me literally only once through the whole book (during that end bit). 

I am hopeful that the ones remaining would be more interesting as the series continue and also for them to change how females are viewed eventually. I do have to credit the whole world building and the storyline, though. It’s impressive as heck and it really does give that war of the roses vibe plus more. I love reading historical fiction so I am not surprised how I managed to plow through this book. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story and it is the reason why I consider continuing on with the other books.