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| Photo Via www. nicolayoon.com |
This was my first time reading a book authored by Nicola Yoon and I must say she caught my attention.
Whenever I pick up a book to read I hope to be a part of the process. By being a part of the process I mean journeying with the character, the ability to be drawn into the affairs of the character is amazing. Nicola Yoon did it all.
The book is about a day in the life of two teenagers Natasha Kingsley a Jamaican-American and Daniel Bae a Korean-American. Both teenagers were trying to make sense out of their respective lives before they gracefully crossed parts on a beautiful day in the streets of New York but they had limited time.
Natasha is about to be deported and Daniel has to prepare and be on his way to an interview for college. Natasha and Daniel's meeting is a tale of love, culture, beliefs.
The character that is Natasha is witty and pretty smart. She does not believe in God but science.
Natasha and her mother moved to America from Jamaica to join her father Samuel Kingsley. Samuel Kingsley is a hopeful dreamer who dreamt of becoming a big actor in America. Samuel Kingsley, however, was charged with a DUI bringing himself and his family's illegal stay in the country to light.
On the day Natasha meets Daniel her family had hours to stay in the country before they returned to Jamaica.
Daniel's character, on the other hand, can be described as charming. Daniel without doubts believed in love and boldly told Natasha that she was going to fall in love with him although Natasha thought she would never, she did.
Daniel's family had a story of migration too. Daniel's father and mother migrated from Korea to build a life in America. They loved being in America for the opportunities but were keen on still being Korean. They still ate traditional food and still spoke Korean. And above all would love for their sons to be with a Korean girl. Because they believed that the girl would be just like them.
The style of writing employed by the author was what made me very happy while I read the book. Nicola Yoon used the first-person narrative technique and also the third person narrative technique.
The chapters the third person narrative technique was used are my favourite. Because the first-person narrative was capable of telling us how the main characters felt. But the third person narrative was like a special treat for us the readers. We got to know some things the characters did not know. We got to know why a person the main characters had contact with made certain decisions. We get to know why things went awry instead of how the character expected it to turn.
I Love this book so much because It might sound odd but I am a bit of both character. Although I possess more of Daniel's
attributes I still saw myself in Natasha and understood her.
If you want to cry and laugh while you read a book, want to know how it feels to have hope, want to know how an immigrant truly feels and if you are a hopeless romantic this book is the best bet.
I am aware that the book has been adapted into a movie which is great because I love seeing movies. However, in as much as movies can be great and the character choice of Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton as the lead characters fit perfectly, I will recommend you read the book. It is that amazing.
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