Author: Nicola Yoon
# of Pages: 248 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: A story of a girl, a boy, and the universe 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?
Review: I bought this book because I knew it was recently adapted in to a movie, and I wanted to read it before I watched it. However, from the trailers for the movie, I knew this YA romance novel would probably not be my cup of team; nowadays they're cringe-y and predictable.
I was not wrong.
The whole premise of the story is pretty ridiculous. It’s so unrealistic, it’s not even enjoyable. Love at first sight is already difficult to believe, but the execution of it was even more unrealistic. Natasha is a smart girl. She would know better than to play along with a stranger’s game to try to make her fall in love with him. I can see why they made this into a movie; they have a limited amount of screen time, so what perfect story to tell other than a love story that happens in under 24 hours?
It’s gross that Daniel describes himself to be “shallow” and “horny” when he meets Natasha. I’m not sure if the author was simply trying to humanize Daniel (no one is perfect), but it doesn’t cast Daniel in a very good light especially since the reader is still being introduced to his character. The way he acts around Natasha is way too familiar.
There is first person POV switching, and not even just between a set number of characters ("the universe" serves as the catchall POV when it's not Natasha nor Daniel). Every once in a while, the author decides to dedicate a chapter to explain the history of a character or a word or explain scientific concepts like half-life. Is this necessary? Perhaps for some readers, but for those who already know the information, it is unnecessary and overall a waste of time. Instead of focusing on telling Natasha’s and Daniel’s story, Yoon decided to tell the story of everyone around them too (including security guards, conductors, etc.). I’m not sure that was the best choice in this case.
(Misc. side complaint for an inaccuracy: one of the side characters was touring colleges and wanted to stop by to tour UCSF. Is the author fully aware that UCSF does not have programs for undergraduate degrees? It seems odd that a graduating high school senior would be touring grad schools).
Each chapter is very short (reminds me a bit of Maximum Ride). I find that books with short chapters are great for those who are just getting into reading (so maybe those in middle school or high school who are trying to read more). The short chapter style reminds me a lot of the Maximum Ride series, which would have 100+ chapters because each one was so short.
I would recommend this book to less avid readers (not to be confused with younger readers, this IS a romance book after all) who still have not been worn down from cliché YA romance plot lines. Otherwise, it is really not worth the read.
No comments:
Post a Comment