It reminds me of Furyborn, but not as well executed. The plot is pretty decent, the prose is good and the premise is intriguing, but the characters and their development could’ve been better. 
The main problem with this book is that it doesn't really know what it wants to be. At the start it seems like a fairytale-esque magical Disney princess type story but with a more sinister twist, but by the end it's more of a mystery plotline. 
The world building could’ve been better, my main issue with it is that the book kind of assumes you’ve read Caraval (which is set in the same world) and so doesn’t give us more than the most necessary amount of information, which for me was not enough. Hopefully when I do read Caraval that’ll fill in some of the gaps. 
Our main character is a bit snarky and pretty brave, so she was decently written. Either way, it was fun and the writing was good. 
The book overall just needed more polishing. Not a favorite and far from perfect, but still pretty good. I will be reading the sequel. 

Heartstopper is the definition of relationships can help you heal, you don’t have to be “fixed” to be in a relationship.

 Lowkey shocked that such a short comic can make me tear up 

It was good, a solid 4 stars. There aren't really any flaws there isn't really a wow factor either. Tris is a well written character, the plot was gripping, the world building was interesting (although I do wish we got more backstory as to how they got to this point, since there's a few hints that it's futuristic.) 
Four reminds me of Warner a lot, if he was kinder and more controlled. Basically less traumatized. 

The only thing I didn't like about the book was how easily Tris brushed off the traumatic events that happened, which is one of the many things I appreciated about Six of Crows. In that book the characters have trauma from the stuff that's happening, meanwhile in Divergent when

she kills Will and is able to just "force herself" to forget. It just seems like the author didn't feel like diving into that, which would be ok if she didn't make the characters do these things or tackle mature topics.

 
In general I do recommend it and I'll probably read the rest (if purely because the series is short, any longer than four books and I wouldn't continue it), but it's not a new favorite. 

I liked this better than 1984. It’s less direct and like these are the good guys and bad guys, this is why they’re doing this, this is how, etc. and more metaphorical and vague, you have to infer a lot more stuff yourself. Also, people are so far removed and brainwashed that they don’t even feel like something’s wrong with how they’re living, that’s the most disturbing part. In 1984 it’s more like everyone knows it’s not right but they do it anyway because they have to, which isn’t as bad. 

It's so cute and I love the banter between all the characters. It feels just like me and my friends as well as partner. I've never been really into boy bands or known much about them, but this was still interesting and very entertaining. A few lines did make me cringe but overall its solid. 

I’m very happy to see this kind of representation in books. Even though I know it’s not the first of its kind or even probably the best depiction of the queer experience, I personally related a lot to Zach and I love that this exists. Brb, gonna go read the other 30 LGBT+ contemporaries on my to be read list. 

Also, this was my first time reading an ebook and I was shocked at how fast it flew by. It's over 500 pages (depending on whether mobile or desktop ebook) and only took me two days, which considering how busy I am is impressive. Definitely won't be the last time I read digital books, but there still is something more satisfying about holding it in my hands and being able to admire the cover. 

Side note: My friend described this book as 😫😫😫😫🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈, with that exact amount of each emoji, and I can't say its inaccurate. 

 A short story filled with insights on life. Reminded me of the Little Prince. It’s less concerned with having a discernible plot or complex side characters and more concerned with making you think. Not for everyone, it's very metaphorical, but I enjoyed it. Honestly, as long as you don't take it's advice (which is mostly useless and inaccurate) it's a nice adventure.

I like Evie’s character, she’s not super distinctive but still entertaining and relatable. I relate to Evie on a personal level, because I used to feel that way about love. It feels like looking back on my past self. Now I just try my best to live in the present and live by “don’t be sad that it’s over, be happy that it happened.” Just because something isn’t permanent doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. At the same time I’m not completely past my Evie stage, since I also tend to take for granted my relationships with people and sometimes wish I had appreciated them and my life in the moment more. To put it in the book’s terms I wish I had said yes to more things, and I’m still trying to improve and go with the flow a little more.

Also I liked the bit of people watching we got (reminds me of the song lol) when she starts seeing random strangers kissing. I wish there was a bit more of that, getting to see see these side characters' stories even when they're not all that relevant to the main plot line was one of the main things I liked about The Sun is Also a Star.
 
At one point she describes X as “starting to look edible” which made me die laughing. It’s one of those romance book things that you either love or hate. It’s also a pretty self aware book. Evie likes to read romance books herself, so she points out tropes and things that many readers (including myself) have noticed about them. A few times it also feels like you have an inside joke with the book, and I love dramatic irony, so that was fun.

About the actual relationship: Dislike (a tiny bit exaggerated but still reasonable) to love, opposites attract and learn from each other, banter is pretty good. Also I liked the friend group, which isn’t always the case. Another trope I like in contemporary books is texting, especially friends group chats because I always end up sending pictures of those pages to my friends captioned “this is literally what we’re like.” The characters are a little tropey but they’ve got more dimensions than just one archetypal personality.

I’ll admit, at the end I kept thinking “is this the ending? Is this the ending?” But once we got there it was oh so good. To be honest I was a bit iffy in the beginning of the book, but I trust Yoon’s ability to develop the story, and it definitely paid off. I’d say most of the book was 4, maybe even 3.5 stars, but the last 50ish pages were a solid 5 stars. Nicola always manages to shine a light on life and love and make you feel all the feelings while doing it. Yes, it did made me cry. 

I still liked The Sun is Also a Star better because the couple and side plots were just more my thing, but both are really great books. It has some similar characteristics but not so many that it felt like copy paste with different character names. Mostly just stuff that’s part of the writing style. Also Instructions for Dancing felt more mature than the other book, the characters were older and it was also just a more mature perspective on love and life. I really like seeing Nicola Yoon evolve and I can’t wait to read what she writes next.