David Yoon is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. His characters are complicated and authentic, his command of voice nothing short of masterful (teach me your mighty ways, Mr. Yoon), and he drops nuggets of wisdom not just expectedly at the end of the book, but throughout the story. Because that's how growth is; it doesn't just happen at one crucial moment, but at many. Also, I just appreciate that David Yoon's books never turn out quite the way I expect them too, but always in a way that makes sense for the story and the characters' arcs. It's absolutely lovely.
First things first: the characters. I strongly suspect that Sunny will be a turn off to most people. He starts the book one of those annoying, ashamed-oh-himself but also insanely judgmental asshole nerds that all girls know to stay away from in high school. I am begging any undecided readers to stick past this, however, for a couple of different reasons. First of all, because that's how he's meant to be written. David Yoon is not holding Sunny up as this exemplar, perfect character. He's deeply flawed, and he's supposed to be, because the more deeply flawed a character is, the more they can grow. And the more a character grows, well. The more an author can dispense wisdom. Second, Sunny's voice is just...amazingly done. I mean, the overall narrative voice here is fantastic, but narrowing in specifically on Sunny is something spectacular. I love his side-comments that are literally just for the audience as he tries to defend his weirder habits and beliefs (particularly fears about technology causing cancer) to the audience. It's something that's hard to get right, but David Yoon handles Sunny perfectly, and Sunny's treatment as a character is really one of those things that helps elevate the book from good to great.
As for everyone else, well, they're equally well treated. I like how complicated Gray is, because he's the dark mirror of Sunny. Gray is also desperately insecure and judgmental, but it choosing to conform instead of stick (quietly) to his guns, he's inescapably a poser. And when it's easier to give up on his dreams than to take a look in the mirror and wonder how to authentically live his truth...Gray picks the easy, wrong course. Sunny's parents arc is wonderfully handled, because they're again, complicated and imperfect people who made the wrong choice for the right reasons. And Cirrus is the guiding light that really helps bring this whole story together. My one real complaint here is that there were characters (and relationships) that didn't get as fleshed out as well as I would have hoped because so much other good work is going on on the page. For example, I would have loved to see a more gradual progression of Gunner from bully to friend, and I think even a line denoting Sunny and his friend's shifting attitude towards their track coach as they became less terrible and more invested in just enjoying things would have been nice.
The skill with which David Yoon handled the plot is also worth mentioning. I mean, we know from page one that this whole lie is going to come crumbling down around Sunny's head sooner or later, but what I love is all the little things that happen along the way, and how the fallout of that collapse is handled too. I mean, even for a plot-point I knew was coming, it still hurt to read (literally, I called it a night on reading because it just hurt too much). But even apart from that. The 'Shame' chapter is pure gold, and it still comes relatively early in the book. And even before then, David Yoon is crafting this narrative arc not as one simple plotline moving towards A Single Big Revelation™ at the end, but as a sort of winding path adventure, with stopping points of realizations here and there. Each of these small revelations, of course, helps build up to (and ultimately build up) The Big Takeaway, but they're equally important, even if it's all treated very mundanely, because that's how life is. The world does not stop in it's tracks when we grow up a little, after all.
Overall, this was a very good book, and I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to read it. You should read it too, if you know what's good for you.
First things first: the characters. I strongly suspect that Sunny will be a turn off to most people. He starts the book one of those annoying, ashamed-oh-himself but also insanely judgmental asshole nerds that all girls know to stay away from in high school. I am begging any undecided readers to stick past this, however, for a couple of different reasons. First of all, because that's how he's meant to be written. David Yoon is not holding Sunny up as this exemplar, perfect character. He's deeply flawed, and he's supposed to be, because the more deeply flawed a character is, the more they can grow. And the more a character grows, well. The more an author can dispense wisdom. Second, Sunny's voice is just...amazingly done. I mean, the overall narrative voice here is fantastic, but narrowing in specifically on Sunny is something spectacular. I love his side-comments that are literally just for the audience as he tries to defend his weirder habits and beliefs (particularly fears about technology causing cancer) to the audience. It's something that's hard to get right, but David Yoon handles Sunny perfectly, and Sunny's treatment as a character is really one of those things that helps elevate the book from good to great.
As for everyone else, well, they're equally well treated. I like how complicated Gray is, because he's the dark mirror of Sunny. Gray is also desperately insecure and judgmental, but it choosing to conform instead of stick (quietly) to his guns, he's inescapably a poser. And when it's easier to give up on his dreams than to take a look in the mirror and wonder how to authentically live his truth...Gray picks the easy, wrong course. Sunny's parents arc is wonderfully handled, because they're again, complicated and imperfect people who made the wrong choice for the right reasons. And Cirrus is the guiding light that really helps bring this whole story together. My one real complaint here is that there were characters (and relationships) that didn't get as fleshed out as well as I would have hoped because so much other good work is going on on the page. For example, I would have loved to see a more gradual progression of Gunner from bully to friend, and I think even a line denoting Sunny and his friend's shifting attitude towards their track coach as they became less terrible and more invested in just enjoying things would have been nice.
The skill with which David Yoon handled the plot is also worth mentioning. I mean, we know from page one that this whole lie is going to come crumbling down around Sunny's head sooner or later, but what I love is all the little things that happen along the way, and how the fallout of that collapse is handled too. I mean, even for a plot-point I knew was coming, it still hurt to read (literally, I called it a night on reading because it just hurt too much). But even apart from that. The 'Shame' chapter is pure gold, and it still comes relatively early in the book. And even before then, David Yoon is crafting this narrative arc not as one simple plotline moving towards A Single Big Revelation™ at the end, but as a sort of winding path adventure, with stopping points of realizations here and there. Each of these small revelations, of course, helps build up to (and ultimately build up) The Big Takeaway, but they're equally important, even if it's all treated very mundanely, because that's how life is. The world does not stop in it's tracks when we grow up a little, after all.
Overall, this was a very good book, and I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to read it. You should read it too, if you know what's good for you.