A review of Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro’s novel “The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure”. This article will excerpt some moments from the book.
“It’s like holding a person in your arms and realizing they are an interlocking piece of a puzzle you hadn’t known how to assemble.”
– Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
I’m seated comfortably (or as comfortable as it gets!) in the airplane, under flamingo pink illumination and one singular white reading light, thousands of feet in the air, caught in the turbulent winds, en route to campus. In my hands and in my heart, held tightly, is the book, “The Sun and the Star,” while its excerpts adorn my cluttered phone gallery. I can assure you that this is a worthwhile read that will leave you “in your feels” at the end. I can also safely assure you that if you are looking for a good book to leave a good ol’ lump in your throat and your eyes damp, then this is the one for you, and in a good way!
Queer romance portrayed in stories is one that you would usually find marred by tragedy; perhaps one (or both, if you are really unlucky) of the couple dies, perhaps life takes them on different paths; perhaps it is the violent hues of bigotry that tear the canvas of love. Attempts at making this romance “realistic” often throw the narrative into pessimism. One then wonders, “What about our ‘happily ever after’?” As such, the risk of losing this ‘happily ever after’, in leaves readers on the edge of their seat, as they embark on a journey of emotional highs and lows, and, the content of the book was not the only way in which they accomplished this!
One of the strategies that I truly loved while reading this book was the authors’ use of switching perspectives. While Riordan continues allotting chapters to each character’s point-of-view, as he had done in Heroes of Olympus, the authors’ writing style takes its departure from there. They tease us with different pieces of the puzzle that, borrowing from their metaphor, you don’t know how to piece back together until you make significant headway into the book, by alternating between present and future scenes in the story, until they collide. These shifting perspectives are then enhanced by a narrative rich with lessons on life and love, revolving around change, and the toll that a rigid outlook takes on a relationship.
Known for their happy endings (when not suspenseful!) and valuable lessons, The Sun and the Star follows on the footsteps of its older siblings, and readers might just have something to gain from it! Continually challenging its characters, Nico and Will, with one obstacle after another, the book tackles complex issues that its prequels were only able to scratch the surface. Primarily, it takes us on a journey in thoroughly “unriddling” two characters in greater detail. But it was worth the wait! Three series of plots culminate in readers gaining a newfound understanding of Nico di Angelo, the sardonic and “lone-wolf” son of Hades who has fallen in love with the golden boy, Will Solace, the vivacious son of Apollo. Taylor Swift’s Midnight Rain has never been more fitting than it is for the story of these two teen boys. It is the story of a boy who lost everything – worried about who he would lose next, a boy reluctant to let people in for fear of losing them, wary of changing his steadfast ways, until a new adversary forces him to re-evaluate his beliefs and how he lives his life.
It is also a story of a boy whose quest challenges preconceived notions he once held, notions whose repercussions let us see the cracks in the relationship that would get drowned out among others, and how his whole worldview changes. The authors allow us to grow closer to the hitherto enigmatic Will Solace, and his own perspective in this match made between the sun and the stars. That which readers might have taken for granted in its prequels, The Sun and the Star unpacks in painstaking detail, revealing the nuances and complications of a relationship, exacerbated by the characters’ mythical adversities. Yet unlike most other stories that took the easy way out, (Spoiler Alert!) Riordan and Oshiro contributed to a genre of fiction where gay couples no longer have to have a tragic ending, or suffer a break-up perpetrated by life and cruel fates.
Let me take you back to the quote at the beginning of this article. Love is a mysterious game, and almost an unfathomable concept, yet Riordan and Oshiro capture it in all its power so effectively in one line and many more throughout the book, like so:
“[…] I told you that you didn’t have to throw a party. I would have said yes if you’d just asked me.”
– Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
These are the moments that have imprinted this book in my mind and in my heart. As I sit and write this piece at 2:24 am, in the middle of the night, all these feelings come rushing back. I sit back now, reliving this story about two boys who fell in love, who travelled through the darkest night, and back, who navigated both physical and emotional struggles, and emerged stronger for it, and I encourage you all to do it too!