Natasha Kingsley

Character Analysis

The Story of a Girl

Natasha is The Sun Is Also A Star's resident cynic. She'd rather discuss the theoretical paradoxes of time travel than daydream about the future. She prefers the musical stylings of Kurt Cobain over Ariana Grande. She may be the protagonist in a teen love story, but 17-year-old Natasha Kingsley is no damsel in distress. She's fully capable of handling that distress herself...no knights in shining armor needed.

Speaking of which, Natasha claims not to believe in love or fate at all. Her brain deals in Observable Facts, her "key ingredients" for love are "mutual self-interest and socioeconomic compatibility" (83), and she's convinced that life is just a series of meaningless occurrences that happen randomly until we die. Did we mention she's a bit cynical?

At this point, it probably shouldn't come as a shock that Natasha also doesn't believe in God. From her perspective, science is so amazing all on its own that people shouldn't feel the need to believe in something more. Her version of going to church is standing in front of the Anhighito meteorite at the American Museum of Natural History—honestly, it's probably only a matter of time before some hipster pastor decides to hold Saturday night services there.

Natasha's love of science helps her think rationally, sometimes at the cost of her humanity. For instance, she avoids unpleasant emotions by thinking about the chemical reactions behind them. She also plans to be a data scientist, not because she's always dreamed of becoming one, but because it suits her personality. Career tip: She may want to come up with a backup answer when interviewers ask her, "Why do you want to work here?"

Girl Tries To Stop Family From Being Deported

Since Natasha claims not to believe in fate, she's been working overtime to stop her family's seemingly inevitable deportation—a problem we'd imagine most 17-year-old girls in New York City don't worry about much. However, it's business as usual for Natasha, who's used to carrying more than her fair share of her family's burdens. She got a part-time job to help them make ends meet, and she often feels caught in the middle of her parents' tense marriage.

To an extent, Natasha empathizes with both of her parents' perspectives. She shares her mom's frustration with her dad's lack of motivation and inability to provide for their family, but she also knows how talented her dad really is. Watching her father pursue his dreams and be completely miserable prompts Natasha to choose a more practical career path.

Here's an Observable Fact about Natasha: Most, if not all, of her cynicism is rooted in her family's story and her desire to make sense of it. If you don't believe in love, it's not as hard to watch your parents' marriage crumbling. If you don't believe in God, it's easy to dismiss the idea that you were "put on this Earth" to pursue this dream or that one.

Girl Meets Boy

When Natasha meets Daniel, this entire worldview is challenged. Instead of being intimidated by her cynicism, Daniel finds it charming. He notes several times that, even though Natasha claims passion is just a pointless chemical reaction in our brains, she herself is incredibly passionate about music, food, and science.

Part of the reason she freaks out when Daniel tells her he postponed his Yale interview to spend more time with her is because she's seen the perils of valuing your dreams over reality. Her own father's dreams of stardom have kept their family in poverty. Thankfully, Daniel tells her he didn't "burn the building to the ground, Tash. I just moved it until later" (122)—so it seems he's slightly more practical than Samuel "One Role a Decade is Enough to Keep My Acting Dreams Alive" Kingsley.

Even Natasha acknowledges that, despite all the logical reasoning in the world, her heart wants to be with Daniel. She can rationalize about serotonin and dopamine all she wants, but she can't pretend she's not into him.