Liv The Book Nerd: Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave

Page Count: 256

Published on: July 11, 2017

Published by: Simon Schuster

Genre(s): Fiction, Women's Fiction (Chick Lit), Contemporary, Adult, Mystery, Drama

Source: Paperback ARC from publisher

Age Rating: New Adult/Adult

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Book Depository: {click here}

Twitter: @lauradave

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

From Laura Dave—the author of the “addictive” (Us Weekly), “winning” (Publishers Weekly) and critically acclaimed bestseller Eight Hundred Grapes—comes a new novel about the secrets we keep…even from ourselves.

Sunshine Mackenzie truly is living the dream. A lifestyle guru for the modern age, Sunshine is beloved by millions of people who tune into her YouTube cooking show, and millions more scour her website for recipes, wisdom, and her enticing suggestions for how to curate a perfect life. She boasts a series of #1 New York Times bestselling cookbooks, a devoted architect husband, and a reputation for sincerity and kindness—Sunshine seems to have it all. But she’s hiding who she really is. And when her secret is revealed, her fall from grace is catastrophic. What Sunshine does in the ashes of destruction will save her in more ways than she can imagine.

In our modern world, where celebrity is a careful construct, Laura Dave’s compelling, enticing novel explores the devastating effect of the secrets we keep in public…and in private. Hello, Sunshine is a fresh, provocative look at a woman teetering between a scrupulously assembled life and the redemptive power of revealing the truth.

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This book was sent to me from the publisher for an honest review. This does not affect my review at all.

Hey, guys!

I was contacted by Simon Schuster to read and review Laura Dave's newest novel (WHICH COMES OUT TODAY!). I was automatically intrigued by the synopsis of this book. YouTube star? Cooking? Drama? Secrets? This sounds like a great novel! Of course, I accepted the review request and I anxiously waited for my copy to come in the mail. This book was compelling and addicting from page one. I really could not put it down! The main character had such a complex and drama-filled story that I just had to know more. It didn't matter that I didn't like her one bit!

This book was such a lovely read. It sucked me in and wouldn't let me go. Laura Dave has such a great writing style. Her characters are so complex and she manages to create such interesting backstories within a fairly short book. 250-ish pages isn't very long, but with Dave's writing it seemed much longer (I mean this in the best way. I didn't want this story to end).

Hello, Sunshine follows the lifestyle mogul and internet chef, Sunshine Mackenzie. Sunshine has everything! A loving, hunky architect husband, multiple #1 NYT best selling cookbooks, a great reputation, and a new cooking show with the Food Network in the works! In reality, Sunshine isn't the golden girl that she reveals online...she has secrets..lots of secrets that she doesn't want revealed to the world. When those secrets are revealed, her "perfect" world comes crumbling down and she doesn't know what to do. In this novel, Sunshine Mackenzie has to figure out who she is.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the characters that Laura Dave created were really interesting, though not all were very likable. The main character, Sunshine, was definitely not the greatest. This doesn't mean that she was a bad character, she was just not a great person. Sunshine is very cringe-y sometimes and it's hard to feel much sympathy for someone who basically ruined her own life. The other characters, were also tragically realistic as well. There weren't too many people that I genuinely liked all the time. I don't think that was an issue though, because all of the character had their own REAL issues that they dealt with on a daily basis. The one character that I absolutely loved was Sunshine's nce, Sammy. She was just such a cute kid. She was so smart and snarky. She reminded me of my sister Reagan. A character who is like my sister is a huge win for me.

I felt like all of the side characters had really interesting stories and backstories. There was never a time where I thought a character should have been omitted from the story. Each side character helped the main character's story progress or added another interesting quality to the story. I loved how Laura Dave wrote these characters. It was so fun to read.

I also don't think that this book is driven by a strict plot line. This book is very character oriented, which I loved. It also wasn't driven by any kind of romance. It was all about Sunshine's story and her journey to finding herself again. If you're looking for a women's fiction story without the unrealistic romantic relationships and interesting characters around every corner, than this book is definitely for you.

Sunshine's story was so compelling and her character arc throughout the book was fantastically done. Dave wrote her change in such a real way. Sunshine had to go through denial, forgiveness, and growth to get to where she was at the end of the book. This book is a great beach read, car read...well, it's just a great summer read! I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an interesting contemporary read. I'm definitely going to have to pick up Dave's other popular novel, Eight Hundred Grapes. It sounds so interesting. If it's anything like Hello, Sunshine then I will be more than pleased.