ARC Review: Hello, Sunshine

Initial Excitement & Summary First of all, I have to note how weird it is that two books with this title were released this year… and I read them both! One is YA and one is adult, but still. They also, oddly enough, involve “fame” in one way or another. I was really excited for this one because Laura Dave is one of those authors I’ve wanted to read for a while. I’ve been on this adult contemporary kick lately and was excited to get to this one. Sunshine is a famous YouTube chef, essentially, whose world comes crumbling down one day when her lies are revealed. She doesn’t know anything about cooking, she’s not from a small southern farm, and she’s cheated on her husband. The world learns she’s a fraud and she has no choice but to head to her hometown of Montauk, New York. Storytelling & Characters I love the Hamptons as a book setting so much. There’s something so special about northeast / east coast beaches for me. I can’t imagine growing up there and then desperately wanting to leave, like Sunshine did. The story itself has somewhat of a redemption arc, with Sunshine going home and having to make up for lost time with her remaining family. She has to start from scratch in just about every area of her life, especially her career. She picks an interesting path to try to get back into the cooking world, which honestly didn’t make much sense to me. […]