My Review of ” HELLO SUNSHINE” by Laura Dave

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster, NetGalley and Laura Dave for the Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of “Hello Sunshine” by Laura Dave for my honest review. The genre of “Hello Sunshine” is Women’s Fiction. Laura Dave is the author of “Eight Hundred Grapes” which I loved.

The authors describes the characters as complex and complicated. Some of the characters seem very shallow and greedy. Sunshine seems to have it all until she doesn’t. Sunshine has a famous You Tube Cooking show, is an author of cookbooks, and has a handsome husband that is an architect. Sunshine portrays the honest girl next door, until she gets an E-mail on her birthday that changes her life. It seems that Sunshine’s portrayal of a charming life is really not Sunshine’s life. Someone hacks into her Twitter account with the intention of destroying her, and proving to the world she is a liar.

Sunshine’s life seems to collapse and she heads home to her roots. Why would someone want to destroy Sunshine? How do they know so much about her life? Who can Sunshine trust?  Who could betray Sunshine? These are many of the questions I asked myself while reading. Sunshine was in a competitive field, and there were some “friends” who would benefit if she failed. Some of the characters seemed suspect, but before Sunshine could find any answers, she has to find herself. I felt compassion for  Sunshine, who comes from a dysfunctional family, and has to work out many issues. I loved Sammy her 6-year-old niece showing the maturity of an adult. I was totally shocked when I found who the responsible party for causing Sunshine so much anguish is.

I appreciate that the author questions social media, and how people portray themselves, and how easy it is to find out about any person you want to. Perhaps too much information is put out there. I also like that the author describes the importance of family and friends.  The author also discusses the cost of secrets, and betrayal in relationships, as well as love, hope, forgiveness and determination.  I would highly recommend this entertaining and intriguing novel. I look forward to  reading more books by this author. Happy Reading!