Hello, Sunshine

I have loved all of Laura Dave's books, but I found this to be incredibly lackluster.

This book made no sense. There's a huge OMG moment when you find out who did the thing that took down the main character's life, and it makes what you see on TV and movies look normal by comparison. Hard pass on this one, despite having really enjoyed Eight Hundred Grapes.

3 stars bumped up to 4 because I found myself thinking about the book several days after I finished it, especially when I was thinking of posting something on social media. In exploring what happens when Sunshine's life spectacularly implodes with a few tweets revealing the lies she built her career upon, Laura Dave makes us think about how we “curate” our online selves and the impact that has on our ability to be genuine.

In less than 250 pages, Dave creates interesting, very flawed characters and the relationships between them. The tension between Sunshine and her sister Rain (!) is perfectly portrayed, with years of tension and distance dating not easily overcome. This isn't the heartwarming two sisters reunion of a Lifetime TV movie, but it rings true.

Without revealing any plot spoilers I will say that the story is more bittersweet than Dave's most recent release, Eight Hundred Grapes, so those looking for a happy ending tied up in a bow may be disappointed. Sunshine learns from her mistakes and her future will look very different, but other than a direction, a lot is left unresolved and uncertain, including several key relationships.

How much of what you post on Fakebook...oops, Facebook (!)...is really true? What part of your Twitter feed matches up to your real life?

That's what Laura Dare takes on in this little novel. Sunshine Mackenzie is a world-famous chef from a small Southern town who has zillions of followers...and then, one day, it is revealed through social media that she isn't and suddenly she doesn't.

It's a ride of a novel, with surprisingly nuanced characters, and you don't know where it's going until it goes, and then you don't really know for sure where it went, and I like that.

A wonderful little story, just perfect for my first book of #bookaday.