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erikaraz's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Fun story of an immigrant family surviving in Toronto. Great cast of characters all making mistakes and finding their purpose and reflecting on family and loyalty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Deportation
Minor: War
reading_rebellion's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised at home much I enjoyed this book after picking it up on a whim.
It follows a Vietnamese immigrant family, two second generation children, a family member, and their family nail salon in Toronto. The neighborhood they've lived in for over two decades is being rapidly gentrified and pushing out the local businesses.
There's the first gen parents, Phil and Debbie, who've worked at the salon for over 20 years.
You have the second gen children who have been assimilated into Westernized culture, privilege and have a complicated connection to their family's customs, heritage and neigborhood.
There's Justin, the youngest, who's been working at a swanky tech wellness company for many years and Jessica, the eldest, who is returning to Toronto reluctantly after leaving for Los Angeles 8 years ago.
There's also Twi, Justin and Jessica's cousin, who just arrived in Toronto from Vietnam to work in the salon to help support her family in Vietnam.
This book follows each character's POV over the course of a year at the salon, their neighborhood and life changes. Excellent book on the immigrant experience and generational differences.
It follows a Vietnamese immigrant family, two second generation children, a family member, and their family nail salon in Toronto. The neighborhood they've lived in for over two decades is being rapidly gentrified and pushing out the local businesses.
There's the first gen parents, Phil and Debbie, who've worked at the salon for over 20 years.
You have the second gen children who have been assimilated into Westernized culture, privilege and have a complicated connection to their family's customs, heritage and neigborhood.
There's Justin, the youngest, who's been working at a swanky tech wellness company for many years and Jessica, the eldest, who is returning to Toronto reluctantly after leaving for Los Angeles 8 years ago.
There's also Twi, Justin and Jessica's cousin, who just arrived in Toronto from Vietnam to work in the salon to help support her family in Vietnam.
This book follows each character's POV over the course of a year at the salon, their neighborhood and life changes. Excellent book on the immigrant experience and generational differences.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Racism, Violence, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, War, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
kelly_e's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Title: Sunshine Nails
Author: Mai Nguyen
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: July 4, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Lighthearted • Simple • Entertaining
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have made a good life for themselves in Toronto, but their landlord has just jacked up the rent of their family-run nail salon, Sunshine Nails, and it’s way more than they can afford. When Take Ten, a glamorous chain offering a more luxurious salon experience, moves into the neighborhood, the Tran family is terrified of losing their business—and the community they’ve built around them.
But daughter Jessica comes to their rescue. She’s just moved back home after a messy breakup and an even messier firing. Together with her workaholic brother, Dustin, and recently immigrated cousin, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. But as the line between right and wrong gets blurred, relationships are put to the test, and Debbie and Phil must choose: Do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Sunshine Nails originally popped onto my radar when it was included on the Canada Reads 2024 longlist. When it wasn't included on the shortlist, I figured I would read it at some point, but it didn't become a priority until it was selected as April's pick for my in-person book club. I had definitely seen mixed reviews and was anticipating more of a humourous tone than what it actually is.
Told through multiple POVs, Mai Nguyen delivers an ode to nail techs while exploring the Asian Canadian immigrant experience in her debut novel. The writing is overly simple and the story is quite relatable. I appreciated a novel that offers a thriving immigrant family at the center of it. The generational differences were oftentimes real and comical. Through a less prominent thread the theme of gentrification is also explored.
The audio narration features a full cast of characters, which gave the story another dimension and really brought the family to life. It was best for me to read along with my eyeballs just so I was able to keep track of who was who.
Overall, Sunshine Nails was a quick, easy read with uplifting qualities. There is a decent amount of social commentary, yet Nguyen weaves it into the narrative without it being too preachy.
Unfortunately, I will be missing the book club discussion, but I look forward to seeing people's thoughts on the designated post afterwards.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• immigrant stories
• family drama
• Kim's Convenience
⚠️ CW: racism, classism, alcohol, alcoholism, DUI, xenophobia, infidelity, drug use, suicidal thoughts, vomit, cursing
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Jessica never understood the power of gossip until she worked at the nail salon. It gave people who had nothing to talk about a reason to engage with one another, to create closeness through the exchange of closely guarded information."
Author: Mai Nguyen
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: July 4, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Lighthearted • Simple • Entertaining
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have made a good life for themselves in Toronto, but their landlord has just jacked up the rent of their family-run nail salon, Sunshine Nails, and it’s way more than they can afford. When Take Ten, a glamorous chain offering a more luxurious salon experience, moves into the neighborhood, the Tran family is terrified of losing their business—and the community they’ve built around them.
But daughter Jessica comes to their rescue. She’s just moved back home after a messy breakup and an even messier firing. Together with her workaholic brother, Dustin, and recently immigrated cousin, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. But as the line between right and wrong gets blurred, relationships are put to the test, and Debbie and Phil must choose: Do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Sunshine Nails originally popped onto my radar when it was included on the Canada Reads 2024 longlist. When it wasn't included on the shortlist, I figured I would read it at some point, but it didn't become a priority until it was selected as April's pick for my in-person book club. I had definitely seen mixed reviews and was anticipating more of a humourous tone than what it actually is.
Told through multiple POVs, Mai Nguyen delivers an ode to nail techs while exploring the Asian Canadian immigrant experience in her debut novel. The writing is overly simple and the story is quite relatable. I appreciated a novel that offers a thriving immigrant family at the center of it. The generational differences were oftentimes real and comical. Through a less prominent thread the theme of gentrification is also explored.
The audio narration features a full cast of characters, which gave the story another dimension and really brought the family to life. It was best for me to read along with my eyeballs just so I was able to keep track of who was who.
Overall, Sunshine Nails was a quick, easy read with uplifting qualities. There is a decent amount of social commentary, yet Nguyen weaves it into the narrative without it being too preachy.
Unfortunately, I will be missing the book club discussion, but I look forward to seeing people's thoughts on the designated post afterwards.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• immigrant stories
• family drama
• Kim's Convenience
⚠️ CW: racism, classism, alcohol, alcoholism, DUI, xenophobia, infidelity, drug use, suicidal thoughts, vomit, cursing
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Jessica never understood the power of gossip until she worked at the nail salon. It gave people who had nothing to talk about a reason to engage with one another, to create closeness through the exchange of closely guarded information."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
DUIkdailyreads's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The cover is so deceiving! I downloaded the audiobook, thinking I was branching out into romance, but this is far from it. A family drama of fighting gentrification and expectations of assimilation.
If you love the show Kim's Convenience, you will love this.
The amount of shenanigans this family gets into is hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking, but always drawing them closer to each other. The perspective switches between each family member, offering a multifaceted take on the ever changing dynamics of the neighborhood and inner circle.
This was still a bit out of my typical reading zone (sci-fi, fantasy, horror), and I did have some issues staying interested because of my initial incorrect assumption that this was romance. That was absolutely my bad!
The audiobook has a complete cast for each family member and was really fun to listen to. The mom is so sassy, I absolutely imagine my feisty Viet Auntie when her parts come up.
If you love the show Kim's Convenience, you will love this.
The amount of shenanigans this family gets into is hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking, but always drawing them closer to each other. The perspective switches between each family member, offering a multifaceted take on the ever changing dynamics of the neighborhood and inner circle.
This was still a bit out of my typical reading zone (sci-fi, fantasy, horror), and I did have some issues staying interested because of my initial incorrect assumption that this was romance. That was absolutely my bad!
The audiobook has a complete cast for each family member and was really fun to listen to. The mom is so sassy, I absolutely imagine my feisty Viet Auntie when her parts come up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Racism, Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Reading this book was like watching a soap opera. Every time one of the characters takes action, I would think there’s no way they’re making that decision, it just seems overdramatic and outside of reality. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it kept me wanting to see what would happen next, and where all these choices would lead.
There are also about 5 POVs in this book, and usually I like a multiple POV read, but unfortunately, this fell a bit short for me because we never really got beyond the surface level of each character, leaving me feeling a bit disconnected from the story.
I think the elements of this book that shone the most were:
- Debbie and Phil’s stories of being refugees from Vietnam
- Dustin and Mackenzie’s relationship
- Vietnamese culture
- Commentary on gentrification
Overall, I thought this one was somewhere between okay and good. I was expecting a lighthearted romcom, and what I got was a contemporary drama, so I think that influenced my enjoyment of this book a bit.
It’s not one that will stick with me, but it still would be worth picking up if any of these elements intrigue you.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an digital advanced reading copy of this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an digital advanced reading copy of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Classism
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Racial slurs, Grief, and War
tenderbench's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity and Classism
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy
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