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A review by whitneymouse
Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions by Navdeep Singh Dhillon
4.0
**Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers in association with the New England Library Collaborative Teen Summit for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my rating**
I read the first three chapters of this in a sampler a few months ago and knew I needed to read it in full. I'm so glad I was able to! Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions is such a joyous celebration of nerdy fandom, especially what that looks like with BIPOC characters, which I loved. It also examines grief and love.
Sunny G starts off at prom, where Sunny is expecting the "best night of his life" based on Teen movies. This goes off the rails when Mindii Vang steals his recently deceased brother's notebook, leading them on a wild ride throughout the night as they both discuss loss in their families and make a "series of rash decisions", from trying new foods to cosplay poetry night. The characters in this were really fun to read about. I think a good "comparison" would be it's like a mix of Darius the Great is Not Okay and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist with a little hint of The Sun is Also a Star. The similarities to Darius ALONE guaranteed I would read this (both feature a male BIPOC character who is on a journey of self-discovery and have nods to their respective fandoms, Star Trek for Darius and the Jamie Snollygaster series for Sunny).
The ending of this book, especially, was really sweet and I thought the way the deeper themes of grief and loss and acceptance were handled really well, especially for a debut. I've read some books with similar themes lately that weren't handled with nearly as much grace or care as Dhillon puts into Sunny's ending. I was really impressed with that, as well as how the arc went across the book to lead to that moment. It was a highlight of the book.
The infusion of both the Punjabi and Hmong languages into the book were beautiful and makes me want to listen to the audiobook, as well, so I can hear how it's actually pronounced instead of reading an approximation online. There is a point made that it isn't the way that it's spelled. I loved Mindii's comment that the spelling is "for [her and her culture], not for you all to mangle the pronunciation by what you think it's supposed to sound like." The book is highly quotable like this, but I thought that particular point was well done and something that made me stop and look up the way it was pronounced every time since I was reading the text version.
My only real "gripe" is that there is a LOT of references to Avatar the Last Airbender in this book. I got the Snollygaster references because it's a large part of Sunny's life and an event they go to. I will also add that they delve into other fandoms as the book goes on. But the beginning was frontloaded with a LOT (I counted. It was 12) references to ATLA and how "Sunny only knows it because he watched it with Goldy (his brother)." That is too many for me. I tend to hold pop culture references against a book unless it's thematically relevant and while Mindii is very into ATLA (she dresses like a character), it was clear Sunny knew her references and didn't need to remind us each time that he knew because he watched it with Goldy. Just trust the reader a little more to remember that part and pick maybe the three most relevant references. Past that, it becomes too much for me. But that's my only issue in a otherwise GREAT book! That is excellent.
Overall, I would highly recommend this. It's funny and touching and a great read. I think many people will really love Sunny.
4/5 stars
I read the first three chapters of this in a sampler a few months ago and knew I needed to read it in full. I'm so glad I was able to! Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions is such a joyous celebration of nerdy fandom, especially what that looks like with BIPOC characters, which I loved. It also examines grief and love.
Sunny G starts off at prom, where Sunny is expecting the "best night of his life" based on Teen movies. This goes off the rails when Mindii Vang steals his recently deceased brother's notebook, leading them on a wild ride throughout the night as they both discuss loss in their families and make a "series of rash decisions", from trying new foods to cosplay poetry night. The characters in this were really fun to read about. I think a good "comparison" would be it's like a mix of Darius the Great is Not Okay and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist with a little hint of The Sun is Also a Star. The similarities to Darius ALONE guaranteed I would read this (both feature a male BIPOC character who is on a journey of self-discovery and have nods to their respective fandoms, Star Trek for Darius and the Jamie Snollygaster series for Sunny).
The ending of this book, especially, was really sweet and I thought the way the deeper themes of grief and loss and acceptance were handled really well, especially for a debut. I've read some books with similar themes lately that weren't handled with nearly as much grace or care as Dhillon puts into Sunny's ending. I was really impressed with that, as well as how the arc went across the book to lead to that moment. It was a highlight of the book.
The infusion of both the Punjabi and Hmong languages into the book were beautiful and makes me want to listen to the audiobook, as well, so I can hear how it's actually pronounced instead of reading an approximation online. There is a point made that it isn't the way that it's spelled. I loved Mindii's comment that the spelling is "for [her and her culture], not for you all to mangle the pronunciation by what you think it's supposed to sound like." The book is highly quotable like this, but I thought that particular point was well done and something that made me stop and look up the way it was pronounced every time since I was reading the text version.
My only real "gripe" is that there is a LOT of references to Avatar the Last Airbender in this book. I got the Snollygaster references because it's a large part of Sunny's life and an event they go to. I will also add that they delve into other fandoms as the book goes on. But the beginning was frontloaded with a LOT (I counted. It was 12) references to ATLA and how "Sunny only knows it because he watched it with Goldy (his brother)." That is too many for me. I tend to hold pop culture references against a book unless it's thematically relevant and while Mindii is very into ATLA (she dresses like a character), it was clear Sunny knew her references and didn't need to remind us each time that he knew because he watched it with Goldy. Just trust the reader a little more to remember that part and pick maybe the three most relevant references. Past that, it becomes too much for me. But that's my only issue in a otherwise GREAT book! That is excellent.
Overall, I would highly recommend this. It's funny and touching and a great read. I think many people will really love Sunny.
4/5 stars