I love stories about people who take risks and work their butt off to make their dreams come true so to say I was very excited to read Hello, Sunshine is putting it mildly. And my, my, my! This book was definitely worth making a fuss over.


Becca has nothing to lose. After being rejected to all of the eleven colleges she applied to, she womans up and decides to leave the safety of her Boston home for the LA dream.
And although she doesn’t start off with the right foot—she’s now the owner of a broken heart and a tiny apartment with no furniture and a bathroom full of mold and rust—things eventually start to look up. She hits the jackpot when it comes to amazing neighbors/friends. She even books a commercial!
Life is amazing. Until everything falls apart, in what feels like a second.
Suddenly, it is time for Becca to make a decision. Stay in LA and continue fighting for her dream or go the safe way and become a college student.


I loved all of the main characters in this book. Becca sure did get lucky in the friend/neighbor department.

We have Marisol. She’s the kind of friend that brings out the best in you. The one that wears a kimono, orange lipstick and listens to country music at the same time and somehow makes it all look amazing. She’s brutally honest, loyal, fearless and a great mentor.
I think she’s the best friend anyone can ask for. She’s the type of friend you wish you had in your life.

Raj is the cutest. He’s a bartender/student/director/screenwriter/amazing neighbor. He’s that one neighbor who will drive you to Ikea so you can make your apartment look like an actual apartment. He’s the boy who can pull off wearing a fedora and the one who will give you his fedora so you don’t get sunburned. He’s incredibly nice and charming. A total boy next door.


There one thing about Becca that almost make me rate this book a 4/5 instead of a 5/5. I loathe when characters cling to their ex-boyfriend’s/ex-girlfriends when they clearly don’t want to get back together. In this case, Becca wanted to get back with Alex—the ex—after he was a total jerk and broke up with her after the lovely road trip they took from Boston to LA. I hate that because of her obsession with Alex, she took forever to realize her feelings for Raj. I wanted grab her shoulders and give her a good shake to make her come to her senses.


I believe in fate. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I’m a sucker for stories about people being in the right place at the right time. Hello, Sunshine definitely has some of that going on. In real life you don’t realize why you’ve stumbled upon someone until they’ve changed something in your life. In this book, you can kind of predict some of the things that are going to happen. Kind of like being backstage and watching fate work its magic. It was amazing.


I recommend this book to teenagers/young adults who are working hard to make their dreams come true. This book will give you hope and inspiration to continue working toward your goals. It’s a very relatable story that will break your heart and then stitch it back together. It is impossible to put down, trust me when I tell you that I couldn’t stop reading for the 7 hours straight. I can tell you right now, there’s a huge chance you’ll become a Leila Howland fan.

Personal Thoughts: As soon as I heard that Leila Howland, author of one of my absolute favorite summer contemporary series, (Nantucket Blue / Nantucket Red) would be returning to writing YA after publishing several middle grade novels, I was ecstatic! Hello, Sunshine immediately jumped to the top of my TBR / wish list without even needing to know any type of description. While Hello, Sunshine did end up being a really fun and unconventional read, it didn’t edge Nantucket out for the top spot in my heart. Anyone who is looking to become an actor is enthralled with the whole process will definitely be addicted to this story!

Plot Summary: After Becca Harrington gets rejected from every college she applies to, she makes a deal with her mother and moves to LA to try to become an actress. The deal is that after one gap year, ideally gaining industry experience, Becca must reapply for college and enter in the following Fall semester. When Becca gets to LA, things are far more difficult than she expected but fortunately, she befriends two other Hollywood hopefuls in her building and they all support each other while they try to navigate the entertainment industry.

Critique: Hello, Sunshine is a really fun read. It follows Becca Harrington who takes a much different path than most eighteen year old’s and it was a pleasure to see someone’s unconventional choices play out in a way that proves that there is more than one right way to do things. Becca is an inspirational character. No matter how hard things became for her during her journey, she always maintained a positive attitude. Even as she hits roadblock after roadblock, her first instinct is never to give up and instead to always to find a way around it. I also love that Becca is a list maker. The reader gets to see her list of LA goals which she continuously revisits and revises as she works toward becoming an actress. Reading about Becca learning to become an independent adult is also a topic that I’m sure we can all or will all relate to in our lives at some point. When you move away from home for the first time, you don’t think about the little things that are suddenly your responsibility or the bigger things like furnishing an apartment (like in Becca’s case). I also really enjoyed Becca’s friendship with Marisol and Raj, two other Hollywood hopefuls living in the same apartment building. They all come to rely on each other in different ways and I especially appreciate how supportive Marisol and Becca always are of each other. It would be so easy to write about two females competing for auditions to land a big role but instead, we get to see a lovely and healthy friendship. If I had one complaint, it’s that Raj and Marisol seem to have not had much of their own stories going on until they drop everything to take Becca under their wing. Romance is far from the focus of this story (although it does sneak in there at some points) and it was refreshing to read about Becca achieving her goals independently. Also notable are the quirky side characters, the shenanigans Becca gets herself into while searching for work and her sweet mother who just wants the best for her daughter.

Do I Recommend?: I do! As I stated, Hello, Sunshine is a fun unconventional novel that looks at the road that many do not take. This novel is definitely a great beach read for anyone looking for something different!

After being rejected by all the colleges of her choice, Becca Harrington moves to Los Angeles.
Her plan is to give herself a year to get her acting career of the ground.
She lands in an apartment where she get two new friends who live in the same building; Marisol, an aspiring actress just like her and Raj, who is an aspiring filmmaker.

But living in LA is expensive, and as money runs out and she doesn't find an agent to represent her, she starts as a waitress at a restaurant.
In the meantime, together with Marisol and Raj they start to post short video's online, which gets the attention of a TV producer. But when Becca finally lands a presentation job at MTV, it seems like a fake, as the big boss who hired her has just been fired, and all she worked on for months has just vanished into thin air. And on top of that she finds out that her new best friend Marisol isn't who she thought she was all the time. But then she gets a call from an agent, who wants to work with her, and she gets into a college after all!

Hello, Sunshine is a fun YA novel about becoming an adult, living on your own for your first time and friendship. I loved Leila Howland's previous two books so this one was high on my wish list! It totally met my expectations. It had Leila's signature style of writing, which always contains a strong main character and storyline. And beside that her books are always so much fun to read! It was very entertaining to read about Becca's move to LA, her new friendships, search for acting gigs and just trying to start as an adult. Her relationship with her mother was also very enjoyable to read in their facetime chats.

This book just had anything that makes a good YA novel, and it is the perfect summer read! Recommended to read when it hits the bookstore shelves in July!

3.5 stars
I absolutely adore Hello, Sunshine; it’s a very fast and fun YA contemporary read. Our main character Becca is strong, smart, and brave; after being rejected by several colleges she decided to move to LA for one year to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. The friendships are beautiful and the romance is precious. Highly recommend to YA book lovers.

I will be filming a mid month review on my youtube channel. Books & Smiles

Originally posted on Forever Young Adult on 2017 July 4.

Hello, Sunshine is the perfect book to read if you’re looking for something inspiring. This story is about a young girl figuring out how to live on her own while trying to achieve her goal of becoming an actress. I loved this concept and the strong bonds the main character makes, but I found the pacing to be a bit slow. However, I would still recommend this to those who are interested in the world of acting.

Since I’m a sucker for books about acting, the concept of this book immediately drew me in. It is such an inspirational story about a girl trying to follow her dreams and become an actress in LA. I loved how this book shows the reader that being an actor isn’t easy. It follows Becca as she is constantly rejected, and doesn’t shy away from the hardship that she endures moneywise. The reader will definitely be rooting for Becca on her journey to fame and be able to relate to her as she learns how to live on her own as an adult.

One of my favourite aspects of this book are the strong, supportive relationships that Becca has. Her two new friends live in the same building as her and help her out by cheering her up, attending her performances, and encouraging her. Becca’s mom also has a role in the story, which I loved. Parents in books are something that I always like to see. Becca’s mom wants the best for her daughter and tries to steer her towards college, even though college isn’t the future that Becca wants for herself. Despite all this, her mom’s pride towards Becca and her accomplishments and her constant text message check-ups are so sweet.

While I enjoyed this book, the pacing bothered me. I found the story to be very slow-paced, and it felt like nothing was really happening. At first, Becca’s search for an agent was interesting, but after so many rejections, the plot got a bit old. I also didn’t agree with some of her decisions. For example, she goes out and buys a super expensive shirt right when she gets paid, even though she’s struggling with money. I found her ignorance to be frustrating, and it is kind of hard to believe that she knows so little about living on her own and priorities at her age.

Hello, Sunshine is a motivational story about an actress trying to live her dream. I enjoyed the different perspective the book offers on the world of acting and what it’s like getting hired, and I loved the supportive relationships that the main character makes. However, I didn’t like the slow-pacing or the decisions that Becca makes, so this book didn’t impress me as much as it could have.

~Disclaimer~
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Becca Harrington has just made it to Los Angeles. After not being accepted into any of the Colleges that she applied to, Becca decides to go to L.A. and try to make it as an actress. She has everything planned out. Even where she will meet her boyfriend of two years every week Alex, whose going to Stanford. Everything quickly unravels when Alex breaks up with her while dropping her off at her cousins house in Pasadena. She moves into a very sketchy apartment on her own and makes a list of goal for herself.
1. Get an agent
2. Get curtains
3. Get a pillow
4. Buy pots and pans
Etc.
In her building she meets Raj and Marisol who help her navigate life in Hollywood. She has given herself one year before she goes back to Boston and goes to community college. Will she be able to get an agent, auditions or any roles in that time?

I really enjoyed this book. Seeing Becca discover herself and finally believe that she wasn't a failure was great. She learns that everyone has their own path. You have to do what's right for you. On her own Becca discovered herself and became a better person because of it.
I do have to say that in the short time she was in L.A Becca had a lot of big breaks. Kind of making it a little unbelievable and too easy.

All in all it was a quick, fun read. I loved it and I loved Becca.




5/5 ⭐

This book was a perfect one to read in one sitting. I really enjoyed it. I wasn't overly impressed with the ending though. It was a little too open ended for my tastes. I wish it had an epilogue or something and it almost seemed a little rushed. It was a fun story to follow the ups and downs of trying to make it as an actress in Los Angles. It had the right amount of adult-ness and YA-ness for me. I did find Becca's continued lingering on Alex and that failed relationship was a little melodramatic and entirely too stretched out. I wish her relationship with Raj played more of a central role than this two-bit Alex character. Overall, a very cute, quick story.

Fun, romantic, really enjoyable read. Perfect for summer and for anyone who wants to follow their dreams!

That waa cute. Becca is sucha fresh nee voice and i was sad to see her go. The story starts off with Becca veing dropped off in LA by her boyfriend, Alex. Seemingly out of nowhere, Alex breaks up with her, leaving Becca distraught and a tad bit confused. This isn't at all what the story is about though. It's about Becca's journey to not only becoming an actress but finding herself as well.

What I truly loved was the independence Becca showed. She's able to rent an apartment and finds a job so she's able to live like the rest of us. I've heard becoming a household name is very hard and only a small percentage actually ever makes it to the big leagues. I'm not very familiar with the entertainment industry, other than being entertained, but I can imagine that this was a somewhat realistic look on how hard it is for struggling actors and actresses to find work.

Along the way, Becca meets Marisol and Raj. Marisol is a fellow actress, while Raj is a screenwriter/director. I liked them immediately; although, I did think Raj was a bit too square for my tastes. Honestly, I wouldn't mind another book with Becca's point of view. I'd love to see where her acting has taken her and if she hit it big. But I guess that's why we have imaginations. Who knows? Maybe she ended up getting her own show and now she's as famous as can be!

I love that this book takes on the topic of what happens when a girl from a prestigious school doesn't get into college--when college admissions are so competitive and seniors in high school are inundated with questions about where they're applying and where they're going, the college decision process is so high-stakes and all consuming, so Becca Harrington's situation is compelling. Becca is an easy character to root for, and it's obvious that Leila Howland knows L.A. and knows acting. Like Nantucket Blue and Nantucket Red, this new Leila Howland novel is a fun, engaging story about a likable, determined, and realistic girl.

4 Stars!!

Really cute and fun read, my favourite in a while! Becca just graduated high school and after not getting into the colleges she applied for moves to LA to go after her dreams of acting! She gives herself 1 year and makes a list, which I love!! She has a great relationship with her Mom which was a nice addition and her 2 new friends Raj and Marisol were great characters! I think the age of the characters makes me lean towards this book as NA and not YA, but it was easy to read and kept me interested until the end!

Rating: 4.5 stars
Hello, Sunshine was just a fun YA contemporary book to read. It's about a teenage girl named Becca Harrington, who moves to LA to pursue an acting career when she doesn't get accepted into college. She has a year to try out this dream before she has to reapply to go to college. With the help of her new LA friends, she starts the difficult journey of becoming an actress.

In some ways, Hello, Sunshine kind of felt like a NA novel. Becca is 18, living by herself, struggling to pay her bills in LA. There is some sex scenes that are kinda described as well. I wouldn't say it was A Court of Mist and Fury level of sexy scenes but I wouldn't say it is entirely tame.

I loved that this book had a really clear plot. Sometimes YA contemporary books don't really go anywhere and as a avid fantasy reader, I sort of always want the characters to be going toward a goal. In Hello, Sunshine, Becca has a goal list, which sort of marked the passage of time and drove the book along.

I also loved the romance in this book. The love interest is kinda Becca's friend before he becomes her romantic interest. I would have liked some more scenes of them together but I think that the romance was not exactly a focus of the novel.

Instead, Hello, Sunshine was focused on Becca's friendship with Marisol, Becca adult-ing and her acting career. (all of which I liked!) Becca and Marisol's friendship was so pure. They supported each other in their acting careers (Marisol would help Becca get ready) and in surviving in LA, living by themselves. I loved reading about their adventures in LA and I totally would love to have Marisol as a friend.

Becca's adulting journey was so relatable. I mean, I totally wouldn't go as crazy as she did with her credit card spending, but I could understand what it is like living by yourself in a new city. Watching her struggle in her waitressing job was so relatable! I thought it was so fascinating to read from the perspective of a character who didn't get into college. It's just a different perspective that I don't see often in YA and I thought it was really well done. As a booknerd, I loved that Becca used a book to navigate the acting industry. Trust me, the only way I can adult so well is because of books and the internet.

I also loved the portrayal of the acting industry. You get to see Becca auditioning for commercials, discovering the play scene and seeing the indie side of acting. I thought it was really realistic. You see Becca get some success, but she also gets her hopes up and things don't work out. But that doesn't get Becca down! It's quite inspiring how she never gave up.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone in college who wants a chick-lit kind of YA novel. It's definitely for an older audience because of the sexual content and I think older audiences would relate to some of the themes better. Go grab a copy of this book when it releases on July 11th, 2017!

A fun, quirky read about a girl who won't give up on her dreams to becoming an actress.
Becca is determined to make it in Hollywood, with nothing to her name but a couple thousand dollars and her sheer will. When she meets Marisol, a fellow up and coming actress, she is sure that between the two of them they will find success. Throw in the boy next door, literally, Raj and maybe Becca will learn that sometimes you have everything you need.

Hello, Sunshine by Leila Howland is a young adult novel that is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2017 by Disney Book Group (Disney-Hyperion). I was drawn to this book because of the fun looking cover and found it to be a very fun read. The book follows an aspiring actress named Becca Harrington. She has received rejection letter after rejection letter from every college she has applied to. Instead of letting all this negativity get her down, she moves to LA on her own. There she meets Marisol and Raj, they quickly become friends. Howland writes about the struggles of a young woman being on their own for the first time like money problems and the stress of trying to pay bills. This book was very relatable to anyone who is in there teens or twenties. I found this to be a quick fun read.

Leila Howland makes a welcome return to contemporary YA with this depiction of one aspiring actress's quest to realize her dreams. Boston girl Becca Harrington is crushed when she's not accepted at even one of the eleven colleges where she applied. Since her boyfriend is off to Stanford, she decides to road trip cross-country with him to Los Angeles, giving herself one year to become a working actress. Unfortunately, Alex breaks up with her just as they pull up to their destination. Heartbroken but resilient, Becca makes a list of her goals and sets out to achieve them one by one. Get curtains and a kitchen table? Done. Get a part-time job and make a friend? Done, thanks to sweetly supportive neighbors Raj and Marisol. Getting an agent might take a little longer, and getting Alex back might be trickier still. After all, odds for success are long even for a fresh-faced ingenue! Becca's adventures and missteps will delight readers, and her independence is really inspiring, This fun, breezy read perfectly fills the void between high school and college, in the tradition of Roomies by Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr.

A fun romance about acting, relationships, and following your dreams. A quick and engaging read, and the main character, Becca Harrington, was relatable. .

Hello, Sunshine was a unique read that borders on Young Adult to New Adult. Becca has moved to LA and is living on her own and working her butt off, but she's still very much a teenager in how she acts, so it felt more YA to me. I found that if I suspended disbelief (like not worrying that she'd be mugged/kidnapped/evicted because she's so young and inexperienced), I could easily get lost in the story. I was rooting for Becca's success all along the way, from her struggle to get an agent, to getting acting gigs and deciding to choose the right boy. I loved that she had a strong relationship with her mother, and I applaud books that make it okay to pursue your dream even if that dream doesn't include going to college. Overall, a fun read that makes you feel incredibly happy for the main character.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the stunning cover. It reminded me of some of Morgan Matson's covers with contemporary photography. I really thoroughly enjoyed this book and based on the ending, hoping that this becomes a series. I quickly fell in love with the main love interest, Raj, a 22 year old aspiring writer/ bartender working his way through film school. Raj is main character Becca's neighbor in their shabby apartment complex situated right in Hollywood. The story follows Becca's journey into becoming an actress right out of high school. What I loved about this story was how real Howland made it feel. This isn't all happy unicorns and rainbows, it follows Becca through the ups and downs of trying to make a name for yourself in the real world.

The only character I really did not enjoy was Marisol. She just seemed very ingenuine and her story arc just kind of fell flat for me. I also thought that the book description itself was slightly misleading. I went into the story thinking id be reading about an aspiring actress who turns into a successful youtuber, but the youtube thing was such a minute detail in the plot. Also, this book is classified as YA and suitable for ages 14-18 but I would say this is definitely a New Adult novel.