Thank you for providing a copy of this book for review however I was unable to open the file for this document unfortunately! Apologies.

This book is darkly comic, but immensely readable. How else can you tackle topics like teen depression and suicide in a way that is engaging to readers? Hunter ends up at a rehab center for depressed teens after "the incident." Once there, he meets a beautiful camper, whom he is warned to stay away from, but doesn't that always heighten the appeal? Overall, Cowan's book deftly navigates complex topics and is a good read.

First off I wanna start by saying this book can be a huge trigger for those who have or still are suffering with depression. I have had my fair share of depression growing up and reading this book for me it just kinda put me in a weird mood. Thankfully it was a quick read. This is a very dark depressing book that only has 1 little part of happiness at the end of the book. The main character is a male that talks a lot about sex. Which was a bit annoying personally. He doesn't like to take ownership for his problems and is constantly blaring other. Which again annoying but its reality. I understand how people can read this book and think that it is good to have a book about depression but I don't think it was properly. It has gotten a lot of good reviews but just be prepared for what you are getting your self into before you read this book. Also part of the story felt wrong to be in the book. Who in their right mind gives suicidal teens hammers, nails, and puts a barb wire fence around them?? No one. I can only give this book a 2 out of 5 stars. It was an okay book but personally I can't recommend it because of the issues it has when depicting depression and suicide.

Hunter S. Thompson spends his days smoking pot with his only friend until a tragic “incident” changes everything. Desperate for acceptance and connection and wracked with guilt, he blames anyone else for the events in his past. When he makes a couple of suicide attempts, he is sent to Camp Sunshine for depressed teens. After being in therapy for months and on several medications, Hunter is not optimistic about the Camp Sunshine Program. A few of the counselors and guards on staff are cruel and clueless, though one or two seem genuinely interested and concerned for the kids. But Hunter finds a real friend in his bunkmate Quint and a potential girlfriend in the charismatic but manipulative Corin. These connections and the questions of his therapist are helping Hunter make progress with his mental state, but when Corin convinces Hunter and a few others to join her in an escape plan, all of their chances for recovery are threatened. Sunshine is Forever is a raw and darkly humorous tale that tackles adolescent depression, suicide and mental health treatment in a believable way. A fast paced read – a good choice for reluctant readers and for those who appreciate darker realistic fiction titles. The mature themes make it more appropriate for older teens.

Hunter Samuel Thompson, not the famous writer Hunter S. Thompson, had an incident he refers to as ‘Little Accident,' ever since he has had depression. In this first person narrative with lucid prose uncomplicated and empathic, he has you in his findings of whys of his state of whirlwind of mind and recalling and unravelling for the first time the details to others in the same shoes as him, an unravelling of demons so hard for him and any teen.
He finds himself at Camp Sunshine in Iowa for treatment, as he mentions, “Camp Sunshine is a camp for depressed teens. I like to call it Camp Suicide.”
There he joins forces in ways with Corin, another teen in despair, but is she what he needs?

He tries to define his feelings, find love, sharing and talking through the darkness and trying to build trust along the way.
He explains having a noose around his stomach and not knowing how to release this, reading and hoping he finds ways out, some peace, keeping you reading, his unraveling and finding a release from the incident and to keep living.
He needs to revisit the darkness, lighten his burden and speak, this has you reading on with a memorable read and memorable characters.
Maybe tagged as young adult fiction, a necessary passage of time for all ages through one characters depression.
He needs to fix himself, he needs therapy, structure and Sunshine.

Ughhhhhhhhhh. Just kill me. Please, if I’m this terrible, just kill me. My heart started to race. And I could feel my face getting hot. I wanted my parents out of my life. Surgeon Dick should have wrapped his tool on the night of my conception. They should have just aborted me.

I wasn’t sure where I was going or what I was doing. It started to rain and the droplets left trails across the windshield as I sped down the highway. I waited for a cop to pull me over, for someone to stop me from what I was about to do, as I exited the highway and ran a stop sign. I don’t believe in God, but that would have been a good time for him to swoop in and save me from myself. But there was no flash of light from the sky. And no flashing police lights from behind as I weaved through traffic toward the exit. There was just me and my choices.

An attempted suicide is a bruise to a family’s permanent record. And a successful suicide—well, that’s something that people will always whisper about around a family but never actually question the family about directly.

I realized that Camp Suicide was as toxic as those memories. Depression is infectious. This place required us to rehash our past over and over again. I was going to die if I didn’t get out of Camp Suicide soon. I didn’t know how much longer I could stand it.

The Incident. I couldn’t overcome that demon—some demons are just too evil to conquer. I wondered if I would ever tell him about my past, or if I would just leave him in the dark forever.

It's good that there is another male protagonist in the realm of mental disorders, but I'm not a fan of this one. I couldn't finish the first few chapters. The main character is stereotypical in his sexual desires and the love interest felt like a manic pixie dream girl in the making.

Overview: Hunter suffers from depression. While he's dealt with it his whole life through ineffective therapy and medication, his condition is worsened by the Incident which left him an even more absent family and rejection from his friend group. Hunter tries to commit suicide three different ways following the Incident, and each time, only his dad sticks by him. During his latest hospitalization, the discharge doctor recommends sending him to Camp Sunshine for the summer which is a camp billed to help teens with depression. The reality of "Camp Suicide" as the campers call it, is far from helpful and more of a prison than a chance to improve wellness. At camp, he meets new friends and a mysterious girl he can't quite figure out. When she loops him into a dangerous plan to break out of camp, he can't say no, following her blindly which leads to dangerous circumstances for all involved. Overall: 4.5

Characters: 5 I found the characters of the novel to be realistic and well rounded as well as greater than the issues they represented. For much of the book, the camper's reason of enrollment, including Hunter's, are hidden from the reader, though heavily hinted at, giving the reader and author a chance to grow and form opinions about the characters from face value. This method also allows the extra layers of complexity to grow from the past with each seedling that the reader is given.
The relationships established over the course of the story seemed very honest and organic. Each choice was made with a distinguishable motive, and there were no moves within the relationships whether they be friendships, romantic relationships, or mentorships.
I found the relationship that Councilor Kirk tried to form with the campers to be one of my favorites. In the prison-like environment, he seemed to be the only one truly concerned with the camper's wellbeing and tried to connect to them personally. Even when the camper's pushed him away, Kirk consistently came through for the kids in big and small ways, and that really gave a necessary dose of humanity to a camp that is generally worse than prison.

Plot: 5 The plot of the novel was well executed. There were many complex storylines stemming from the different relationships and intricacies that surrounded the camp and camp life, and I never felt that one got lost or was underserved because of how many there were. The book carries the high stakes tone throughout, and the reader is constantly kept guessing about the details of these characters pasts and what exactly happened as well as being roped into the action happening in the present.

Writing: 4 As well as the beautiful execution of the above categories, I thought that the Hunter's voice shone authentically throughout. The writing showed Hunter's genuine progression through his time at camp through minor shifts in his worldview that were integrated seamlessly transitioning the reader from old Hunter to new Hunter with each progressive experience. The voice holds and endearing rambling quality that rings very true to life, though sometimes the author seemed to loose a bit of control over this swerving into redundancy before checking himself.
I also must commend the depiction of Corin's obvious and well established manipulation of Hunter and his extreme willingness to follow her. While this idea often takes a turn for the unrealistic, Cowan does such a great job of showing Hunter's self-assurance and rationalization, it makes total sense why the events unfolded the way they did.
By withholding all the major details about the past till the end, Cowan sets the reader up for a major bang right at the end, and that greater understanding ties the story up with the perfect bow.

If You Liked This Book Check Out:
Looking For Alaska by John Green (http://www.readingwritingandme.com/2017/07/reviews-and-recommendations-week-16.html) which has many similar aspects as it takes place in a boring school and there are great both friendship and romantic relationships similar to this, though the focus is not technically mental health. It is another great male protagonist driven book.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I never thought a book about an adolescent therapy camp could be so funny and yet so serious at the same time. This is a very character driven story and given the subject I don't see how it could be anything else. An awesome read for those that like snarky dialogue while handling tough subjects. Highly recommended.

REVIEW COPY KINDLY PROVIDED BY NETGALLEY AND INKSHARES PUBLISHING IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

This is the kind of book I could've benefited from while in high school. Teen suicide is a growing issue and I'm thankful that the author addressed the topic the way they did, Cowan kept it very raw & didn't sugarcoat the seriousness of teen suicide. I'm glad that Cowan addressed how suicide doesn't just affect the person committing the act, but the other people in their life. So often, family & friends are forgotten about when writing about suicide. This book broke my heart & was comical in a dark, and twisted way. I was a depressed teen and contemplated suicide often. This book moved me on so many levels & I look forward to purchasing & passing it along to others like me. I think the writing was great & expressive for people on different sides of suicide. This would also be a great read for people that are friends with someone that is suicidal or has a family member experiencing suicidal thoughts. This kind of book belongs in school libraries. I look forward to reading more by this author!

I wanted to give this book a chance, so I didn't stop after the first chapter like I really wanted to. I stopped at chapter eight, after deciding that I had things I'd rather do with my time.

The writing was fine, it wasn't that-- there were just so many things about the main characters voice and the feel of the story itself that reminded me of a couple of other books that I also didn't care for.

It just wasn't for me. I will say, though, that if you enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye and/or Looking for Alaska, you should give this story a shot. You might end up loving it.
Happy reading~!

I liked that the main character was the one telling the reader the story, it made it seem more authentic. I found the description of depression given was pretty accurate. He really hides his feelings with humor, which is common in many people. I did get super annoyed at the face that he thought his problems had to be the biggest and worst problems of all. He seemed to dismiss other people’s experiences which was frustrating.

I thought that Hunter’s obsessive love for Corin at first sight (instalove alert) was cute at times and extremely frustrating most of the time. I liked how there was a big air of mystery surrounding Corin and how she’s been to Camp Sunshine multiple times. I couldn’t stand most of the councilors, which I think will be popular, since that’s how the author made them out to be.

Overall I liked the story, I thought it was very representative of a place where adolescents with depression and other mental illnesses go. I thought the character were written exactly how they were meant to be portrayed. I thought the author did a great job of making this book believable.

This book deals with the reality of teen depression and suicide. The content is my go to read, but the Cowan was able to, while dealing with a serious topic, keep it serious but also add some humor.
I enjoyed this book and want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.

** spoiler alert ** I received an ARC of Sunshine is Forever in exchange for an honest review.

As one whose battled depression, sought treatment, and was once hospitalized for suicidal tendencies, I came away from this story with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, it was an admirable undertaking by Kyle T. Cowan. Mental Illness can be tough to write about, particularly when so many characters (and variables) are at play. It's even more daunting when you consider the audience for which this is written.

However, there was much here I just couldn't sign-off on from a purely emotional standpoint: Corin didn't feel appropriately fleshed out. She read more like an object than a human being. And, by the time you understand the depth of her character's issues, the story is ending.

The same could be said of Hunter: his epiphany, near the end of the book, felt too glossed over and easy.

And what type of quack institution was Camp Sunshine?! It's been a long time since I've had a personal experience within therapeutic walls, but this place came off like something straight out of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest--quite frankly.

For as important to the story as Quint was, we never truly got to know him--even at a cursory level--and Wyatt's issue wasn't addressed in nearly a serious enough manner. Coming Out is a huge deal for any youth brave enough to do so, but there was far too much humor around his dilemma--particular since he felt seriously enough about it to use cutting as a form of release.

It wasn't an awful book, it was actually pretty good, but ultimately I was uncomfortable with the way each character was handled. Everything just ended too neat and clean for me.

Trigger Warning - this book contains descriptions of self-harm, suicide attempts and sexual assault. If any of these are triggers for you, please stay safe while reading this book.

Um, is it politically incorrect to say you enjoyed a book about depressed teens who have attempted suicide? Oh, well, here goes ... I really enjoyed reading Sunshine is Forever.

Growing up reading The Baby-Sitters Club books I was determined to go to camp in America and have fun with a bunch of new friends from camp like Kristy and co. Even after watching all of the Friday the 13th movies I still wanted to be a camp counsellor. Much to my dismay I never went to camp as a kid or counsellor, but find me a book about teenagers going to camp, any camp, and I want to read it.

So, here we are at Camp Sunshine which incidentally leaned closer to Friday the 13th (minus the sex) than BSC. In fact, had Jason shown up to deal with Asshole Jim around the time of his introduction I probably would have happily provided him with directions and a mug shot.

I would hope that Camp Sunshine would never get accreditation to open in the first place because other than half an hour of token therapy a day, the workers may as well have been singing Kumbaya with the kids for all the good they were doing. A padded cell used as punishment? Really??? I kept thinking as I was reading this book, 'please don't let this resemble the way mental health is dealt with in America', but having seen some documentaries about American LGBTQ conversion therapy I wondered how far from the truth it actually was.

My time reading this book was divided between smiling at Hunter's observations and monikers he chose for his family, friends and prison guards (oops, sorry, therapy staff) and sadness at the situation all of these teenagers were in. With themes including guilt, forgiving ourselves and others, and taking responsibility for our actions there were obviously going to be portions of the book that were very difficult to read but like witnessing an imminent train crash I couldn't look away. I had to know if the crash was going to happen or if there'd be a near miss.

Hunter's conviction that it was only through Corin's love and acceptance of him that he could be happy was both sad and believable. It's much easier to assign roles for other people to attempt to make them responsible for the outcome of our lives than to look inside and take responsibility for ourselves.

I spent most of the book waiting as patiently as possible to find out what secrets were hidden in Corin's thick green file and wasn't surprised at their theme when all was revealed. However hard it was to read I did like the symmetry it set up between Corin and Hunter. While the noose around Hunter's stomach was guilt, Corin's noose was shame.

I loved the point made that you get out of therapy what you're willing to put in to it. I would've really liked to have read that miscalculations had been renamed at the end in conjunction with Hunter taking responsibility for his actions, but that's essentially nitpicking.

I liked that some things were left undone at the end. It wouldn't have worked as well if everything was wrapped up with a pretty bow. Life's messy and while we'd love to believe in them, Insta-Fixes aren't as plentiful as we'd like to think.

I felt this one sentence summed up depression better than the DSM-5 could ever hope to - "If you knew me, you probably wouldn't like me, either."

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley (thank you very much to NetGalley and Inkshares) in exchange for honest feedback. Please note that the quote above is from the ARC and may change prior to publication (but I hope it doesn't). I would recommend this book to teenagers and adults alike but would provide trigger warnings first. I definitely want to read it again.

This is not a light and fluffy book but a serious look into the possible thoughts and feelings of a young teen that is deeply depressed-depressed enough to attempt suicide and haunted so deeply by what is called, “The Incident.” The young teen, Hunter S. Thompson, is sent to live the summer at Camp Sunshine a camp with “specialists” to help deeply depressed youth. To Hunter, it is Camp Suicide because every moment he is there he feels more like he wants to commit suicide. He finds there are unwritten rules of behavior (do not ever ask anyone how they got there), hears dire warnings from counselors to stay away from Corin (a girl also there who he feels is attracted to him), and sees only tall fences surrounding the camp. It is a death sentence in his mind.
Hunter has been to therapy and has taken the drugs but to no end. He feels that no one cares about him, that his parents hate him and wish him dead, and that he deserves to feel as guilty and as beaten as he does. He thinks and feels that sex and losing his virginity will be the cure for his depression and when he meets Corin, he thinks she may be the answer to healing.
If you have ever wondered what might go on in the mind of someone deeply depressed or even thought you might have a clue, this is a good book to read. It is hard to read the thoughts of Hunter. It hurts to read the thoughts of Hunter. It can give you insight into the possible thoughts of those with this type of depression. It will enlighten you.

Hunter is depressed and so he goes off to a camp where they help through therapy to work on the teens and their history.

Whilst at camp, he meets Corrine a very out there, confident girl who he finds himself in a form of relationship with despite relationships being banned at camp. Although she wants to break them free, just as maybe he feels the camp could possibly benefit him...

We learn during the book of the turmoil he feels of guilt by his parents and everyone else he thinks, blaming him for not being able to prevent a harrowing incident occurring to his sister.

This book was a really good read for how complex depression can be due to trauma and the therapy mixed with camp is obviously used to show a case of one method of escapism and treatment combined to try and prevent suicide. The language was raw and honest but could trigger people if effected by depression and suicide themselves.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

“See, this is the problem,” she started. “This is what they do to us. They force us to evaluate our lives, as if we can turn back time. But you and I both know that we aren’t time travelers, and we can’t change the past.”

I am crazily shocked by how much I loved this book. It's one of the special books that you knew you were going love it, but then you actually read it and it blows you away 1000x more than you expected it to. That was exactly what happened with this book. I'm still just like holy wow that was amazing. There is seriously like nothing I can think about to complain about this. Okay though, I won't lie, I think a few people should stay away from this though because there a lot of potential triggers. The biggest is, of course, suicide and there is self-harm as well as depression. Though the one thing that made this book even more amazing was how brutally honest it is. I'm also not going to completely dive into the review because this one doesn't come out for awhile and don't want to spoil some things. THOUGH THERE WILL BE A FEW SPOILERS, BUT THEY WILL BE MARKED OKAY?? so read the spoiler sections at your own risk (since some people will read past the spoiler warning and get upset because they got spoiled :)

Overview of the Story:
Hunter, our main character, has the idea wrapped around his head that being with someone will cure him of his depression. Uhmm it's pretty interesting to see why he thinks so, and why he is depressed. But there is one incident in his life that he labels "The Incident" which is what makes him suicidal and what makes him depressed. And yes, this book has a HUGE focus on suicide, which I enjoyed because it wasn't trying to glorify suicide with romantic notions, or excuse suicide as something that is normal and that happens. But I'll come back to that later lol. OKAY so, since he's depressed (lets see how many times I can say that in this review AHA) his parents are sending him to Camp Sunshine. This camp is a place for recovering ex-suicidies (okay what do you call someone who tried to kill themselves but didn't end up making it? I don't think ex-suicidies is a good word at ALL lolololol hopefully you understand what I'm trying to say) So anyways, Camp Sunshine is the equivalent to HELL in our world okay, it's a horrible place with horrible people, with the exception of one Counselor who I actually liked. Anyways, the whole point was for him to recover from his depression and suicidal thoughts, but it isn't easy, which the author portrays so WELL. OML I can't tell y'all how important and amazing this book is.

What I Loved #1:
I connected so much with Hunter. There was quite a bit about him that I really couldn’t connect to due to his personal life that didn’t match mine. But his beliefs on suicide and death are pretty much exactly my beliefs. Here is a quote showing exactly his viewpoint and thoughts on suicide as well as self-harm. (spoiler regarding a character in quote number three, but I didn’t put his name in their so you can still read it)

”The truth is that suicide isn’t that sad to me— in a lot of ways, suicide is a relief. The person’s family no longer has to deal with a rainstorm every day and the person is finally free of the lightning storm that had consumed their life.”


"Suicide is a culmination of thousands of bad moments built up into one single event. Suicide is a way out when it doesn’t seem like any alternative exists. Suicide is the only choice when a person can’t find any way to feel happy. Suicide is escape.”


and:

"I realized that if (name) didn’t cut himself, then eventually his pain would erupt out of him in an action that was way worse than a cut on his thigh. The truth was that I didn’t think they had to do anything at all. (name) should have the right to self-inflict pain if he wanted. We all should have complete control over how we live our lives— or if we even want to live them at all.”


Okay though I want to say that in no way do I think self-harm or suicide are healthy. Or acceptable way of leaving life. Do I understand the want to leave life and just end it all? Of course I do. But I also don’t think it’s okay. Do I understand the need to inflict pain on yourself because it’s something that helps? Of course I do. But again I don’t think it’s okay. I don’t think it’s healthy at all, but I still agree with him. I feel like sometimes, that some books will come at suicide or self-harm like it’s this heinous crime and no one should EVER think about it or try it. It’s pretty much the highest of Sins according to a majority of the novels I’ve read. BUT this one shows that it’s something that we think about. It’s a realistic thought process and it’s harsh, but it’s true. This aspect just made me love the book 100x more.

What I Loved #2:
I loved the male friendship in this book. To me, it’s very rare to see realistic male friendships. All the guys in a book always either hate each other, or they have no emotional connection at ALL. My absolute favorite male friendship of all time is, of course, Will Herondale and James Carstairs. They love each other but they still crack jokes and are just friends. I really loved Quints and Hunters friendship because they started off rough, okay REALLY rough, but they ended up being best buds and it was great. They trusted each other (somewhat) and cracked jokes and made fun but were still friends and it was AWESOME.

The Craziest Love Interest I’ve Ever Met:
Now this love interest is INTERESTING. Very interesting. She’s made out to be the prettiest perfect girl in this camp and she can not be TRUSTED. Nope. Nope. Nope. But she’s also been this camp THREE times. THREE TIMES LIKE WHAT EVEN?? But um yeah I learned early on that she is just hmmm … yeah weird. LOL but then the ending comes around and you find out exactly why she is the way she is and it’s EMOTIONAL. AGH that whole ending scene is CRAZY emotional and unexpected and crazy and I just cannot explain it.

Quotes:

”Funny how happiness hits us when we least expect it.”

”I couldn’t subdue my demons— my demons had already consumed me.”

“You can’t be happy unless you know how to feel sad, but you also can’t let yourself be sad for all of eternity. Focusing on your past will only bring back more pain.”

Everything about this book was 6/5 stars. I didn’t hate anything about it and Mr. Cowan is definitely a new “Auto-Buy” author. ALSO I want to throw in that the writing is crazy flowery, or just super flowy. It’s nice writing that fits the story perfectly and fits the pace and it’s 11/10.

**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of SUNSHINE IS FOREVER in exchange for my honest review**

Following what Hunter describes as The Incident he tries to commit suicide three times before being sent to Camp Sunshine. He's immediately attracted to the troubled Corbin, on her third summer at the therapeutic camp, but befriending her could be detrimental to his progress.

Kyle Cowan drew me in with Hunter's comical voice. The teen gave everyone sarcastic nicknames, though at times constantly using the two and three word names felt cumbersome. In addition to the names SUNSHINE IS FOREVER repeated phrases like "noose around my stomach" frequently, sometimes more than once on a page. What's clever the first time feels cliché after a while. Similarly, hearing Hunter talk about his erections the first time felt appropriate. Repeatedly reading felt like overkill. Maybe male readers will be more interested in multiple telling, but for females once is probably sufficient. Cowan shows promise as a writer and most of his writing issues should have been corrected by an editor.

Because I'm a child psychologist, I'm a stickler for accurate portrayal of mental illness and treatment. On a scale of 1-10, Camp Sunshine is about a 1 or 2. For example, Hunter isn't given any rules or orientation before he's knocked to the ground by a guard and thrown into a safe room called Mental, one camper is made an example on the first day to keep others in line, inconsistent safety and laxity (campers are only allowed spoons but have access to fire/stoves), counselors speaking about the campers to each other.

While SUNSHINE IS FOREVER isn't a story that is harmful to those with mental illnesses, I can't recommend it.