This is a book about high school, and fitting in, and family, and grieving told through the eyes of a stuttering Sikh geek who is trying to come to terms with the death of his older brother and make it past the bullies to finish high school. And it works. As a librarian, I look for books representing different cultures, especially for teens coming in to their own and deciding who they're going to be. This book covers Sikh culture and fandom (that I didn't always get, but I'm not the target audience) with a full array of other characters from different cultures and sexual orientations. Sunny is a sweet boy who grows during his night of adventure and Mindii is fantastic as a strong girl who brings him out of his shell to experience and deal with all that life has to offer. Thank you to Penguin/Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. I look forward to the next adventure of Sunny, and hopefully Mindii and the gang!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an e-ARC of Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions in exchange for an honest review!

They had me at for fans of Sandhya Menon... & I am not disappointed.

Sunny G's.. deals with grief; our main character recently lost his brother (trigger warning: alcoholism) & decides to fill up his brother's notebook with a series of rash decisions. Only, Sunny's rash decisions aren't really.. seeming very rash. That is until Mindii comes onto the scene & the two go on a very rash-filled adventure.

This book is very very cute & heartwarming! We love a good adventure in this house & Suny G's.. definitely took us on an unforgettable journey.

This book is so wonderful for teens and adults alike. I thought it was kind of chaotic, in the best way, because that's what being a teenager truly feels like. I think this is a great read for anyone, not just young adult readers because it's easy to connect with the character and plot.

The formatting of this arc was impossible to read. I love that it's a boy mc. Can't wait to read a physical copy of this.

This book was so good. It was a lovely experience to be immersed in this world. Thank you for letting me read and review this book.

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

Get ready for prom-night and a romantic-comedy romp about a Sikh teen’s search for love and identity.

Sunny G’s brother died. Well, that’s not funny. He left behind his notebook, which Sunny is determined to fill up with a series of rash decisions. Decision number one is a big one! He took off his turban, cut his hair, and shaved his beard. He doesn’t look like a Sikh anymore. He doesn’t look like himself anymore. Even his cosplay doesn’t look right without his beard.

The novel opens where Sunny G plans to debut his new look at the prom. One problem, he’s stuck going alone. Ok, no biggie. Another rash decision is skipping the big fandom party. This is the one where he’d normally be in full cosplay, up on stage playing bass with his band and his best friend, Ngozi.

Now meet Mindii Vang, a girl with a penchant for making rash decisions of her own, starting with stealing Sunny’s notebook. When Sunny chases after her, prom turns into an all-night adventure. Yes as the title foreshadows, a night full of rash, wonderful, romantic, stupid, life-changing decisions.

Sunny is a fun and endearing character. It’s interesting to learn about his Sikh Punjabi culture. This book captures Sunny’s friend and his brother’s alcoholism in a way that is real and vulnerable in so many ways.

There were a lot of references to fandoms, which I have no point of reference, so some of that was over my head and made the story a bit slow during certain sections.

Overall, this book was a fun adventure and a great story of a boy finding himself through his grief.

Thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

DNF at 30%.

Just really couldn't get into this one. The writing was fun and decent, but I felt like I was missing a lot of background information and couldn't bring myself to get invested enough to keep reading to find out the information I lacked.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO SUNNY G’S SERIES OF RASH DECISIONS BY NAVDEEP SINGH DHILLON?
I had decided to pick up Sunny G’s Series Of Rash Decisions by Navdeep Singh Dhillon because I enjoy the trope of uptight person decides to just cut loose. Also, the cover made me think maybe this might be a light, fun contemporary. I went for audiobook because that’s how I am getting through books a little bit faster these days — seriously my reading has took a bit of a slower than normal turn.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Sunny G’s Series Of Rash Decisions follows Sunny who is at prom. He decides to make some decisions without rationalizing. The first is to shave off his beard, cut his hair and stop wearing a turban — this makes it so he no longer looks Sikh. What prompts these changes is that his brother Goldy has died of alcoholism and all that Goldy leaves for Sunny is his journal. He skips what is called the Snollygoster Soiree which is like this fandom event where he plays in a band to go to prom. But his plans to be rash get a little derailed when a girl named Mindii Vang steals his notebook. As it turns out, she actually does make rash decisions all the time.

WHAT DID I THINK OF THIS BOOK?
So, this book was a bit more serious than I expected, which is fine! I did not mind the tone. To me, I thought Sunny had great character development. It seems like he really comes into his own and develops some important insights about his brother. Also, the depiction of the Sikh Punjabi community was interesting as well. I enjoyed the relationship between Sunny and Mindii – how they both shared vulnerabilities. Oh, and also Sunny has a stutter which I thought was another decent piece of representation.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
Navdeep Singh Dhillon’s Sunny G’s Series Of Rash Decisions is narrated by Shahjehan Khan. It is a fast listen at 7 hours and 30 minutes. I thought that Khan was easy to listen to and seemed to put a lot of emotion into the reading without becoming overwrought. This is well worth listening to — particularly on a commute. Highly recommend and also look forward to what Dhillon comes up with next.

First of all, thank you so much to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for supplying me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions follows Sunny G, a Sikh teen who has recently lost his brother to alcohol poisoning. The only thing his brother left behind was his notebook which Sunny has since started writing what he believes to be rash decisions. The first of these decisions was to stop wearing his turban, cut his hair and shave his beard. He plans to debut this new look on prom night which goes nothing like he imagined when Mindii Vang, a girl with a habit of making rash decisions, steals the notebook. I liked the overall concept for this book but unfortunately, the execution just didn’t do it for me. I found Sunny to be unrelatable and very cliche, although I would like to emphasize that this had nothing to do with his culture, but his overall thoughts, feelings, and reactions to various situations. Another issue that I had was all of the pop culture references. As someone who likes to think I stay on top of a lot of modern pop culture, I didn’t understand the majority of references made throughout the book as a lot of them revolved around different anime’s. The thing that makes this book particularly difficult to review is that while I wasn’t a huge fan of the majority of it, I really enjoyed the final three chapters as well as a few random scenes throughout the rest of the book. I also loved all of the representations of different cultures mentioned throughout such as Sink Punjabi, Hmong, British Nigerian, etc., as well as the amount of detail Dhillon included which showed just how much time and effort went into researching the book. Another thing I loved was how confident Mindii was. She was so likable, relatable, and funny. I can see so many people loving and relating to this story, it just wasn’t completely for me.

This had the potential to be a fun book but I just couldn’t connect to the characters. There needed to be more story development as well. This book was just ok but nothing special.

A fun and serious read. My favorite line: "Am I that person? Do I not like glitter?" Chock full of pop culture references skillfully intermixed with some standards of the main character and his (and his hilariously charming friends') cultural lifestyle, this book was an enjoyable light read through Sunny's self-discovery. As this boy steps out and cosplays confidence, the reader is met with life realizations that come from a diverse background and strong family ties, modern mid-eastern/asian hangups and issues with bullying, and most prevalent teen angst crises from a first real crush and trying to figure out who you are in the middle of all the other confusing muck. This novel read as real, respectful and humorous. It is not a novel where the reader feels stuck in the main character's head but perhaps where the reader feels like he/she/they are included in the character's moment... in all of its elements. The author did a NICE (brilliant... lovely... fun) job with this creation.
#SunnyGsSeriesofRashDecisions #NetGalle

This book has so much going on in the way only a YA book can. I was expecting a prom night romance YA but got something much different instead! This book truly takes on what it is like to be a teenager grappling with grief when also grappling with the millions of other things that come with being a teenager.

This book had a lot going on. The main characters hopped from one event to the next in a seemingly never-ending night. I was not quite sure how they managed to go to so many events within one night so it took me out of it a little. I did love the mix of different cultures and learning a ton about them. Sunny was such a fun character to read about because he kind of represents a lot of people. Not just culturally but also the way he is so hesitant to do what he deems “rash” things. He needed a push to go out and try different things, which I think a lot of us can relate to. For me, this was a 3.5/5.

If you like cosplay, spicy foods that will burn your tongue off, or need someone else to push you out of your bubble, this is the one for you.

I received a digital copy of this book free from Penguin Young Readers Group and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent YA coming-of-age, romcom with incredibly charming and unique characters. Sunny G is a Sikh who loves all things cosplay. He takes a bold break from his usually nerdy ways to attend prom as part of a master plan to make rash decisions after the death of his older brother. At prom, he meets up with Mindii Vang and they embark on a series of madcap adventures. This book offers readers glimpses into an eclectic cast of characters and is a mix of sadness, sweetness, and humor.

This was an interview done for We Need Diverse Books, to read the full interview with the author, click the link below...

https://diversebooks.org/qa-with-navdeep-singh-dhillon-sunny-gs-series-of-rash-decisions/

This book reminded me a lot of Syed M. Masood's YA novels. Filled with culture, family, great humor and emotions. This was very well written and one that will connect well with teens. I would recommend it for school libraries everywhere.

Honestly, I really tried to like this book but I just couldn't.

It ended up being a DNF for me after about 100 pages in. I thought the beginning was really slow, and I just did not like the writing at all. The description of the prom in the beginning was just so awkward to the point where it gave me second-hand embarrassment. As someone who was in high school not that long ago, the way the characters interacted just did not seem realistic to me, and the dialogue was very stilted.

Part of the reason why I didn't like the introduction that much could be because I'm just not interested in D&D and that realm of activity. I wouldn't necessarily say that part of the plot was bad — it just wasn't interesting for me to read. I did love the concept from the synopsis, but the introduction just fell way too short of that.

I do feel awful giving a book less than three stars if I haven't actually finished it, especially since I didn't get very far through. it. I'll definitely try picking it up again at some point in the future, and when I do I'll update my Goodreads to reflect my new rating.

Here is what I wrote in my blog post: This book just spoke to my Spirit! First, there was so much cussing and if you read this blog in its earlier days, you know I used to do a lot of that too (I still do but just not here in case a kid under like 13 reads). Second, there were so much funny banter between Sunny and the other characters and even the thoughts in his head…I laughed so much the entire time! It’s the type of banter & humor that I would regard my friends as well as the thoughts that go through my head…Sunny is so well versed in Sarcasm and snark, my second and third languages! We would make great friends! Third, this book deals with grief but in a way that didn’t feel overwhelming, daunting or heavy. Many of you know that I’ve been dealing with my own loss and because of how heavy it still feels to me, I usually shy away from books that have grief/loss. However, I didn’t feel like shying away and rather felt drawn to Sunny and his struggles because of how he approached his thoughts around death…they actually felt similar to some of my own. Fourth, Sunny had an amazing group of friends that I couldn’t get enough of! I honestly wish they were there for more of the shenanigans…I mean, rash decisions! Seriously, this book is f**king funny and it’s worth your time!

**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