Thank you Penguin Teen for sending me this ebook arc through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Publication Date: February 8th

Going into this book, I was intrigued by the plot…Sikh representation! A notebook of Rash Decisions! A fun night of dares! I was excited!

While there were aspects of this book that I enjoyed, I had trouble connecting with the story itself. For me, the first two chapters seemed to throw a lot of situations at the reader such as the main character’s stuttering, racist bullying from his classmates, the main character’s brother who died due to his issues with alcoholism. Due to this overflow of issues/situations at the beginning of the book, I felt disconnected from the storyline.

This was not a bad book, but I just didn’t connect with this read.

Sunny has shaved and stopped wearing his turban, as he wants to show he is fearless. The book takes place on prom night, where Sunny, who is Punjabi Singh, begins hanging out with Mindii, who is Hmong. The culture representation was my favorite part of this book. I did not find that I could relate to Sunny's fandom and cosplay obsessions. Sunny is in the midst of mourning the loss of his brother, who died due to alcoholism. Sunny also has a stutter. All of these parts made for an interesting story, which I wish I enjoyed more than I did.

Phenomenal book that's definitely worth reading! I hope everyone's who reads this pulls something from it and takes it to heart. Super epic story with strong writing and characters.

Senior year of high school can be awkward for many people, but for the titular character of Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions, it seems like he’s the only one struggling. This debut novel by Navdeep Singh Dhillon, which is set to be released on February 8th, features a new kind of YA protagonist as he strives for one great, reckless night to be fearless and bold.

To be honest, I did not enjoy this YA contemporary as much as I thought I would. I thought it'd be very romcom-ish and fun, since it’s set on prom night, but instead the plot was just a little too fast-paced and filled with references I didn’t understand.

For example, I read a whole scene where Sunny, our main character, is at a cosplay party, but I didn't recognize any anime/manga character or show references except for “The Last Airbender” (which I didn't even watch as a kid). So, as the reader, I was totally lost because of the lack of explanation of these fandoms and references. I also think the maturity levels of the characters wasn’t quite up to par. Sunny and his friends are seniors in high school, yet it felt like their maturity level was more of an awkward freshman level. Therefore, the meshing of my lack of knowledge and the author’s lack of explanations, paired with a main character who's so awkward it's almost cringey, instead of endearing, made this a not-so-enjoyable reading experience for me.

While I was very intrigued by the cultural references, like the Punjabi dishes and words used and the Hmong historical references, I felt like I didn’t get the full effect of them because they were only half-explained. And neither my Kindle dictionary nor Google Translate were able to help me translate certain phrases I wanted clarification on (for example: it took me a third of the book to realize that "Biji" was referencing Sunny’s grandmother).

One thing I did like was the way the book discussed alcoholism and grieving the loss of a loved one. It helped add a bit of depth to the story and how Sunny is trying to keep his brother alive in some way. But it wasn’t quite enough to sway me into really liking the plot and events of the book.

I admire the way Dhillon tried to create a novel that featured some underrepresented voices in YA literature, including a Sikh main character, and tried to highlight cultural diversity. Maybe if I related more to some of the characters or experiences mentioned in the story or if I was still in my teenage years I’d appreciate this story more, but ultimately this book just wasn’t for me.

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was great. It was a slow start for me but I loved learning about the culture. Loved how the characters learned about their cultures from each other. I wish some of the comic con/Fanboy/cosplay stuff was explain more for those two aren’t into that stuff. That’s what took away from the story for me because I was confused but loved the family dynamics and grief and representation.

There was a lot in this book that I liked, from the friendships to the grief, to the family dynamics, to the burgeoning romance between Sunny and Mindii. However, I think one of the issues was that maybe I wasn’t meant to be the target audience for this book in that, I’m not a huge fan of any particular thing. I don’t do cosplay, I don’t write fan fiction, I don’t go to Comic-Con and I think a lot of the book relied on some knowledge of a particular fanbase that I’m not even remotely familiar with. And I think had I been more familiar with it, maybe this book would’ve resonated more. As it is, I liked the family stuff and the friendship stuff and Sunny coming to terms with his grief over losing his brother and I just wish there had been more of that instead of all the fanbase stuff that was interwoven into it. Regardless, the book was charming and I would definitely read this author again.

CW: grief, off page death of brother, alcoholism, recover, rehab

This is a difficult review for me to write, because I didn't much care for the first 75% of it, but I loved the ending. My biggest problem with this book is that it went way overboard with fandoms. There is the fake fandom that is a big part of the plot, which is something I'm OK with (Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert did this very well). But then the author starts mixing in all sorts of other fandoms and anime and manga references, and it's all just a jumbled mess of words that make zero sense to me because I have no familiarity with any of them, other than the big ones. I was prepared to give this book two stars at that point.

But then we got past all of the (to me) gibberish, and got to the deeper issues of this story - the relationship between Sunny and his brother and the answers that Sunny is seeking. This part had me deeply invested and emotional, and it almost didn't seem to fit with what came before. If the entire book had been about this journey, it would have been a minimum four-star read for me. As it stands, I'm giving it three stars.

The best thing about this book is the peek into another culture (Sikh) through the protagonist's eyes. That's its only redeeming quality. Do all high schoolers think / act this way today? It's like a foul-mouthed, depressed Eeyore. Remove the language and I would add at least one more star. But there's no way I'll put this book in my classroom or encourage my students to read it. Important note -- While I almost never do this, I cut my losses at 30% on this book, so the review is based on that. I sincerely doubt the quality of language improved, however.

This was such a cute debut by Navdeep. I’m very excited for kids to be able to get their hands on this book. I really look forward to Navdeep becoming a staple author in many children’s collections.

Sunny G is a chaotic and vibrant book that so perfectly captures what its like to be a teenager who is trying to grow around their grief. It touches on alcoholism in the Punjabi community, racism, and young love.

While I cannot speak on the specific Punjabi-Sikh representation, I loved seeing the glimpses of general south asian culture from the food to mentions to mention of films to the commentary on the community. I also loved seeing Mindii's Hmong background be explained to Sunny. While I again cannot speak for that representation, it seems Navdeep Singh Dhillon went the extra mile to ensure accuracy and I hope a Hmong reviewer can corroborate this.

I think what I liked so much about <i>Sony G's Series of Rash Decisions</i> is Sunny's vulnerability. Too often desi men feel the need to be string via not expressing their feelings. And while Sunny does tell himself to do that on occasion, you see him break through that machismo.

Seeing a Sikh character on the pages of a YA book is incredibly special to me. It shows that YA is exploring diversity beyond simple nationality and race markers and diving into culture that displays variety within BIPOC communities as well. I loved that this book was able to touch on sensitive topics like alcoholism while maintaining a lighthearted narrative. The characters were super cute and the story is one I will be talking about with so many people!

I was very much looking forward to this one, but unfortunately I'm 30% of the way through my ARC and just don't have the motivation to finish it. We follow Sunny G and, opening on his prom night, he has started a list of rash decisions for the night. A big portion of the book (thus far) has revolved around a fictional fandom and for as much as I've read, I couldn't tell you anything about the fandom or the cosplay, which to me was a problem for something as crucial to the plot point, this far into the book. There is a very diverse cast, which I appreciate, but that is one of the only benefits to the story. Sunny is also dealing with the passing of his older brother, and grief has played a part in his character development thus far as well. I can definitely see this being an enjoyable read for others, but it's just not something I'm interested in at this time.

4.5 stars

As Sikh Punjabi person, I was so incredibly excited to read this book because there are very few books out there with Sikh Punjabi representation. This book did not disappoint at all. The representation, story, characters were all amazing. Something I really enjoyed about the book was how it touched a lot on Goldy's alcoholism because of how big of a problem it is in the Punjabi community. Another aspect which was amazing to read was learning about Mindii's culture as well. You could see how Sunny and Mindii both connected to each other through this learning of each other's culture.

The only reason I would took off .5 is because it was a little slow for me at the beginning. I would 100% recommend this book!!

This book had a few things that were great and wonderful, but overall, I wasn't a fan.

First, I'll mention the things I did like. The representation, Sikh Punjabi, is an obvious positive. I've never read a book with this representation so I was able to learn a lot about the culture and religion as it pertained to our main character, Sunny. As well, we see other representations through his love interest, Mindii, and a couple of other characters throughout the story. The author did a great job of bringing all of this together and telling it in a clear way.

Also, I thought Sunny's voice was a fresh and funny one. We get to hear his confident and outgoing thoughts in his head and then we see how it plays out in real life (which is never the same as his head). I think it would be so fun to have him narrate my life or my favorite tv show.

Now, onto my least favorite things. The beginning of this book was extremely slow. I like a fast beginning or at least a book that sucks me in and doesn't let me go. That wasn't the case with this book. We get lots of background and some flashbacks which I could have lived without. Or which could have been pushed back further into the story. It was just too much, too soon and I instantly grew bored. The story does eventually pick up, but I was already checked out by that point so it was difficult for me to reengage.

Additionally, there's the whole fanfic/fandom deal which is too much, too soon. At the beginning, when we're getting a lot of background and learning who Sunny is, we're also introduced to a fandom he likes. It's a lot of learn and contributes to the slow-ness and overabundance of information.

Lastly, I had bigger hopes for the romance. Like the rest of the book, it was slow. Don't get me wrong. Slow burns are my favorite type of romance, but not when they're boring and don't feel like they're developing at some points.

Overall, while there were some good things about this book, I wouldn't recommend it to others. The story was a good idea and the plot was even fun at some moments, but it wasn't executed well. I won't write this author off for forever because I think he still has some potential for great books in the future.

This was my first book read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I absolutely loved that it touched on Goldy’s alcoholism because that’s something I have firsthand experience with my past/family so it was nice to have it talked about and gone into a bit. It helped me connect with the book entirely. I think that was the most that I really really loved throughout it.

It's Sunny G's prom night, and he is trying out a completely new look. He is dealing with the recent death of his older brother and is struggling to figure out his identity. The only thing he has left from his brother is a notebook. At the dance, he meets Mindii, who is good at making rash decisions. She helps him get out of his comfort zone, and they both decide to make some crazy and rash decisions to write about in his brother's notebook.

Overall, the book was reminiscent of 90s rom-coms. It is a typical story of a protagonist trying to discover who they are while still falling in love. The book was cute and had diverse representation. I loved learning about the Punjabi people and their language, as well as the Sikh religion. It was interesting to read about all the different things a person could do in a day. Sunny's stutter and Goldy's alcoholism were a nice touch to represent the struggles people face. The book was a little hard to get into and understand at times because of all the pop-culture references, but I liked it all the same.

If you are an avid nerd who loves cosplay and fandoms, this book is definitely for you.

I freaking loved this! YA isn't my top genre because it can be a little childish, but Navdeep does such a great job of portraying desi adolescence. Also, grief in desi communities isn't talked about enough, nor is it dealt with so reading this story about self discovery and grief was so bitter sweet.

Ok so no lie it was a bit difficult to get into the main bit of this book. Sunny is well written and the story is great, but there are a bunch of fandom/cosplay talk right at the beginning that are from a made-up book series that almost completely made this book unreadable for me. It was just a bit too minute for the first chapter, but once I got past it the story was so well written and explored the ways that a person can go through grief after the loss of a person they love. There is a romance in this book that took a while to develop, and was a bit confusing at times, but I think that the core of the High School love story is there. I did appreciate the cultural aspect of Sunny’s journey, and the explanation of the journey to someone who is not of that culture was wonderful. Even though I’m not of Sunny’s culture or religious background, I understood why things were important to him and the family dynamics surrounding his situation. The author did a wonderful job of conveying that through the story. Overall I think that I would recommend this book to someone who was a nerd looking for a fun adventure about taking a chance on life.

I am so excited for this book! What a cool and fresh concept for a YA novel. There aren't very many young male protagonists in YA, and many of them give the vibe of cool guy who doesn't want to look like they're trying too hard. Sunny is unapologetically uncool and not afraid to be himself! This is truly a journey of Sunny learning who he is and what kind of a man he wants to be. Sunny had a unique sense of humor, and at first I found him quite strange, but after a while he grew on me. Sunny is a genuine person, and I couldn't help but empathize with him. Does he make some weird decisions? Yes. Does he say weird things? Yes. Do some of his actions make zero sense? Absolutely. I was confused at times, but the vibes of this book are something totally different than many other YA books. Very excited for this debut because I think it'll resonate with a lot of desi kids.