This book follows Sunny Song a YouTuber and social media influencer who is sent away to a "teen farm social media rehab". I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn't for me. That doesn't mean it isn't worth reading... I just for sure wasn't the intended market. This book is fairly anti-social media, which isn't a bad thing, but there is enough of it where it gets annoying.

I couldn't relate to Sunny and didn't care about anything that she cared about. The romance was pretty instant, but they did have cute moments. I really like Mya and felt like she was the best character in the book. There were some genuinely funny moments but sadly, I just wasn't invested.

The antagonist Wendy didn't feel fleshed out and I didn't understand what was fueling her. The real villain turns out to be the casual racism Sunny experienced. #OwnVoices representation is great and I did love seeing Sunny overcome the struggles she faced because she is an Asian American. Overall a cute romance for a younger audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

All things social media have taken over Sunny Song's life. To the point that her principal and parents agree she needs to attend a social detox summer camp. Initially obsessed with winning a social media contest while away at camp she realizes she can use her social media and technology savvy for the betterment of others.
Sunny evolves from a self centered teen to one who recogizes true relationships and the needs of others. She even has a change of heart about life after high-school.
The supporting cast was explained just enough to detail how they fit into the main character's life. The narrator does a good job with each character's voice. A sequel exploring Sunny and Theo's life would completely make since.

How freaking adorable was this book!! It was clever and funny and had a decent amount of romance for YA. More than I’ve ever read in YA before but tasteful. Totally recommend this for high schoolers and anyone who wants a quick read

Thank you the publisher and @netgalley for an ALC of Sunny Song will Never Be Famous. This was a cute YA read about Sunny who has a YouTube channel and basically social media has taken over her life. As a result, she attends a social media detox camp. During camp, she meets her arch nemesis that is vying for the same social medial challenge. I enjoyed how Sunny learned more about herself and learned how she copes with her dependency of social media. The narrator did a great job projecting the voice of a teenager and kept me engaged.

This was a really fun read. I wasn't sure how much I was going to enjoy this book but it turns out I really enjoyed it. It was smart and funny. The explanation of technology and "fame" was also really interesting. Over all this was just a fun and cute romance.

This is a story about a girl who has gone viral a couple of times and is a successful social media influencer and her time at a phone detox camp. While the plot is fairly predictable, this book had a good message about balancing your online life with real life. I thought it might read as condescending towards internet usage but it does actually touch on some things that are very true. How being an influencer has value and it’s not mindless easy work. It definitely reads like a standard YA book though, the plot was simple and predictable and yet felt a little lacking. There was some conflict that I feel didn’t get fully resolved, or at least I as a reader didn’t fully understand what the drama was about. But ultimately this is a cute, simple story that I’d recommend to a lot of today’s teens.

This was so much fun! While I have some vloggers that I enjoy watching, I definitely don’t know a lot about what goes into it (beyond knowing it’s a lot!) Sunny was so fun to follow, and I felt that while she sometimes made bad choices, she learned from them and had consequences that made sense. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator was ok (I was so annoyed every time she said GIF as “jif” 😂😂) but otherwise enjoyed it.

Having enjoyed Suzanne Park's previous work the Perfect Escape and given my favor towards audiobooks as a medium, I was very excited to be granted access to this advanced listener's copy, so thank you Dreamscape Media!

Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous is about Sunny Song, who’s excited to begin the last summer of high school before senior year and to continue to grow her YouTube channel and social media brand. When a brownie making video goes viral when she accidentally ends up filming in her ancient sports bra (#browniegate) her parents grow concerned and decide to send her to a Social Media Detox camp as a condition with the headmaster of her private school to keep her enrolled. Suddenly Sunny’s social media dreams are beyond her reach as she is shipped off to a farm in the middle of nowhere Iowa surrounded by other online personalities, some of which are weirdly hostile but some whom she recognizes are way more popular than she is. Sunny is determined to try to salvage what she can of her social media plans with a smuggled-in phone but the more time she spends at the camp, and more specifically Theo, the charming son of the director, the more she starts to reexamine her plans.

SSWNBF I think had a lot of possibility to maybe be a little preachy or perhaps be a little “oh no, all social media is awful and corruptive” and I think that’s a tricky line to negotiate, especially to teenagers, especially in an age when book promotion is, by and large, done through social media is done on social media platforms. I think if the book had gone in all big and doom and gloom and condemnation, it wouldn’t have worked. The balance Suzanne managed instead was better handled in that it focused more on being intentional with our usage and reliance and less mindless. If the book had ended with Sunny closing down her youtube channel and swearing off Twitter, it would have rung as hypocritical and a bit much. I think the angle Park went for worked better and I take back my previous reservations I had going into it.
Theo was my favorite part. He was so real and funny and his and Sunny’s chemistry and humor just made me smile and i loved the two of them together. I also got weird enjoyment from Coach and all the older folks from the retirement home. Mags was just so much fun. I loved her and Mr. Fuller. Side Braid can go dunk her head in the lake, thank you.
One of the things I appreciated first off about Joy Osmanski as the narrator was that it showed that Dreamscape and the people who made the audiobook were intentional and thoughtful in their casting in that they selected a narrator who is Korean-American to voice a Korean-American character. I know that that seems like a pretty low bar to clear and extremely basic and yet some folks still get it wrong and it’s reassuring to see the tide shifting. Joy was a good fit for Sunny because the big criticism for her for the beginning was her being juvenile and Joy wonderfully captured that youthful tone. In the beginning, she was funny and lively. bUt I liked how she handled Sunny’s growth and development. I also loved the different voices she did for the characters, though my favorites were Mr. Fuller and Ms. Davenport. I’d enjoyed Joy as an actor so it was a fun surprise to hear her in an audiobook.
I enjoyed the twists and development Suzanne wove into the book to give the plot more depth and heart. Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous was a fun and quick listen with a capable narrator. Thank you Dreamscape Media!

I listened to this book in the car on the way to the cabin, and it made for an enjoyable ride!

Sunny Song finds herself in quite the predicament as she starts the summer before her senior year. Her principle is already on the verge of kicking her out for her large online presence, but then, when she accidentally films a PG-13 cooking video, she is forced to spend a month in Iowa at a digital detox camp in order to stay at her school for her senior year. It's humid and hot at camp, the other campers aren't very nice, and Sunny has to go a month without her devices or accounts. But, as the weeks go on, she starts to wonder if the person she is online is truly who she is inside, and if the life of a social media influencer is all it's cracked up to be.

I was going to give this book three stars, BUT the ending totally redeemed it for me. Sunny's character growth is so strong and positive while still staying believable. The book sheds a positive light on the power of social media, while also highlighting its downfalls. And in our influencer-driven online world, it was fun to read from the eyes of one of these influencers.

I wasn't a huge fan of the narration, but it didn't hinder me from enjoying this book. It's definitely a nice beach read, if you're looking for something in between a YA and adult romance.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance audiobook of Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous.

I received an advanced listener copy of this book from Netgalley. In exchange, I am giving an honest review.

This book is a light YA read that is perfect for summer. I enjoyed listening to it as it complimented the warm rush of weather we've recently had. Sunny is generally a likable heroine, with relatable feelings. Riding along with her for this story was fun. I also loved the older people from the assisted living home. They were adorable.

I think the targeted audience would enjoy this book, but I don't think it has the sticking power to be a favorite that they return to. There are some moments in the book that dragged and felt much slower-paced than I am used to in a YA novel. A majority of the characters are 2D, lacking a feeling of being completely fleshed out. Theo - hunky farm boy, Mya - bubbly supportive best friend, Galena - potential friend who we barely hear about for the second half of the novel, and Wendy - villain with a side-braid.

Wendy harbors a hatred of Sunny from the get-go for no discernable reason. It felt very much like the author felt she needed a villain, so just shoe-horned one in to add extra drama. This was an opportunity missed to make the conflict Sunny vs self, and have her grow more as a person. (This isn't to say she didn't, but I think there could have been a more substantial maturation throughout the novel.)

The ending, albeit sweet, felt very abrupt. Throughout the book, there's barely any mention of her conflict with her parents or of her attempting to strengthen her relationship with her parents. Instead, her parents just do a lot of work on their own and magically solve that problem for her. It seemed pretty unrealistic.

Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a light summer read, but I wouldn't use it for a space that can have more serious discussion, such as a book club or a classroom.

Sunny Song is your typical LA teen influencer - until a YouTube video of her cooking/exercising goes viral (#Browniegate) and her parents freak out. They ship Sunny off to a digital detox camp at a farm in Iowa - can she handle a whole month without social media? Thank you to Dreamscape Media for providing an ALC so I could follow along with Sunny's adventures!

Rating: 🐓🐓🐓🐓
Genre: YA, humor, coming of age
Pub date: Jun 3rd

I love fish out of water tales, and here it was clear that Sunny was outside her comfort zone on the farm, but it didn't seem too unrealistic. Maybe I'm dating myself with this reference, but this is not The Simple Life with Paris and Nicole.

I really liked Sunny as a protagonist - her drive to succeed on social media was easy to identify with, but she also learned about the importance of cultivating real relationships with her peers. There's a great lesson for YA readers here, and it's told in a non-preachy manner, which I appreciated. Joy Osmanski did a great job as narrator - her voice for Sunny sounded age-appropriate (something I always look for with YA protagonists), and she also did well filling in the minor characters, including the nursing home residents Sunny helps with computer skills.

This book is cross-listed as romance, but for me that was the least important part of the story - I preferred seeing Sunny's personal growth and her exploration of her relationship with her parents and her Korean heritage. If you're looking for a quick feel-good read, I'd definitely recommend this one!

Review posted to Goodreads and Instagram 5/22/21.

Sunny Song is an upcoming Instagram Influencer/YouTube star who is building her online empire. But her principal is getting complaints from other parents are her elite private school about her posts. The solution? Sunny has to spend her summer at a social media detox camp in order to remain at the school. That means 30 days on a farm in Iowa with no technology, no social media and no way to contact her friends other than old fashioned letter writing. She sneaks in a phone, but there’s no signal!

This was a quick and enjoyable read. I thought the message of how distracting social media can be, and stepping back from it to enjoy life is a really important one for today’s teens. Sunny seemed a little immature at times, but this is YA so I might just be getting old. Sunny did grow and change at the end, and I was glad to see she realized the value of life outside of social media. The character development and Sunny’s growth were really well done. The romance aspect was sweet, and I loved Theo’s character. The real gems of this one are the characters Asian heritage was woven throughout the story.

I switch between ebook and audio for this one. For the audio, the narrator Joy Osmanski did a great job. She really sounded like a teenager and listening to her was engaging and enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to an advanced listening copy of the audiobook.

This is my third Suzanne Park book and I am in love! It is so relevant in today's society to take a look at the impact social media has on our daily lives. The family dynamics are so important in just how Sunny's choices have affected how she fits into her own family. I hope readers will take stock of their own choices and spend more time IRL.

Sunny Song is a social media influencer about to finish her junior year of high school. When a live video feed goes wrong, Sunny is sent to spend the summer in Iowa at a social media detox camp. Here, she meets Theo, the director's son, who shows her that there just might be more to life than the amount of viewers and likes she has been long since obsessing about.

This was a great YA summer read. I have read Suzanne Park's adult titles prior to this book and I loved Sunny Song just as much! Sunny is absolutely hilarious. She has a fantastic inner monologue with just the right amount of sass and attitude. Her interactions with her family, plus the people she meets at camp are hilarious. I laughed so many times.

I thought the book dealt with real issues of teens that feel pressure (not only from themselves, but their peers), to be "on" and perform for the camera 24-7. While Sunny fought the detox camp by sneaking in a phone and having a friend manage her social media while she was gone, ultimately, Sunny learned how to step away and invest in meaningful relationships. Her journey of self-discovery was really beautiful.

The one thing that I love about Suzanne as an author is her character development. She has a gift of creating strong female characters that have a sense of self despite outside factors. Suzanne's characters celebrate their Asian heritage in a beautiful way. Each of her characters has strong voices and convictions. Sunny is no exception. She knows who she is, but she is also not afraid to grow and change.

For the audiobook, I did enjoy the author, but I felt like she had to be sped up quite a bit. The narrator was engaging and kept me wanting to listen. She felt like a teenager as she read, which made me enjoy the narration more.

With speeding up the author, the app has a horrible echo, which makes the listening experience unpleasant. I ended up switching to finishing up the book with my e-galley. It would be nice to have the option to send the audiobook to another app, such as Google Play, much like we have the option with our e-galleys.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

Sunny is a social media influencer from California that accoridng to her parents and her school is addicted to the internet so shes sent to a summer detox program in Iowa, where she has to learn what's really important in her life.

This was a very relatable and cute story, with a POC main character and a very likeable love interest. It was funny and fast paced and I truly enjoyed it. I wished we had gotten a little more at the end, but that's just me always wanting more.

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: When you detach from tech sometimes you attach to something (or someone) better.

💭 Overall Thoughts: This is a YA novel about a high school influencer sent by her parents to a summer camp to detox from social media.

I enjoyed the premise and the overall message of opportunities missed or lost when you focus too much on social media and don’t set boundaries for yourself.

I liked the character growth through the book and loved some of the side characters and personas.

It’s a very cute, light, story with a message without being too pushy.

What I Liked:
👍 It was a cute, light read with a happy ending.
👍 Some of the side characters that come up through the farm added some witty comic relief.

What I Didn’t Like:
👎 I wish there was a bit more to the romance.
👎 The parents here seemed a bit hypocritical.

💞Read this if you liked: You Have a Match

🎧 I enjoyed the narrator for this audiobook, but the auto tune ended up making her sound a little robotic. I listened at 1.5.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for allowing me to listen with request for honest review.

the concept of this book had me SO intrigued!! an up and coming social media influencer and youtuber from LA gets sent to a digital detox camp in the Midwest.

Sunny has been on the internet since she was little and her mom had a blog about her life as a mom, but Sunny has since taken over her persona and is always trying to gain more followers. this story was definitely unique! there were kind of a lot of elements happening at the same time (love interest, classes for nursing home residents, social media competition, a tiny plot point suggesting staff from the camp were using illicit drugs??

The narrator of the audiobook did a really great job capturing the mood of the story and I would definitely recommend listening to this book if given the choice.

Sunny Song is an up and coming YouTube star, but when she accidently films a PG-13 baking show in her kitchen, her parents send her to a digital detox camp for the summer.

This was a super quick and easy read, perfect for summer. I think the premise was a lot of fun, and I was intrigued with how the story was going to unfold. Sunny is an interesting character, but can be a tad annoying and self-centered at times. The love interest, Theo was cute, but a bit basic and one dimensional in my opinion. There wasn't really any development in his character. The romance was very light-hearted and I think it was pretty cute. The shenanigans that Sunny gets up to are entertaining and pretty funny at times. The biggest downfall I think I had with the book was how preachy it was in nature. It was constantly shoved at us that phones are bad and social media is evil and shouldn't be used.

I listened to this on audio, and I liked the narration, I think they did an excellent job with Sunny's voice.

Though I’m giving this book a 2.5 star rating, it does NOT mean I think it’s a bad book, nor do I think people shouldn’t read it. I just felt like it seemed very young to be young adult (I know that this does not make sense, but let me try to explain what I mean).
Sunny is supposed to be a 17-year old, about to start her senior year. But a lot of her actions felt like something a 14 or 15-year old would do, which I know isn’t a big difference but she just felt a lot younger than most YA protagonists (which maybe I’m just getting too used to characters who have had to grow up too fast, and should start getting used to characters who should be ALLOWED to be young!)
Most of the plot of this book could have been cut down to be shorter, and it wouldn’t have changed. The old folks coming to visit was just a lot of filler for me.
Overall, Sunny was somewhat bland, but I am very happy she had good character growth in reference to the plot and I’m glad she stuck up for herself!
I’m probably being too harsh, please don’t take it to mean this book isn’t worth picking up. If you’re a fan of fun, modern age stories, this could still be for you!

I listened to this audiobook through the net galley app and there was an echo, and the app randomly stopped after some chapters. I tried listening through the phone speakers and AirPods, and still had the same issue. I'm going to blame the app for that and not take it out on the book.

First of all, I was disappointed in the story, but I won't blame the audiobook for that. I've included my review of the story below and on my review of the book

The narrator was fine, but she wasn't a believable teenager, because Sunny is not written as a believable teenager. It's not the narrator's fault if the source material sucks. That being said, I enjoyed the narrator's pronunciation of Korean words. I think that added to the story.


**BOOK REVIEW**
This book was so disappointing.

It earned the single star for the premise. An influencer at a digital detox camp? Sounds perfect for today's tech addicted teens.

Where it fell short was pretty much everything else. First of all, Sunny was not a believable teenager. Not enough angst, wit, or snakiness, and this is coming from a High School Teacher. I spend 30 hours a week with 16 year olds! I also think there was a huge missed opportunity with Sunny. She could've gone through a transformative change at the camp, but just didn't. She didn't get any more insight into her relationships with her mom, dad or sister. Absolutely no reflection there. Also, she wasn't dynamic or likable.

None of the characters were dynamic for that matter. Take Wendy, the villain. We got absolutely no reason for why Wendy hated Sunny so much, even before it was revealed that they were competitors. Did Sunny do something to Wendy? Was Wendy hurt and is taking out on everyone else? Does Wendy have absent parents, so she seeks attention and validation online? Another huge missed opportunity to talk about mental health, bullying, or the reasons why teens are so reliant on social media.

Don't get me started on Theo. Ok, I'm already started so let's get into it. Theo was also a flat character, and I couldn't get invested in their love story because I didn't care about either of them, but here's the kicker- Their story was so G rated the entire book with blushing and very chaste descriptions of Theo's body..... and then at the end THEY GO TO A PRIVATE ROOM TOGETHER AT AN OLD MAN'S REQUEST AND THE SCENE FADES TO BLACK. Wtfffff Sunny has never dated a boy before and now we are to expect that she bangs this guy she's only known for a minute AT AN ASSISTED LIVING CENTER?

Finally, an epilogue would have helped salvage this book, but it didn't have one. Did Sunny and Theo ever see each other? What the eff happened to Raphael? Did Sunny learn ANYTHING from her whole summer?

I guess my feels about this book can be summed up in 2 words: MISSED OPPORTUNITIES! The premise was so good, the execution was a flat snore fest.