A humorous, character-driven story about family sticking together, Sunshine Nails was an enjoyable read and I look forward to more from the author!

Took me a little while to get into but I really enjoyed the premise. I really liked the characters but wish it had gone a little past surface level to get more dynamics of the relationships. It was really entertaining and would love to read more from this author.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a stunning, humorous debut of family, fighting for what's right, and sticking it up to the rich. Nguyen writes such a tender, heartfelt story of family and connections, and i enjoyed the drama over nail salons, as those are impactful to Nguyen's real family. overall, a great debut and a fun read!

I love books that have a POV from every member of the family and was so excited to read this. The cover looked great and I was recommended to read this book because I loved Jesse Q Sutanto's books. However, this one wasn't a winner for me. I liked the concept of a family coming together to try and save their family business and couldn't wait to see how everyone's dynamic. While the characters were strong and their voices and motivations clear, there was just so much going on that left a lot of loose ends. I loved that we get to see what's important to both parents and how immigrating to Canada has influenced their lives and values but some of the plot points for the younger characters fell flat. I felt dragged away from the main storyline by plot points that seemed to go nowhere and led to a fizzled-out ending.
Overall, a good piece of family fiction and some really solid writing but the plot left me wanting more. I will definitely try again with another novel by this author in the future.

This was so entertaining and I loved the family dynamics. As someone who gets their nails done pretty frequently, I liked getting a peek behind the curtain of the drama these business owners face. I also found the son that worked at a tech company very relatable to my job. This was really enjoyable, highly recommend!

I absolutely love the Tran family!!! The characters were so relatable, and I enjoyed the the way the book was laid out as it moved through each character’s point of view. This is a book about the hard work it takes to raise a family and the need to break away and be on your own. I look forward to reading more from this author! Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing with with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

If you love Kim’s Convenience (on Netflix), you’ll love this book! There are definitely parallels with both having Asian-Canadian immigrants owning a business that has a fond place in the community and an imperfect family unit complete with quirky parents. As a bougie nail salon opens across the street, you’ll wholeheartedly root for the Trans to stay in business. I enjoy seeing how novels of disparate genres tackle gentrification, and I’d say this book has a realistic, if much more lighthearted, exploration of the topic.

Since the book was written from the point of view of so many different characters I wasn't ultimately able to get to know or get invested in any of them and I just wasn't hooked.

I absolutely loved this book!! I couldn’t put it down.
I just loved all the characters. I highly recommend this book.

This was such a good read. Full of family drama and love, hardships, finding a way through when times become hard.

There were so many moments of fun, social commentary, and the privilege that allows certain people to succeed with little to no work.

I love that Jessica stepped up and finally found a way that she could be happy, Dustin moving on from a job where he was stuck, Debbie and Phil acknowledging their faults and accepting and loving each other regardless.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC.
The cover really caught my eye. I like the way Mai Nguyen shows the complexities of her family and how she touches on two really important issues: the things that immigrants face and gentrification.
This story was a good read and it was entertaining.

I have to admit, when I first saw this book’s title I was expecting a super funny rom-com. The cover solidified it. But again, I never read the synopsis, so I had no idea what this was about. I just wanted it because of the cover and the promise of a BIPOC story. And lo and behold, that’s not what this book was about at all lol But even still, it’s so much more than before.

I don’t read a lot of General Fiction, but when I do, it’s something like this. As a character driven reader I was so into the lives of everyone. I’m usually scared when there is more than 2 POVs, but this one was ok to me and that was surprising. No one character was under-developed even with everything else that was happening. Even though there was so many POVs, they all came together at the end of the story. I didn’t feel like anything was lost either. It all tied in together.

The plot was just ok. I wasn’t bored or anything, but I also wasn’t blown away. I felt like some things were done well, like the immigrant experience, but I had to remember that it was set in Canada and not the USA. I also liked that even though this was titled Sunshine Nails, it was hardly about nails, but mostly about the shop itself. It showed that even tho this was set in Canada, gentrification happens in other places outside the US too.

Everyone had their own problems, but the main problem is the new salon coming in to the neighborhood and stealing their clients. There’s a gambler, a daughter with no job, a son with a stalled job, and so much more. But no one wants to talk to the other. Too much pride. It was fun to see them finally come together and fix their problems themselves. Well kind of.

Although this isn’t a romance I hope y’all give this a shot. It’s like a tv show I couldn’t stop watching. Idk, everything felt so real. This isn’t my normal book, but I enjoyed it. I hope you all do too.

If you're looking for a character-driven family story with a lot of heart and humor, then you'll definitely want to check out Sunshine Nails and the Tran family.

This book follows the family who are Vietnamese Canadians and struggle to keep their long-running family business afloat after a new nail salon opens across the street. The author does a great job of balancing the humor with the immigrant experience, and the alternating viewpoints of the family members make the story really relatable.

I thought the portrayal of a dysfunctional family was spot-on, and I loved seeing the intricacies of their unique family dynamic. I was cheering for them all the way through. This was a really good debut, and I'm already looking forward to seeing what the author's next book is.

Using the impact of the opening of a shiny, new, high end nail salon that is part of an American chain, Mai Nguyen introduces us to the Tran family. Mother and father Debbie and Phil are immigrant Vietnamese who have worked diligently at running their no frills nail salon in Toronto.

Their adult children Jessica and Dustin are at turning points in their lives. Jessica is returning home from Los Angeles to lick her wounds after her fiancé cheated on her and she blew up her job. Dustin works ridiculous hours for a small firm that has created an app to track one's moods and suggest ways to improve it. He has a crush on one of his coworkers, Mackenzie, and has been denied raises repeatedly, despite the quality of his work and his dedication.

Debbie has worked incredibly hard for years, along with Phil, doing whatever was needed to keep their hard-earned business going. That’s only gotten harder since Phil’s DUI and the effect on their finances. Then their landlord warned he’d be doubling rent, which sends Phil into endless spreadsheet manipulation, and desperate, misguided attempts to make money, some of which put them further in the hole, including affecting staff.

Phil isn’t the only one making poor decisions for money to save the nail salon. Jessica, unable to secure other employment, goes to work at the failing salon; she tries attracting new customers through promotions, and entering into an unpleasant agreement with a family friend, while Debbie gets ruthless with the owner of their competing salon. Meanwhile, Dustin gets increasingly disenchanted with his IT job.

While all this is happening, there are clear signs that their neighbourhood has begun its transformation to a place attractive to well-off couples and families, and more and more businesses are getting rents doubled or being bought out. There is also a possible construction project that would tear down a heritage building to replace it with a shiny, tall building.

"Sunshine Nails" shows a family that is trying hard, and not coming out ahead, due partly to their own mistakes, and partly to things outside their control, like the gentrification of a neighbourhood so that long time residents and business owners are getting squeezed out.

The story is also a love letter to the immigrants who toil away, unnoticed. their lives containing much struggle, hope for their and their children's prosperity, love, gossip, judgment, and exhaustion. The novel is funny, cringey, big-hearted, and hopeful.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I liked this one a lot! These characters were so lovable and funny and also in realistically shitty positions in their lives. Told from all their different points of view, I felt invested in the salon and how it ended up. Debbie was my most favorite! I’d say give it a try if you’re interested, it was a quick read at 303 pages.

This was such a great debut! It is filled with humor and heartwarming moments. I loved the Tran family and the way they supported one another. I also enjoyed the multiple POVs that provided for a well rounded story. I can't wait to see what Mai Nguyen writes next.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for this arc. This book is suppose to be one of the best books this summer. I am not sure I agree, it was just ok. A Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto own a nails shop and a rival high end nail salon chain is moving in across the street. Each family member on their own, tries to save the nail salon. It is sweet how they team together but separate for the same cause. If you like family drama themes, you will enjoy this book.

Definitely enjoyed this multi-pov read! Really loved seeing the story from different generations within the family. I thought it really allowed for the reader to have more insight of everyone’s decision-making and actions. The audio of this one was great and surprisingly easy to follow with the different POVs! Definitely recommend!

As soon as I read the blurb, I wanted to read this book. How many other books have nail techs as the heroines or superheros of their own story? This book crafts an immigrant family story of pain, terror, hope and triumph in very relatable and humorous ways. and honestly, it all works out very well in the end. I loved the characters and their interactions with each other and the rest of the world. Each person brought some form of joy to the story. Although their path has been very different from my own, I could really relate to most of them at some point in the story.
Overall, this is a wonderful tale of love, loss, immigration, competition, capitalism, bureaucracy, family and finding your own path.

I wanted to love this one. I loved the premise of the prodigal daughter returns home to help parents with struggling business. I loved the family, but I just couldn't get into this one. It may be that mid 20's angst isn't working out for me lately. That has been a problem in many books I've read, so I need to narrow my focus. But if you want a family comedy-drama, especially an interesting Vietnamese family, this will probably work for you!