As a Torontonian who is of Vietnamese descent and has relatives that own nail salons, I was excited when I first learned about the existence of Mai Nguyen’s Sunshine Nails! It made my heart happy because it was set in Toronto because not only is it another Vietnamese story being published but a Vietnamese Canadian one which isn’t as common as most Vietnamese diaspora books are American.

Sunshine Nails is a multi-point of view novel that follows three generations of the Tran family. We have Phil and Debbie Tran the head of the family who came from Vietnam as refugees and started their own nail salon, then we have their grown up kids Jessica and Dustin who are both dealing with personal and professional issues and the finally we have Thuy, a teenaged cousin who was brought over to Canada to help the Trans run their salon. The short chapters that rotate between the perspectives of each of the five Trans allow readers to better understand the individual struggles and where each of the characters is coming from...

Read the rest of my review at the link attached.

3/5
Loved the characters in this humorous novel. An immigrants story set in a Canadian nail salon, it was filled with love, angst and family. The plot meandered and wandered a bit much for my liking, and the ending was abrupt, but the heart was all there.

sunshine nails is a book that follows a vietamese family and their nail salon as their area of toronto is gentrified. the book itself is well-rounded and each of the characters are dealing with their own issues, so when their pov comes around, the reader gets a deeper look into their minds and how they are choosing to deal with them.

i think getting that insight was quite interesting as an asian american myself. seeing how each member of the family was to prideful to admit they're wrong or when they need help stuck with me. jessica didn't want to work at her parents' salon because it was going to be a hit to her ego, and her parents were struggling with money so much that they had to resort to questionable decisions to keep their salon afloat. all because they had spent twenty years building it and didn't want to give in to the gentrification.

i did find that the constant switch in povs a little hard to follow at times, but other than that this is a great debut novel.

Despite the really fun concept, this one ultimately fell flat for me. A second round purchase for most large libraries.

Scheduled for release July 4, 2023, this is Mai Nguyen's debut novel. Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my review of the novel.

This is a story about a Vietnamese family, now living in Canada, and struggling to survive with their much loved, but not super lucrative, nail salon. There are two parents running the salon, a son working in tech as a critical contributor who is overlooked for promotion and raises, a daughter who had a low-level Hollywood job and a fiance, and returns home with neither, and a cousin the family has taken in to work at the salon and send money home to her desperate family back in Vietnam.

The themes of the book include racism against the Vietnamese, gentrification of the family's local neighborhood (including both a new Starbucks-era nail salon across the street, and an historic building the son's employer hopes to buy and demolish), business competition and not having enough money, relationships, and young adults finding themselves and their paths in their 20's.

These are all serious themes and worthy of literary exploration, but for me the book superficially touched on too many without really digging into complete story arcs on any. Details below. *SPOILERS TO FOLLOW !!!!!*
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* What happened to the son's career? Yes, he stood up to his boss, and joined in the protest against demo of the historic building, but did he get a new, higher paying job? Did he get back at his old boss in any way besides the building protest.

* Why does the daughter choose to open her own nail salon in a new location, particularly when we hear the competition will be opening another big salon in the same city? The one promotion the daughter created for her family's salon failed. What has she demonstrated to make the reader feel she will succeed in this new venture and not end up as her parents did? Also, what about the weird storyline about the man leading the protests and her? The author hints at a romantic attraction but nothing comes of it. Also, her friendship with the PR lady could have been a cool story arc where they join forces to save the parents salon, but it didn't happen.

* What happens to the cousin? She is making more money working at the competition, but does she partner with the daughter to beat the nail competition at their own game? Can she make it to nursing school, her dream? What happens with her?

* How is the dad dealing with his gambling addiction? Didn't really love this character.

* Why is the mom kind of a doormat? How does her situation resolve going forward?

I kept waiting for one of these storylines to take the lead and do something powerful or diabolical to get back at the bad tech boss, or make a ton of money, or run the new nail salon out of town, but it didn't happen. As I saw the pages tick by, I kept waiting for the big reveal, plot twist, or narrative shift, but it simply didn't come. So, for me the book's storyline fell flat. It is being marketed as a tender light-hearted read, but that didn't come through for me.

There need to be more books about the Vietnamese diaspora and I congratulate the author on securing such a wonderful book deal. Unfortunately, I can only give this book a 2-star rating.

Sunshine Nails follows a Vietnamese Canadian family as they struggle to keep their family nail salon in business after a competitor moves across the street.

This was overall a fabulous debut filled with heart and humor. I fell in love with the Tran family from the very first page. They felt very much like a real, dysfunctional family who knew how to forgive and still went great lengths to support each other. I enjoyed the short chapters, multiple POVs (five total), light-hearted tone of the book, nail salon setting, and learning more about the immigrant experience. A perfect read for fans of Fortunes of Jaded Women or Fresh off the Boat.

Read if you like:
-Vietnamese-Canadian experience/ culture
-Authentic characters
-Multiple POVs
-Nail salon experiences

Thank you Atria for the complimentary ARC! Pub date 7/4/23

I loved this book so much. This was the immigrant story. The story of gentrification.
The story of family ultimately being everything.

"How was it possible to feel so close to someone and still feel oceans apart?"

If you're looking for a great summer novel, this one is it.

Family drama
Relationship drama
Laughter - and tears - and frustration

Okay, remember the old movie, You've Got Mail? Well, imagine a nail salon in Canada. Only better-written and more community-focused.

I'm pretty sure I will just be auto-buying Mai Nguyen from now on. Can't believe this is her debut novel!

Don't be fooled by this frothy cover- this novel offers a deep exploration of the immigrant experience and the impacts of gentrification on a Vietnamese family-owned nail salon business that I could not put down.

The Tran family has run their nail salon business for many years, but when a nontoxic nail chain decides to move in across the street, the family must decide if this is a space worth fighting for.

Putting in impactful plot points like the added challenge of rising rent due to gentrification and a poorly timed New York Times exposé on Vietnamese salons and worker conditions, Nguyen offers a layered experience to the daily challenges and microaggressions that salons like these continually face.

This novel is an outstanding debut for any summer book club and will inspire you to think about these resilient shops in new ways.

Notably, the author's family also owned a nail salon, and she dedicates this book to immigrant nail techs, sharing, "I hope you enjoyed being the main characters for once." For this reader, it was eye-opening and impactful.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sunshine Nails is a Toronto nail salon run by a family of Vietnamese immigrants. The story is told via 5 perspectives: Phil, the dad, Debbie, the mom, Jessica, the daughter, Dustin, the son and Thuy, the Vietnamese cousin. When a new state of the art salon opens across the street, the future of Sunshine Nails is threatened.

This book was cute but ultimately didn’t bring anything new to the immigrant story. The plot was pretty predictable and underdeveloped (and at times very far fetched.) I definitely appreciated the perspectives of Phil and Debbie the most and found that they were the most interesting and had the most depth.

Well woven tale of a family business and what happens when it's threatened by a competitor.
I enjoyed the inside look at establishing a foothold in a new country while trying to keep family bonds intact. Interesting, entertaining and informative.

I grabbed this because it was recommended for fans of the Fortunes of Jaded Women, which I really enjoyed. I didn't like this one quite as much but it was still a satisfying read. The story opens with Jessica Tran returning home to Toronto after her engagement falls apart and the rest of her life kind of implodes. She'll be back at home with her parents, Debbie and Phil Tran, her brother Dustin, and her cousin Thuy. Debbie and Phil came to Canada as refugees from Vietnam and have worked hard to build their family business, Sunshine Nails, where they and Thuy work long hours. Unfortunately, a confluence of events are working against them: their neighborhood is gentrifying, which brings in a new location of a US-based luxury nail salon just down the street that threatens their business, their landlord doubles their monthly rent, and they were already struggling to make ends meet. Jessica tries to help by going to work for them, Phil tries to gamble his way into money, and Debbie turns to blackmail. Meanwhile, Dustin is working a soul crushing job and falling in love and the narrative is moving back and forth between these four and Thuy, just living their lives against this background of so much falling apart. I love a family story, so I really enjoyed this and thought the multiple POV structure was really effective. It felt very authentic and I really connected with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this was such a great read! Take a hard working family and pile as many obstacles in their way as you can. How do they cope? Can they? Through fights, major financial strain, and communication issues you can't help but root for the characters - even as they make some terrible choices. I have already started hyping this book up to my friends!

SUNSHINE NAILS is SUCH a fun, soulful read! The perfect story to dive into poolside this summer.

Mai expertly delves into deep, nuanced topics while taking the reader through a journey that is funny, curiosity-inducing, and entertaining at every turn. The writing is beautiful and crisp, and the characters are so well-drawn, I could feel them in the room with me.

HIghly recommend for anyone who enjoys stories about complex family dynamics, multi-POV stories, and stories that cover important issues with levity,

Thank you to NetGalley & S&S for the opportunity to read this gorgeous story in exchange for an honest review!

Sunshine Nails is a delightful story of a family in Toronto who owns a nail salon in the wake of a scathing article declaring that Asian nail salons mistreat their employees. Mai Nguyen stunningly captures the complex ripples of even well meaning help. I love that Sunshine Nails goes deep into these very unexpected ripples that happen from the world thinking that we exist as a monolith and we are all the same. We aren't and Sunshine Nails reminds us of that.

Meet the Tran family - Debbie, Phil, Jessica, Dustin and niece Thuy. 20 years ago Debbie and Phil opened Sunshine Nails but times have changed and the going keeps getting tougher. When a large chain salon opens across the street it looks like trouble for the Trans. This is a book about family and all that it brings - all ther stresses and love, good decisions and bad. But in the end family remains. A fanastic book for this summer!
#SunshineNails#NetGalley#AtriaBooks

A hilarious and heartwarming story of family, loyalty, and nail polish. I loved the characters and their antics. A fun and uplifting read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh how the premise of this book is better than the actual product. I will give it to Nguyen, it IS a sweet book, but the first issue I have is how the book is being portrayed. I had to re-read the synopsis to ensure that I wasn't misremembering things and I'm not. While there is some, emphasis on some, reference to "sabotage" it really doesn't quite factor into the book the way it has been marketed.

But for the good, the peek into the Vietnamese culture is wonderful. I liked the parts about the gambling night that the Trans had. The different aspects of praying to Buddha were insightful. The sense of family was a homerun (even if it feels very foreign to a lot of us in many ways). The changing relationships between the characters felt real and steeped in culture. I think some of the most impactful moments were when the elder Trans looked back at everything they had sacrificed and endured in order to make a better life for themselves and their family outside of Vietnam. For me, at least, its not a culture I know much about.

The characters in this book, however, feel a little all over the place or even unnecessary. Jessica and her change of heart feels like it comes out of nowhere and her ending really doesn't feel earned. Dustin's entire character and really all of his scenes feel unnecessary. Phil and Debbie are the heart of the story and I wish we knew more about their struggles, though by the time we truly meet them, they almost feel like caricatures due to their actions. I think the only character that truly felt earned what Thuy and what she goes through. These characters are all weak threads that weave together to make an okay story. On their own they would never hold up, but together... they do something.

While the story is satisfying to an extent, there were big misses. I wanted more of the nail salon (gossip please!) And I wanted the story to make good on its promise of these younger characters devising "some good old-fashioned sabotage." This doesn't happen. There are small beats where it seems like the salons will go agains one another, one big (insane) thing that really doesn't feel earned, and that's about it. Maybe I expected something different, but that expectation really lowered my enjoyment of this book.

As a book on how far you'll go to save your livelihood and/or family, it works. But don't expect any sort of "sabotage" hijinks because its really not there.

'm trying to do this thing where I read more Asian writers. More specifically, Vietnamese/Vietnamese American writers. Maybe it has to do with getting older, but I'm interested in how other Viets live and experience things.

Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen looks like a light-hearted chick-lit style book, but it's about a family and how they each deal with prejudices and injustice. Phil and Debbie have owned Sunshine Nails for almost 20 years, so when a fancy new salon opens nearby, they worry about how it will affect their business. Their children, Dustin and Jessica, are also struggling. Dustin works hard at his job and has been treated as an aside year after year. Jessica is freshly back in town after a breakup.

What follows gets a little outrageous, but it's not something I haven't heard before. Loans, gambling, drunk older men yelling Một Hai Ba....it's everything familiar.

This larger story isn't unfamiliar either. New money coming in and destroying historic neighborhoods and buildings happens every day. I can't help but think of the 'Gold Dome" in Oklahoma City. It was also the 'entrance' to the Asian part of the city. I watched it become a bank, then a restaurant, and now it sits empty.

Ultimately, I hope readers do not skip this book because of the bright cover. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sunshine Nails is a tale of assimilation and family. Very well written. The book flows easily from the first page. I really loved the mother. She was not just the sacrificing immigrant mother, but every mom who has just had enough.