A fun debut from Mai Nguyen. I fell in love with the Tran family immediately! There were some twists and turns that I didn't expect, making this a very fun story and a great read for May-- Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Really enjoyed this book! As a second-gen American from a strong immigrant community I loved seeing the portrayal of the interplay between North American and Vietnamese culture. I also loved the tender moments between Debbie and Phil as well as the growth we see in Dustin and Jessica. I think I expected something slightly more gritty/dramatic in a Liane Moriarty way, but that's on me and my expectations, I guess. Still, a fun and quick read and I still can't get over the cover.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher of Simonschusterca and Atriabooks; the editor Loan Le, and the author Mai Nguyen for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Nguyen does a good job as a debut author and novelist. She manages to tackle 5 pops and characterizes the smallest of characters, even the minor background characters. Nguyen includes community members in an organic execution, such as the interactions between the regular customer, Allegra or Jessica's friends Sasha and Gigi, Van, or Dustin's romance with his co-worker, Makenzie. Understandably, due to the scope of a novel, only so many background characters can be within the novel: but the potential on characterizing more of the neighborhood could have made the world feel more real. Overall, the novel’s message about failure is important as failure doesn’t set out to define the characters. Failure is a natural occurrence and failure is an opportunity for characters to reflect and learn. Yet I wish the characters particularly resisted more against gentrification, as it paints the struggle against gentrification as inevitable, which to me seems defeatist and misleading.

I liked the characters and their point of views. The story fell kind of flat for me. I wasn’t really interested in it. I thought the storyline was going to be more exciting.

Sunshine Nails is the unique and candid look at the life of the Tran Family, a Vietnamese-Canadian Family that owns and operates a nail salon. This Multiple POV story is well written but at times I found it hard to follow with some aspects being over explained. That said the author did a good job allowing the reader to digest the role of each family member and understanding their importance to the story. Sunshine Nails is filled with heartwarming moments, humor and the trials and tribulations many small business owners face. Mai Nguyen's Debut is obviously written from the heart but at times caught me off guard with unexpected turns that lead to dark and sad topics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @netgalley, @simonschusterca and @atriabooks for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this debut novel by Mai Nguyen and I was honestly hooked from the start. Sunshine Nails is about “a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto who will do whatever it takes to protect their no-frills nail salon after a new high-end salon opens up – even if it tears the family apart.”
The author writes from the of view of all five family members which I liked and thought it really enhanced the reader’s understanding of not only each person’s connection to the nail salon, but also to their own immigrant or first-generation Canadian experience.
I had no idea that so many nail salons had been opened by Vietnamese immigrants. I really enjoy immigrant stories and this was different from anything I’ve read before. Mai Nguyen’s parents were Vietnamese immigrants to Canada and opened up their own nail salon in Nova Scotia so she had a familiarity with this topic and I trusted that what she was writing was pretty accurate.
I also loved that it was set in Toronto as I recognized many of the locations and felt like this was a salon that could have been I would go to in my own neighbourhood.
I did think there were some holes in the plot and some misconceptions that I had based on the synopsis of the book. For example, I had thought that the kids and cousin would have tried more things to keep the salon open. It also seems like the real problem for the Tran family was the massive increase in their rent by the landlord, more so than the opening of the high-end nail salon on the same block. While I do wish some of these things had been explored further, I still really enjoyed this book.
I also thought the ending was perfect.

A wonderful and powerful debut from Mai Nguyen! I fell in love with the Tran family from the first page. It's obvious how much time and care Nguyen put into writing the characters and story.

Add this to your beach read list now! Readers be warned, this book does contain anti-Asian racism and threats of violence. I encourage you to make yourself uncomfortable by reading these situations, as they happen more often than you realize.

Meet the Tran family. They run a nail salon in Toronto, Canada. One day, a new salon moves in across the street. Owned by an American company, the arrival of this new salon causes a ripple effect - will the Tran family business be able to survive?

As someone who spent over a decade living in the GTA, I love stories set in Toronto. They really do capture my heart, take me back to my 20’s, and cause pure nostalgia for when Bay Street only had three chain coffee shops between Union and the dreaded Eaton Centre. Oh, and let me know if you’re as mad about Buddha as I am?

The novel cycles through five people's points-of-view, which brings complexity and nuance to the story. No community is a monolith and thus by including numerous perspectives, Nguyen accurately portrayed how different people can view the same situation through an array of lenses. I also applaud how Nguyen gave the characters relatable life struggles, including DUI’s, cheating, and not getting that raise.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a story filled with everything I didn't expect yet gave me a sense of familiarity. A Vietnamese immigrant family running a nail salon is nothing atypical from any Asian family owned business specializing in everyday needs, yet like so many immigrant families their story is definitely in ordinary.

Debbie and Phil Tran have been running Sunshine Nails for almost two decades and they believe that if it doesn't require fixing, then nothing is broken. Until a new competing nail salon opens across the street from their own shop. The new salon is branded and bold, everything Sunshine Nails isn't. Not only with a new strain to their salon financially, Debbie and Phil's daughter moves back home after a dramatic exit from L.A and their no nonsense son Dustin goes through a realization of his own. The Tran's thought they had it all, but do they really?

I'm always down to support Asian authors that write stories representing them and so many of us out there, so when I heard of this one I was excited with the unconventional plot and all. Sunshine Nails is a melting pot of so much. You get a bit of everything but mostly a heavy focus on how a chaotic family makes their dynamic work. My favourite character was Debbie, an intelligent woman that ended up surprising me the most - Sucha ballsy badass with her stunt near the end! The story is written in multiple POV's which I appreciated because you saw a glimpse of how each family member was. Certain parts did feel a bit slow but the story itself was compelling, especially one written about life in and around a nail salon. Overall, it was an entertaining and enjoyable read.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this one for my honest opinions!

This book has the best four-quadrant appeal. Excellent writing, excellent plot, excellent characters, and excellent cover! What more does a reader need?!

Sunshine Nails is full of juicy drama, family shenanigans and is a bit scandalous. 😉 If you enjoy a story with rivalry and rooting for the underdog, you’ll enjoy this entertaining book! The pacing is great, the characters are so loveable and the ending couldn’t have been more perfect. 🥰 Add this to your summer reading list immediately! Sunshine Nails comes out on July 4th, 2023.

A Vietnamese-Canadian family owns and operates a nail salon in Toronto. A new and more modern nail salon just opened up across the street and is threatening their livelihood but not if the Trans can help it. 😏

Well done @bymainguyen ! 👏🏻 Thank you to @simonschusterca and @atriabooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#bookadoration #bookstagram #canadianbookstagram #canadianbookstagrammer #candianbookstagrammers #sunshinenails #mainguyen #simonandschuster #atriabooks

I was super excited for this book for the topic and the fun cover. And I wasn’t disappointed! The book had elements of fun, hardship, relationships, revenue and so much more. It was amazing to see that side of such a prominent industry. Loved it!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for providing me an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I really had high hopes for this book, but it just didn’t do it for me. I appreciate the fact it’s about a first generation Vietnamese family who immigrate to Toronto and have their own family business. Will do anything to keep their business afloat. No matter what.

There was a lot of things going on. It was like an Asian drama condensed into this book. It jumps from one part to another. It’s hard to keep up. Some parts of the book caught me off guard because of how dark it was. You would never expect that from the cover lol. I loved the bits of humour, especially from the parents.

Overall entertaining at times. If you like family dynamics, drama, multiple POVs, then this book is for you!!

🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝕁𝕦𝕝𝕪 𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛

“𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜𝓁𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓉, 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔.”

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Debbie and Phil Tran immigrated from Vietnam to Toronto Canada as refugees. They did everything possible to create a life for their children that was free of hardship and financial burden. The Trans are owners of “Sunshine Nails” and have worked tirelessly and endlessly to make sure their business stays successful. When a shiny, new, and glamorous chain nail shop opens up across the street, they must do everything in their power to protect their business. A light hearted, fun, yet powerful and important read told from the perspective of 5 different Tran family members. A story of what lengths one family will go to through in order to preserve what is theirs and the difficult choices they must make.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
This story heavily resonated with me. My parents immigrated from Iran and have always worked so hard to give our family financial security. This story automatically pulled me in and had me rooting for the Tran family. Each character was complex, real, and grabbed my heart. This book is the perfect balance of fun and insightful and I enjoyed it so much.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Light hearted reads with thought provoking topics: gentrification, privilege, freedom
💫Vietnamese immigration experience
💫Vietnamese culture/traditions/food
💫Complex, memorable, and lovable characters
💫Going to the 💅 salon
💫Multiple POVs

💅𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾💅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E: 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒹, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓊𝓇𝑒𝒹, 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃. 𝐼𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝑒, 𝓎𝑒𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒'𝒹 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈.

🙏Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Mai Nguyen for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

This wasn't nearly as funny as I expected based on the description--more of a family drama. There were lots of slippages between present and past tense that I assume will be fixed before publication.

SUNSHINE NAILS by Mai Nguyen is a vibrant debut featuring characters with big personalities and a big-business-versus-small-business high-stakes story. Told through the POV of the members of the Tran family, we experience the looming threat and consequences of gentrification unfold through the various characters’ perspectives. When a high-end nail salon opens up literally across the street from the Tran’s family nail salon, the impact is felt not only on Sunshine Nails’ bottom line but also the family members who have spent decades making this salon their livelihood. When rent is practically doubled, on top of quiet days in the salon due to lost customers, there’s no time to waste in figuring out how to stay afloat.

This is a humorous, heartfelt, and thought-provoking story about gentrification, the immigrant experience, and the lengths you’re willing to go to survive and to help family.

This was a solid debut! I was intrigued by the storyline and the comparisons to Kim's Convenience, so I was excited when I got approved for this on Netgalley. I really liked getting a glimpse into the lives of the entire Tran family. I saw some other reviews that complained about this often getting confusing, but I don't agree.

The characters were all very well-written and felt like real humans. They made good choices and terrible choices. There were some choices I couldn't wrap my head around, which meant they came as a real shock to me, but it helped keep the story a mystery.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Mai Nguyen!

I loved getting to know all the characters and their points of view. The ending felt a little rushed and only a few ends were tied up. So I hope there's more to this story because we still have loose ends I need to know about.

Who tried to sell this as Olga Dies Dreaming meets The Fortunes of Jaded Women? I just want to talk…

As someone who lives and dies by TFOJW, the ultimate book about the Vietnamese American experience, in my opinion, while this has a similar immigrant Vietnamese vibe, they are in no way the same. Similarly, I recently read All That's Left Unsaid, about the Vietnamese Australian experience.

But this isn’t about those books. This is the Vietnamese Canadian experience, which is arguably similar to the ones I just described. The Trans own a nail salon. If you’ve ever been to a nail salon in a major metropolis, it was probably owned by a Vietnamese family. Moving to LA was weird for me. The nail techs here aren’t Vietnamese. That doesn’t matter. This story does.

I get the parental conflict. I get hating your job. I get dating mediocre white men. And while I felt the plight of each of the Trans, I just didn’t feel for or connect with any of them. Dad is a useless gambler. Mom puts up with it and has her own bs. Daughter is a little woe is me. Son is even more so. Boo fucking hoo.

I did enjoy the bit about the white owned salon coming in and gentrifying the neighborhood. That happens is so many places. Sure, you enjoy the matcha place that moves in. But people are displaced because they can no longer afford the rent. Think of them. But you probably won’t.

This was one of my most anticipated reads this year. I’m sad it fell a little flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I loved the concept of this book so much - a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto owns a nail salon and is trying to protect it when a new salon opens up nearby. The cover and synopsis gave me DIAL A FOR AUNTIES vibes, but the writing fell really flat for me.

There was WAY too much going on in this book. I love multiple POV novels, and while I did love seeing the lives of each family member, in SUNSHINE NAILS, there was no coherent narrative blending their perspectives. The parents' narratives had weird sexual undertones and mentions of public urination (?!?!???!!!) while the son's narrative was about his work at a tech company and the daughter's was about how she just broke up with her fiancé. Of course you learn more about the nail salon as you read, but the writing was overall incredibly disjointed and off-putting.

Additionally, some of the family member's actions added for comedic effect really missed the mark. I think some of the things family members did to save the salon were really out of character for them, almost veering onto an unethical path, instead of coming off zany. I was hoping for more light-hearted comedy, but some of the book was really dark and tone-deaf, even criticizing immigrants even though the book is about immigrant life.

The 'immigrant life' aspect of the book is one I liked though - the highlighting of Vietnamese culture was unique and I also learned more about all of the work it takes to run a nail salon. The writing wasn't boring, but it definitely was too disjointed to enjoy.

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

Sunshine Nails is a solid debut told from various POVs and an #ownvoices contribution to the genre. Bonus points for it being set in a Canada, a detail that is sure to resonate with many readers.
No character was particularly likeable, but they were written in a genuine way, making their character flaws believable and relatable.
Since I listened to this on audio, I found the peppering of Vietnamese throughout the book added to the authenticity of the story. I could have benefitted from a glossary at the beginning - perhaps the print version has footnote translations?
Not the feel-good David vs Goliath novel I was expecting, nor was it really light-hearted in tone, but a worthwhile read that touches on many deeper topics.
Looking forward to reading more from this author.


My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the audio ARC.