Thank you netgalley for this ARC
the cover really caught my eye and who doesnt love a nail salon? with alot of gossip and beautiful nail colors and such an amazing family who runs one. This book was AMAZING. i cant tell you how much i loved it and how it touched down on important topics like gentrification and how it can effect the community who was there before. This book followed a family who runs a nail salon and can i say i LOVED this family they had such great personalities and i loved jessica and just when you think you know whats going to happen next you just dont one word i will say is BETRAYAL i did not see somethings coming that happened in this book it was so good. It follows 2 nail salons and how it becomes a rival between eachother and what will you do to save your business when it might crumble because of another one. Debbie was ICONIC. I also loved the storyline with dustin as well this book had great storylines so it wasnt just about the nail salon etc and it kept you reading. I wanted a comfort read to branch out from other genres i read and this was the perfect book for that. Seriously you all should read this one because it was amazing. I look forward to see what else the author of this novel writes in the future i will be reading! What a great debut novel!

Blackmail? Betrayal? What would YOU do if you had to save your nail salon? Read and find out!

Very interesting but not as light as I thought
I was attracted to this book because of the Kim convenience vibe. The story was quite interesting and I could relate a lot living in Canada and being a witness to gentrification, nails shop.... But it was much more darker than I thought it will be. I didn't laught a lot during the read, at one point I was kind of depressed by the fact that human are all capable of bad actions. However it's a good book just different from what you can expect from the cover.
Thank you netgalley for providing this book in exchange of a honest review.

Mai Nguyen has a way of making the reader completely absorbed in the Tran family and additional characters. I really enjoyed this and can't wait for others to enjoy this as much as I did. Thanks Netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

I just reviewed Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen. #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published July 4, 2023.

This is the story about a family of Vietnamese immigrants who moved to Toronto, Canada and opened a nail salon. It has been their family business for decades… until an overpriced franchise opens across the street in combination with raised rent forces them to decide: do we fight to stay open or let the big box store win?

Each family member plays a part in the future of Sunshine Nails. There are secrets and blackmail all to save the family business.

I liked how the children (Jessica and Dustin) grew up during the course of the book and discovered what was most meaningful to them.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy!

This book follows the Tran family and how each family member deals with a newer, fancier nail salon competing against their own shop that's been around for decades.

The plot of the novel is refreshing and leads the reader to think about the effects of gentrification without being preachy. This book is marketed as a light-hearted read but in contrast, I thought the book was very heavy compared to it's light hearted cover and description.

Great debut novel featuring AAPI characters but synopsis and cover is slightly misleading. Would recommend to those who like multiple POVs and general fiction about finding your next steps in life.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review. Sunshine Nails releases July 4, 2023!

Sunshine Nails is a multi-POV debut on the Tran family who owns a nail salon. The salon is being threaten by its new modernized competitor across the street. What lengths is the family willing to go with the pressure of its new competitors? The novel explores the topics of filial piety, grief, gentrification, and immigration.

What a debut?! it is SO refreshing to feel seen and grateful for the representation/diversity of #ownvoices. I loved how she incorporated the Vietnamese language and preserved the culture in a beautiful way. From the author's note, I knew going in I was going to love it. Being a first generation Vietnamese American (whose mother also works at a nail salon), I have never read a book that I related to on a cellular level. There were so many moments where I cringed just due to how accurate the words and actions were from the Tran family and their surrounding community.

Mai nailed the nosy family members who have no chill with their intrusive questions at family parties to the nagging parents whose love language is definitely not physical touch nor words of affirmation... but love is shown through the abundance of food on the table to the small "i got you" moments.

With the story being multi-POV, I resonated deeply with Dustin. The one who listens. The one who plays it safe. The one who follows the paved path. The one who's quiet, and it was so great to see his character arc from start to end. One day, I hope to be post Dustin!!

With that being said, I think the individual plot line kind of went hay-wire and took a turn that I was not anticipating which felt a bit unbalanced. Despite the extreme turn of events, it was a fun and humorous time with tender moments.

Mai, I felt like you were a family member - a cousin who decided to write about my rambunctious imperfect but perfect family. Can't wait to get my hands on my own copy and for future stories.

I was drawn into this story by the vibrant color and the fun title. I'm so glad I took a change on a new author and a unfamiliar trope. This was funny, informative and lovely. It recently came out as a recommendation from Taylor Jenkins Reid and I hope that boosts the readers of this book. I loved it and will recommend to everyone!!

This was deeply enjoyable! I thought it was a wonderful portrait of a family that loved each other in spite of and because of each member's flaws, traits, and ambitious. It balances the stakes of the situation nicely between drama and levity. Between the writing and excellent editing, the plot and all assorted (delightful) hijinx resolved in very satisfying ways. I also really liked being a part of a boisterous, unapologetically Vietnamese AND Canadian community through the course of reading this book. The characters and setting have a strong perspective and sense of place!

I really liked this book, however I felt so bad for the family. It was more upsetting than the cover makes it seem to be. I liked the different points of views throughout the chapters, it made the book more well-rounded.

A lovely and entertaining story. The characters are engaging and relatable, and make you celebrate and agonize right along with them, and the plot is quick and well-paced while still finding spots to slow down for heartfelt reflection on what it means to show up for your family — and for yourself.

This novel, about the Tran family, and their nail salon in Toronto, is a well written novel, told in five voices. Once you get used to that, the story moves along. The salon is being threatened by a huge popular chain that is opening across the street. The parents are trying their best to keep it going. The daughter, who has come back home from Los Angeles, is also helping, as is the cousin they are sponsoring.

This is being marketed as a light-hearted tale of gentrification. It is a tale of gentrification, but light-hearted I didn't see anywhere. Perhaps I put too much of my emotions into the terrible thing that was going on, with them losing their salon, and money. If there was humor, I wasn't seeing it. I kept thinking I was not reading the same novel the other reviewers were gushing over.

As a novel, it is a fine book. The characters are well rounded. The situations they are all facing are horrible. Hard to imagine how losing a salon they have had for 20 years is something funny.

So, if you want to read a drama, this is fine. But don't go in expecting light hearted banter. Losing your business, and being screwed at work (as Dustin, the son, is), and losing money, as happens to the father int hes tory. These are not things that seem light-hearted.



<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

What a wonderful debut from Mai Nguyen. I love the story and the family members of the Tran family so much and how they each brought something different onto the page. I've never been the type of person that need to see myself in the story or relate to the characters to enjoy it but wow did it bring me immense joy and comfort to be able to see myself here; the similarity the characters share with me just from traits to traditions to heritage, it just mean so much and I'm so very glad that a story like this is getting publish.

Sunshine Nails caught my attention from the get-go and didn't let me go until the end. I flew through the book so easily and couldn't stop reading until I finished. There were some parts in the middle where I was a little bit lost on where the story is heading and I think the ending is a little bit rush but other than that the story was just so fun and a blast to read. I've always wanted more Vietnamese story like this one where it's not just about war and lost because Vietnamese people deserve fun books like this even if war and lost and immigration did shape us it didn't mean it's our entirety and this book proves that.

I can't wait for this to hit the shelf and for what Mai Nguyen plan on putting out in the future.

4.25/5 stars! The premise of this book was super interesting. I couldn't recall ever reading something like this, so I was looking forward to it. Debbie and Phil Train will do anything to protect their family nail salon. The message regarding gentrification was handled exceptionally. This book managed to have humor, twists, and amazing depth all in one. There were a few areas where I felt five different POVs felt like a lot, but it wasn't a major detractor from the story.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This is a bright, buoyant story about a family struggling against the odds to thrive. Don’t let the commercial cover fool you, this book has depth, offers a fresh perspective and poses interesting questions. It’s also funny. I wanted a little more from each of the character arcs-it’s hard to fully dig in when there are 5 POVs but I enjoyed reading them. I’m still not sure how I feel about Jessica or Debbie’s ending…it left me really thinking. This book will stick with me.

Short Summary: When the Starbucks of nails moves in down the street, the Tran family must do everything they can to keep Sunshine Nails afloat. And I. Mean. Everything.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the character development and the family story. However, I was very disappointed in the ending. It was so abrupt and left so many questions.

This story is as bright as its cover. 

It's told from five points of view, all members of the Tran family.

We first hear from Debbie, the mother whose refugee status sticks with her and we feel for her as she is treated as an outsider in many situations in the novel. However, she's also a feisty matriarchal figure and as a central voice in the novel, she's great. Combined with her gambling, naive husband, Jessica their unemployed daughter, no longer engaged, returned from LA, Dustin their workaholic son and their niece Thuy, who has recently immigrated to Canada and whose family in Vietnam depends on her sending money home, they form the Tran family. Their business and livelihood is in trouble catalysing some dramatic sabotage and re-alignment of life choices. 

There's a lot of light comedy and some chapters which I didn't need, such as a scene on a nudist beach and some office sex drama but that's a matter of opinion! 

What I enjoyed most was the central childlike, yet mature voice of Debbie. Her disappointment and self-deprecation at not having secured the better life she sought in the US, having sacrificed everything for her children is sad but an important story to hear.  

Thank you to Mai Nguyen for her warming  letter to the reader, explaining the background inspiration for her writing.

#simonandschusteratria #arcreview #mainguyen #atria #sunshinenails #readingjourneys #netgalley

SUNSHINE NAILS is a heartfelt, humorous exploration of the Tran family who ran their own nail salon for twenty years. It's told from five different points of view: Phil, the well-meaning but struggling father, Debbie, the no-nonsense matriarch, Jessica, the eldest daughter who returned to Toronto from LA after breaking up her engagement, Dustin, the youngest son who works at a tech company, and Thuy, the niece and best nail technician who came from Vietnam to pursue a nursing degree. When a new, modern nail salon opens across the street amid rising rent, the Trans go to great lengths to save their business. In doing so, they strain some of the cracks growing in their family.

I really appreciated the exploration of the Vietnamese diaspora experience told from every character's points of view as they each have different experiences with their homeland. This book covers a lot of ground like gentrification, the search for belonging, workplace microaggressions. Nguyen addresses these topics in a realistic way without feeling too heavy. In the end, you can't help but root for the Tran family to come out of this predicament better and stronger.

What a wonderful, powerful debut from Mai Nguyen! It's obvious how much tenderness, thought, and care went into writing these characters and this story, and I fell in love with the Tran family from the first page. It took a few chapters to get into the rhythm of the book since it cycles through five people's points of view, but I really enjoyed that aspect and the complexity and nuance it brought. We often hear about how no community — particularly underrepresented and marginalized ones — can be treated as a monolith, and including numerous perspectives showed how different folks can view the same situations through a wide array of lenses.

Plus, hats off to Mai Nguyen for taking this novel in some different directions than I expected! I audibly gasped a few times, and I definitely let out a cackle at the end.

There were a few places places where I would've loved either a little more detail on certain characters' backgrounds/motivations or more resolution on specific fronts, but overall, this was a splendid novel. I can't wait to see what comes next.