Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sunshine Mackenzie seems to have it all and is truly living the perfect life.  She has a successful YouTube cooking show, a series of cookbooks that would rival any lifestyle celebrity's, a devoted husband, and millions of followers.  With a name like Sunshine, she radiates kindness; in actual fact, she is hiding who she really is.  After a few tweets, Sunshine experiences a catastrophic fall from grace.  She is left to pick up the pieces and reconnect with who she really is.

I really liked this foray into the effects of social media on one's life, and the pitfalls it can have on your social standing.  Without giving a preachy commentary about how toxic social media can be, a lighthearted chick-lit novel is just the remedy one needs to remind themselves that everyone's life is not as picture-perfect as Instagram and Pinterest would lead one to believe.

My only criticism is with the actual characters themselves.  Although Dave pens them as complex, there aren't any redeeming qualities, and the likability factor just wasn't there for me.  For a novel that was about the superficiality of social media, I expected more.    

The pace was on point, I was drawn in with her effortless writing style but was left unsatisfied by the ending.  That being said, I would definitely pick up another book by Laura Dave.