I loved the concept for this book, and the cover & description drew me in instantly. I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I still enjoyed it for the most part, but there wasn't anything that really stood out for me.

This was the first book by this author for me, but I am open to reading more :)

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

This debut novel set in Toronto was a really enjoyable read for me! There are some funny moments, lots of pop culture references; it's fun, but also very heartfelt! What I particularly enjoyed was the emphasis on familial love and loyalty. The multiple POVs allow for a better understanding of what each character is experiencing, and it was really interesting to see what was most stressful to each family member. I think one very relatable aspect was the societal expectations certain cultures put on their young generation: the idea of not disappointing or embarrassing one's parents in front of their social circle is all too common. Debbie and her gutsiness was probably one of my favourite parts of the book; never underestimate a middle-aged woman! Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick but meaningful read.

Such a fun debut! The thing that stood out to me the most was the multiple POVs throughout this novel! You'd think that this would make the book hard to follow, but it is done so well that it makes the book feel exciting and unique! I also loved the family relationships throughout!

I always enjoy books that describe local Toronto landmarks, so Sunshine Nails was enjoyable from that perspective.
I did find the pacing a bit slow, so it was a bit hard to be completely engrossed throughout. I’m glad though I gave it a chance. Also, I loved the book cover of this book!
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC of this novel!

Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen went above and beyond my expectations! This was a downright funny, quirky book about family, culture, and hard work. The story shone a light on the struggles of immigrant families who leave behind their home country and loved ones in search of a better life, while also raising their kids to preserve their culture. At times, this story was heartbreaking as well, learning about the lengths a family is ready to go to in order to save their family business and not lose face in an increasingly gentrified neighbourhood in Toronto, ON.

I highly recommend this book to anyone searching for a light read that also has a deeper meaning. For fans of the TV show Kim's Convenience, this story also has similar vibes and sense of humour!

⚠️ Potential trigger warnings: racism, trauma, gambling, substance use (may not be an exhaustive list)

🙏 Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the gifted electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, shoutout to our Canadian authors and so glad to get a Canadian read situated in Toronto (being able to map the story in my mind with the Toronto I know is always a great experience)! I met Mai Nguyen for her book launch in Toronto and she is such a sweet human.

"Sunshine Nails" is a heartwarming and humorous debut novel that weaves a delightful tale of family, resilience, and the unwavering determination to protect what matters most.
Debbie and Phil Tran, Vietnamese refugees who have carved out a comfortable life in Toronto through their family-run nail salon, Sunshine Nails, suddenly find themselves facing an impossible challenge—the exorbitant rent increase imposed by their landlord. With the arrival of the upscale Take Ten salon across the street, their business and the tight-knit community it represents are at risk.
"Sunshine Nails" brims with unforgettable manicures and even more unforgettable characters. The multiple POVs provides added depth and perspective to the dynamics and experiences of these characters. Readers will be drawn into the captivating world of the Trans, where humor, love, and the bonds of family shine brightly. The novel skillfully navigates themes of cultural identity, community, and the resilience needed to start anew.
Mai Nguyen crafts a compelling narrative that effortlessly balances humor and heartfelt moments. The story beautifully encapsulates the immigrant experience, while delving into topics like gentrification, entrepreneurship, and the balance of personal ambition and familial duty. "Sunshine Nails" is a charming and relatable read that reminds us of the enduring power of family ties and the importance of fighting for what truly matters.

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

Okay, so I gave it an extra star because this book is based in Toronto, Canada and there are very few books with a setting close to where I live!

Told from multiple points of view, we follow the Trans family as they deal with the changes in their daily lives. I felt this book tried to do too much from too many different perspectives which made it confusing. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, so I didn't sympathize with any although I understood where they were coming from. After a while each character's voice just started reading the same so I focused more on the story than the characters. The characters all have issues which was probably why the story was as broken as it read.

The story wasn't interesting. There were a lot of problems and circumstances mentioned in this book but none were really solved. They were just glossed over. Such as, one character who left their career and life savings behind just because of a cheating partner. Like I really wanted to slap some sense into them. A breakup isn't the end of life and to just leave everything for a cheater isn't worth it.

I did enjoy the part where a new salon was opening. I think that added the missing spice the book was missing as well as described gentrification correctly. I also enjoyed reading about Debbie & Phil's struggle as refugees and trying to keep their family together.

I think everyone has a different way of trying to keep their family together. In this story, I personally felt they were all trying to cover for each other's shortcomings instead of discussing and fixing it together. Works great in the short term but not so much the long term. I would have loved to see some positive character development in this direction but it felt lacking and more negative than anything.

Overall, this was okay. It's not something I expected from one of my most anticipated reads as it fell flat for me. I would have loved it more, maybe if the story focused on just the nail salon because that did interest me enough to keep reading and find out what will happen. The rest was all too common and uninteresting. Definitely a fast paced read to still keep on your radar, if you're looking for a family drama with Vietnamese Canadians in multiple points of views.

First up kudos on this debut novel by this up and coming new Canadian author! 🇨🇦

This novel is essentially the story of the Tran family. They live in Toronto, Canada and are immigrants from Vietnam. They have owned their nail salon, "Sunshine Nails" for twenty years. Now a big and trendy nail salon is opening across the street and threatening their livelihood. The story centres on the parents, Phil and Debbie. Phil gambles and gets the family in trouble. Debbie is always worrying but usually saves the day. Their daughter Jessica has recently returned from LA after a breakup with her boyfriend. Their son, Dustin is hard working but is being taken advantage of by his current employer. Their niece, Thuy has emigrated from Vietnam and now works in the salon and lives with Phil and Debbie.

I liked the story and especially enjoyed the parts about the foods and customs of the Vietnamese people. I was expecting more drama surrounding the new nail salon opening but the story seemed to focus more heavily on the actual family and the problems they encountered. I just expected a little more from this book but in the end it was a pretty good story. I would read something else from this author in the future.

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for granting me access to this Advance Reader Copy.

Enjoyed the culture of this novel and the setting. Found the parents to both be unlikeable characters. This family could do with some more communication.

Reading this book was like watching a soap opera. Every time one of the characters takes action, I would think there’s no way they’re making that decision, it just seems overdramatic and outside of reality. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it kept me wanting to see what would happen next, and where all these choices would lead.

There are also about 5 POVs in this book, and usually I like a multiple POV read, but unfortunately, this fell a bit short for me because we never really got beyond the surface level of each character, leaving me feeling a bit disconnected from the story.

I think the elements of this book that shone the most were:
Debbie and Phil’s stories of being refugees from Vietnam
Dustin and Mackenzie’s relationship
Vietnamese culture
Commentary on gentrification

Overall, I thought this one was somewhere between okay and good. I was expecting a lighthearted romcom, and what I got was a contemporary drama, so I think that influenced my enjoyment of this book a bit. It’s not one that will stick with me, but it still would be worth picking up if any of these elements intrigue you.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for a digital advanced readers copy of this book.

When a successful bougee nail salon opens across the street from the Tran family salon in Toronto, they are terrified of what this means for them. As time progresses, and they begin to lose their customers to the new salon, each family member begins to take matters into their own hands to save their shop.

This was a very quick read, and I enjoyed my time reading. This is such a character driven family story. I loved the multiple POVs in this, and learning more about each of them. Each family member had their own problems they were trying to deal with. A lot of them had me giggling and hoping that the messes they found themselves in would resolve quickly. They made a lot of SILLY decisions, that had me shaking my head at times, but overall I wished the best for them. The book explores gentrification and the immigrant experience. I listened to this on audiobook, and I honestly think that is the best way to experience this book. Each family member had their own narrator, which brought their characters to life.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this drama filled story with a unique cast of characters!

The cover of this book defies the depth of what's contained on the pages. I thought I was getting a fun rom-com but instead what I got was a thought provoking story about so many important topics + themes; the immigration experience including the dreams + reality that come along with that; gentrification; entrepreneurship; and perhaps most importantly, the strength + resiliency of family.

This debut was excellent, and was filled with food, fun banter + a great plot. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks so much to thd publisher + NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

This is a character driven family drama focusing on a Vietnamese-Canadian family and their nail salon.

The author shines a light on the overlooked community of Vietnamese nail salon workers.

The book is set in Toronto. It features the POVs of all of the family members as they do whatever it takes to try to keep their family nail salon open.

I enjoyed getting to learn about this culture and getting to see more of the immigrant experience. The book definitely shows a great character study on these different people in one family.

I really knew very little about Vietnamese culture or nail salons. So this book was enlightening. I do personally prefer more plot driven stories. I wasn't overly invested in any of the characters. But the story was interesting.

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕?”

Mai Nguyen’s parents opened one of the first nail salons in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Knowing that local connection, I knew I had to read this.

I love books that are set in locations that I am familiar with; the Toronto setting of Sunshine Nails is full of street names and places that I could easily picture. Nguyen’s writing is engaging and made for a quick read. She tackles many elements of the immigrant experience in Canada, both the good and the frustrating, like experiencing micro aggressions (the Trans being mistaken for Korean instead of Vietnamese), highlighting the Vietnamese culture through food, parties and beliefs, and working hard. With five perpectives of the Tran family, you can’t help but get to know some character better than others; in the end I wanted more time with Dustin and Jessica than Phil and Debbie, partly due to their sibling interactions. Although sprinkled with humour, the story was more serious than I expected, especially from looking at the cover. Sometimes the four Trans seemed too disconnected from each other which made it hard to see the overarching story.

Sunshine Nails is a story of fulfillment, gentrification, family, money and following your dreams. Although lacking some character connection, it is a powerful look at the failure of the “promised dream” and life for immigrants in Canada. Thank you to Atria Books & Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC!

Sunshine Nails revolves around a Vietnamese family from Toronto, their community, and their nail salon. The Trans, headed by Phil and Debbie, realized their dream of running a successful nail salon twenty years ago. But as their children, Jessica and Dustin, come of age, things change. With the rising rents brought on by gentrification, the family must make tough choices and examine the state of their lives in order to survive and thrive.

I found Sunshine Nails to be a very interesting read. The prose as well as the marketing makes it seem like a beach read, and in terms of vocabulary and literary merits, it is an easy read. But the characters and the themes are quite the opposite. The characters are complex people filled with contradictions and complicated histories. The themes of the way a family changes as its members age, of the knock-on effects of gentrification, and the ability of people to change at any time of life precipitate in the reader introspection and new realizations.

I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for some light reading that doesn't necessarily let you off the hook in terms of challenging one's view of the world.

I received an e-galley of Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen from Simon and Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Throughout reading Sunshine Nails, I kept looking at my own nails, wondering if it was time to get my nails done. It's been years since I've been in a nail salon - I'm the type who somehow ruins my nails before I've even walked out of the salon. But in immersing myself in the world that Mai Nguyen created, I found myself wanting to set foot in a nail salon again. Oh, the drama that ensued in Sunshine Nails.

In this story told from multiple perspectives, we follow a Vietnamese Canadian family as they deal with all the curveballs thrown their way. The daughter is back from the States after she loses her fiance and job. The son continues to live at home as he wants to save money at a job that refuses to pay him for what he's worth. The parents struggle with their place of business with rising rents and a luxurious nail salon opening across the street. The immigrant cousin is not sure how to be grateful as life in Canada is not quite working out as she thought it would. I really liked that this story was told through these multiple perspectives - it gave further insight into each of their motivations and the drama that was ensuing behind the scenes.

I thought that it was a great read about family, sacrifice, and the ways in which those two can go hand in hand. The characters find themselves being pushed into a corner and doing things that they would normally not do - all in the name of family, without realizing that that may be exactly what drives them further apart. I liked how flawed and human and real each character felt because of that.

This was a great read to start my summer vacation - and now to figure out what to do with my weak nails. Perhaps it is time to visit a nail salon.

HAPPY PUB DAY!!!

I love this book so so soooooo much! It is one of the best books I’ve read this year so far. The author has crafted an emotional filled novel that also has humour and wit!! It’s multi POV and I loved getting to be in the head of multiple characters. Right now I’m loving family dynamic novels and this one is the perfect representation of how to do this well! This is a great summer book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for providing me with an eARC!

Finished my advanced digital copy of Sunshine Nails on the weekend, just in time for its official release today! Such a good book about a family who immigrated from Vietnam to live the Canadian dream. But starting from nothing in a country where you are only valued for your physical labour, and are stereotyped and racially profiled by the majority does not make for an easy life. Especially when not only trying to survive, but to also help loved ones still in their home country. What lengths would you go to to keep your family business alive when a multimillion dollar international company opens directly across the street and starts stealing your clients? The Trans would do almost anything for family and the ones they love, but will it be enough?
I highly recommend Sunshine Nails as the perfect summer read! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐