I am a huge fan of Jane Green and was so excited to see that she has a new book coming out called The Sunshine Sisters. I do enjoy a good book about mothers, daughters, and dysfunctional family dynamics… this one has it all!

Here’s the synopsis:

Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters.
 
As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother’s overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother. The target of her mother’s criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London—and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love. And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother’s fame, while her marriage crumbled around her. 
 
But now the Sunshine Sisters are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy have never been close, their mother’s illness draws them together to confront the old jealousies and secret fears that have threatened to tear these sisters apart. As they face the loss of their mother, they will discover if blood might be thicker than water after all…

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This family puts a big ole capital D in dysfunction! Ronni Sunshine is a terrific actress, but terrible mother. She has three daughters that grow up and has very confusing lives themselves. They are brought back together when their mother is dying. Well written and riveting. I enjoyed getting to know each of the girls. I will say Lizzy drove me crazy! Bring your tissues and enjoy this crazy ride of this family.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an unbiased opinion.

From the very beginning of the book, we are told the outcome.  Green uses the rest of the book to take us through the lives of the Sunshine sisters in relationship to their mother, Ronnie Sunshine.

I cannot suggest a "faster" way to get all the women to the point where they know the eventual outcome, but there was something disheartening about being just over 80% into the book when Ronnie tells her daughters why she has asked them to come home.  At the same time, Green, in her ever present style, does a great job of wrapping all the pieces together up so there are no loose ends.

Green is very good, as an author, at reminding us that what the characters see/perceive is not always the case.  What a person takes as neglect can, from the other character's viewpoint be an assumption of strength, for example.  And when enough people are trying to survive the same demon, in different ways, it becomes easy to look out just for oneself.

So much to enjoy in Jane Green's latest novel, The Sunshine Sisters!  Sisters Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy, have damaged relationships with each other and their actress mother Ronni, and when Ronni asks them all to come see her at once, they are not enthusiastic.  Ronni is ill and wants to make amends before she dies.  She hopes to be forgiven for her less than perfect mothering and to bring her girls together so they can get reacquainted and become a support for each other.  
Jane's characters are complex and well developed; we learn of their insecurities, coping mechanisms and emotions, and we see how it manifests in their words and behaviors.  Each daughter had to overcome obstacles in her life and I was rooting for all of them every step of the way.  In addition to the realistically flawed, likable characters, I have to make mention of the setting.  As a Westport native, it was such a pleasure for me to see my town through the eyes of the Sunshine sisters, nostalgic, accurate and oh so much fun!
Always pleasurable to read a Jane Green novel and for me this one was especially wonderful.  A beautiful story of a family mending fences, reevaluating priorities, repairing relationships and creating new and better ones.  The wonderful Westport, Connecticut setting with mentions of all the hot spots read like a cherished home movie for me, and shedding some tears like I did always deserves a thumbs up!

This is the second book I have read by an author I love that I wasn't that impressed with. A little disappointing that I sadly cannot give a more positive review. At least the characters were interesting and endearing. The plot had some good moments but over all it was rather shallow and one thing I'm not keen on is a new love interest for everyone just popping up like magic barely after they have left the last. Unfortunately in my opinion it was just another easy read for a lazy day

This will probably be the beach read of the summer. The plot is probably believable, given the nature of the manipulative mother. The ending seems over the top, but it is uplifting that the daughters discover each other.

I really enjoyed this book, about three sisters raised by their absentee mother. It was well-written, heart wrenching, sad, and joyous all at the same time. I loved that the daughters were all completely different yet talented in their own way. Thanks, Netgalley! I'll look for other books buy this author!

I tried reading this book on two different times.  Hated it.  Would not recommend it to anyone!

This is a good beach read - mothers & daughters, sisters & siters .....

This book was another easy, great read from Jane. Her words flow so nicely and I was hooked from the first page.  I don't know how she turns out so many books so often and so well! x

While I did not dislike Sunshine Sisters, I expected a great deal more from it that it delivered. I felt the characters were all "types". Ronni Sunshine is the aging actress who has regrets . Nell is the stalwart eldest sister. Meredith is maladjusted  middle child. Lizzy is the spoiled baby of the family. I had a hard time really connecting with a of the characters because them seemed a bit two dimensional. Having said that the author develops a nice sense of place when describing the area where the sisters grew up. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the food and recipes. The book will probably appeal to fans of Jane Green's later books and those who like fiction focused on family relationships.

Jane Green, after a few missteps, is back to the compelling fiction that made her famous! This is much better than her recent efforts.

I would like to thank Jane Green, Berkley and Netgalley for giving me this book for my honest review
Review By Stephanie
I have been a fan of Jane Green ever since reading Jemima J back in 2001 and have been reading everything she puts out since then. Jane’s writing is amazing, the flow is effortless and the characters are always amazing. So I was excited when I saw another book by Jane’s up on Netgalley and was super excited!
The Sunshine Sisters is about three sister raised by an aspiring actress who spends more time on her acting career than actually rising her girls. The girls are amazing; I loved each one of them especially since they are all so different. Nell is the oldest sister who is now struggling being a single mom and working on the farm. Motherhood and farming is the only thing that Nell focuses on. Then there is Meredith who is struggling in a body that her mother spent many years demeaning. Lastly there is the youngest sister, Lizzy. She is a famous TV chef but her marriage is falling apart. 
I love how this story starts at the end and works its way back to the beginning. The stories of these sisters are amazing and this book was a great read! I cannot wait to read more from one of my favorite writers Jane Green!

I am grateful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have always been a fan of everything Jane Green. I’ve read most of her work and always enjoy her pithy style, and the way she writes about women. She always gives the female characters interesting challenges – career, family, relationship and other, and always puts them in situations that endear them to you, as well as make for great storylines to which almost any woman can relate. It is why she is one of my favorite authors.

The Sunshine Sisters was no different. The main character in the book, Ronni Sunshine, was actually not a very likeable character. She was a horrible mother, completely focused on herself and her career and left her three daughters to fend for themselves most of the time. As a result, the girls did fend for themselves and were mostly at odds with one another as well. Somehow they all adapted to their life, but in the end, coming back together proved difficult; especially when Ronni became ill and really needed them. 

What I really liked about the book: Nell, Meredith and Lizzy couldn’t be more different and that’s what made them so interesting as the three daughter characters. Each had reacted differently to their isolation and loneliness and their personalities were very entertaining reading. 

What I didn’t like about the book: The author introduces an author into the scene who starts out with one purpose that is quickly derailed and his role is subsumed into another purpose (I’m trying not to create a spoiler here…) I like what happened with him and another character, but perhaps it would have been interesting if he fulfilled his original mission as well…which seemed to completely fall by the wayside. Would have made a nice epilogue.

Jane Green has written the perfect 2017 beach read. Family struggles, beautiful descriptions of food, houses, farms and NYC and a satisfying end! Loved it.

The only bright spot in the novel for me was the title. The sisters are emotionally damaged and are called by their dying mother to heal. I get it, but the story for me moved slowly.

I enjoyed The Sunshine Sisters, and appreciate being able to read the latest release (an ARC) by Jane Green. I wanted to read it straight through and stayed up late a couple of nights, because it was compelling and dramatic. I got sucked in to the emotional scenes, laughing and crying along with the characters. I thought the main characters were multi-dimensional and well-drawn, although the secondary characters were less so. I cared about the sisters and shared their frustration with their mother and each other. 

However, there were several drawbacks. One, I didn't think writing in present tense was optimal, and it was a bit confusing when it changed to past tense (At times, I wondered if it was an editing oversight or intentional). Two, there's some serious head-hopping going on, wherein POV changes from one character to another, at times from paragraph to paragraph. Third, the ending is a bit weak, but since it also goes on too long, I got the resolution/satisfaction I wanted. This was a pre-publication review version so I assume some of these aspects will be cleaned up before it goes on sale. Thanks again for a fun, fast read.

I honestly don’t think there has ever been a Jane Green book I’ve ever NOT liked. Her writing style flows so smoothly and the reader feels like she is sitting right there with the characters in the book.

This book, a story about three sisters raised by what I’d call an absentee mother who was focusing on her acting career rather than her daughters, is heart wrenching and happy at the same time. I absolutely loved the daughters and their differences. What a gift to have three completely different children, all talented in their own way. We see Nell, the oldest, struggle with being a single mom to River while working and living on a farm with very little outside interaction, to Meredith who is struggling to find true love in a body that was demeaned by her mother so many times it made me want to cry, to Lizzy, the free-spirited youngest daughter, who is a famous t.v. chef in a failing marriage. The story starts with the end but it is the journey that the book takes us through to get to that end that really brings vivid color to this storyline. Each an every character was described as if he or she was being chiseled out of a block of wood. The detail from physical description to mannerisms, not to mention the background scenery, made me feel like I was watching the story as I was reading it.

A beautiful story worth reading and soaking up like sunshine itself. The Sunshine Sisters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jane Green, and Berkley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I made it part of the way through this book, but I couldn't finish it. I didn't find it interesting or entertaining at all. The story-line seemed sort of silly and boring. I thought that the main character was completely boring and unlikable and the author's writing seemed like it was trying too hard. The parts that were supposed to (I think) be funny weren't entertaining at all. I'm sorry, but I had to stop reading.

I had a little trouble getting into the story, Ronni was difficult for me to relate to.  It's a good story about siblings growing up with a movie star mother who was not there for them, how they went their separate ways and built their own lives and how they came back when their Mother called.  It was thought provoking and intensely emotional in spots and hardly believable in other places, kept me intrigued right to the end.