I couldn't get into this mystery slash thriller as much as I thought. It really fell flat for me even though the premise and the hook was creepy enough to draw me in and make me curious about the characters and what really happened.

I absolutely binged this on a flight and I have no regrets. I loved this book, I enjoyed the twists that came up, the drama and the friendships and characterisation that came into play in a lot of the story. It was a quick but gripping read and one I definitely recommend.

This read is absolutely amazing!! Loved it from page one and literally couldn’t put it down! Thank you Crissa-Jean Chappell for taking me to a place full of suspense with a positive ending! It made me feel like I may have met Reece at some point!!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Crissa-Jean Chappell and Regal House Publishing for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4 ⭐ - this was such a quick read, although I'm super, super late with my review. (Sorry 🫣)

Reece was abducted by her father as a little girl. Now, 10 years later - she's tired of keeping secrets and wants more answers.. is everything she's been told by her father the truth?

This story while being short, kept me on the edge of my seat. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, will she be able to meet people from her old life?

The book begins as if the story is already on the move, and we are to catch the plot as it progresses. This is not a bad thing. Even though I expected the ending I got, it was still a decent read. I found the lead protagonist endearing, even with the hard shell she has to wear to protect herself (or maybe because of it).
Reece and her father have been on the run. She does not know the exact details as to why that might be so. She also has fractured memories of the day they first left the only home she remembers, but they are not of much help to her.
Things are changing with her father becoming increasingly unreliable and even violent. She also makes a friend who might turn out to be something more, something she has expressly been prohibited from doing.
Things move quickly, and the story flies by. It is not an easy tale to process, but it is believable in its own way.
I might not recommend this book to my older nieces, but older children who have already read books with hard lives may not find this too hard to read. There is no explicit content in it, something that could have made this book a little unsavoury.
I would like to try more books by the author if I get the chance.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

ARC Read:
I’m not sure that this is a solid 4 stars but it’s not a 3 star. A quick read and I enjoyed it for what it was. It was a little clunky in formatting and the dialogue, but I did enjoy Reece’s story overall. I felt like it was told like an older teen/young adult, very appropriate for the story. The story was vibrant with description and very easy to imagine and immerse myself in.

Sixteen-year-old Reece is an expert at keeping secrets. She has to be, since her father abducted her ten years ago. For as long as she can remember, she’ s been on the run, sneaking food out of the dumpster and sleeping in the woods. Every time she moves, the same rules apply— cut your hair, change your name, and, above all, don’ t let anybody get too close. Reece has no choice except to obey Dad’ s orders. When Reece meets her first real friend, a boy named Shawn, she begins to realize that everyone else has secrets too. And the deadliest secret of all is the one her father has kept from her all these years.

This book was amazing. The plot was easy to follow. The dynamic between the characters was amazing. Will recommend to others.

This one's tough -- I think linguistically and stylistically this book gets the teen voice extremely accurate. The almost stream of consciousness style sounds like the thought process of a homeless teen. The world is believable and scary, and Reece's perspective of it is solid.

The plot itself is pretty good, nothing really stand out, but definitely not not enjoyable. There were one or two scenes that felt weird or forced, and it did kinda wrap up a bit too nicely for my taste. I think this is a good book, and I'll recommend to interested teens, but ultimately it's not list worthy.

I really wanted to enjoy this but unfortunately I couldn’t. I didn’t necessarily understand the plot because so much was going on. At first I liked where the story was going but then I got confused because it seemed like a romance but it definitely wasn’t. Also toward the end said love interest completely disappeared from the plot. There also wasn’t much closure to the epilogue and I was left feeling confused. I did like the writing style but unfortunately the plot didn’t do it for me.

I felt that this was just an ok read for me. I felt that it just didn't go anywhere and when it finally moved, it made no sense. It was just too cut and dried. I think this book needed to come full circle, especially with what Reece went through with her father. I think there needed to be some resolution as to what happens to him. I, also, struggled with the premise that the school wouldn't have already been involved in her situation since she has no reliability in her life. Just her physical appearance and smell alone would have drawn questions through the years. I did not understand how the rich boy was drawn to that either. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

This book was great until the ending. Everything wrapped up too neatly, in my opinion. I wanted to see more of a resolution - she lived happily ever after, which is great, but I just felt like I needed more details. What happened to her dad? How did she adjust to her new life? Is there a sequel coming? There needs to be a sequel to answer these questions.

what a sad story- but a happy ending. very well written, it kept me wanting to read more and more until the end

Good book. Enjoyed the premise, easy read. A little rushed in places, but overall good! Nice to see some fic about teens in poverty, there's not a whole lot out there

Sun Don’t Shine is the story of a little girl who is kidnapped and abused by her father until she finds friendship with a teenage boy a decade later. As a lifelong Miami resident, Reese has never seen the middle-class areas. Her best skill is stealing at sixteen. Her dad trained her to steal for him, mostly cigarettes and alcohol. Reese lives in a van with her dad when an unused van is available. Otherwise, they slept in any area where the police wouldn’t discover them. Her dad enforces three fundamental rules with strictness. You may be shocked to see what they are. Dad answers every question with, “Because I said so!” and expects obedience without explanation. There are no exceptions or discussions about the rules. The story is amazingly realistic.

Reese and Shawn Bryant are in the early stages of a romance. Reese met Shawn in high school at sixteen. Shawn fell for her immediately. Reese liked him but couldn’t tell him because she wouldn’t show him how she lived. She was sure he wouldn’t accept her. Can a young adult recover from abusive parents?

Sun Don’t Shine is a Growing-Up Story of Self-Confidence: Teens must trust themselves and their caregivers before trying something new. Reese risks when she feels she’s safe. She’s fed up with secrecy and seeks answers. Thank you, NetGalley and Fitzroy Books, for the advance review copy. My opinions are voluntary and honest. 

Author Crissa-Jean Chappell is from Miami and lives in Brooklyn. Miami changed as a child. It housed wharf rats. Now, it’s become a global holiday spot. Chappell observed from afar. She wrote about Miami and her peers. She became the “girl who writes about teenagers.” Her first young adult novel, Total Constant Order, is an NYPL Teen Book and VOYA Perfect Ten.

This manuscript has no significant flaws and received five stars. Young adults 12 and older are the book’s target audience. Sun Don’t Shine is for all young adults, but kids will relate more to abuse, neglect, and hardship if they have lived with them. Identification can be cleansing. The primary target for readership is teen and young adult homelessness and poverty.

Reece was abducted by her father when she was little. Now they’re always on the run, moving from one place to another, changing names and hairstyles. She has always gone along with her father's rules until she discovers the secret he has been keeping for her all along.

This was a quick and easy read. It was funny, interesting, fast-paced. I really liked Reece she seemed like such a cool and realistic teenager. It was kind of sad to see the things she missed out on and how much this life her father forced on her affected her. Overall, it was a decent YA thriller and I thought it had a satisfying ending.

I finished this book in 2 days. Would've been faster if I didn't need to get off the train and go to work. This book grabbed me almost from the start. I could not put it down. I could almost feel everything Reece was feeling through the pages. An excellent read.

Amazing book, that sucked me in right from the beginning. I love the characters and the storyline. This was the first book I read by this author. I'll definitely be reading more.

This was a really great book! I like the writing style and the characters are well-written. The length and pacing are perfect. I would recommend this and I'm definitely going to check out more from this author! Special Thank You to Crissa Jean-Chappell, Regal House Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really really good book with a fascinating character development. There are a few twists in the way which really throw the plot of the story in an interesting way to keep it a good read! The twists were unexpected and felt like a different take to this type of storyline. There are stages where the development felt slow and a few chapters which I would have identified as fillers but still gave some details which aided the story later.
Would recommend to friends and thank you to the author and publisher for letting me read an early copy! All thoughts and views are my own

Sadly, I did not care much for this book. I found it poorly written compared to most of the other books I've read this year so far.
#SunDontShine #NetGalley