Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave

I’ve been having a pretty difficult slump lately, so I’m glad to finally finish one book! I’m already happy that September’s got me reading again.

Here’s more about the book

Sunshine Mackenzie is living the dream—she’s a culinary star with millions of fans, a line of #1 bestselling cookbooks, and a devoted husband happy to support her every endeavor.

And then she gets hacked.

When Sunshine’s secrets are revealed, her fall from grace is catastrophic. She loses the husband, her show, the fans, and her apartment. She’s forced to return to the childhood home—and the estranged sister—she’s tried hard to forget. But what Sunshine does amid the ashes of her own destruction may well save her life.

In a world where celebrity is a careful construct, Hello, Sunshine is a compelling, funny, and evocative novel about what it means to live an authentic life in an inauthentic age.

While I’m excited to finally finish a book after two weeks of NOTHING, it wasn’t the most exciting reading of my life. I read Hello, Sunshine because I needed something that would keep me entertained. This book definitely did the trick, but it wasn’t the best book I’ve read by Laura Dave.

Unfortunately, for me, I thought this book was way too quick. All the events in Sunshine’s life seemed to move quickly and even the sections marked by different months felt like days or weeks apart.

For example, Sunshine had had an entire plan put together on how she would get back into cooking and creating a show by “apprenticing” with a famous chef out in the Hamptons. What felt weird about this is that she would just slide herself into that world without a single cooking skill. Somehow, she was able to get her foot in the door and I just found it a little unbelievable that she would charm her way into a discerning chef’s kitchen.

On top of that, the way her life fell apart. I thought it was way too fast. Like everything fell apart in a matter of an evening. No one had her back and everyone just fell away once she was revealed to be a fraud. I mean, I know that being a social media person is tough on your personality and your friends, but not a single person stood up for her or consoled her? Weird.

But the book did resonate with me. It’s probably more resonant now than a few years ago and that’s because I’m a social media influencer. They always say that the life you portray on social media is totally different than the one in real life and it’s very true. I may have down days, but you would never see it on social media. This is why I’m a fan of “switching off” at night and giving myself the evenings to be me.

All in all, a fun read and definitely one if you’re looking to get through this final month of summer. Yes, I consider September summer still.