The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Weinstein Publishing on March 24th 2015
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Based on the wildly popular YouTube channel, THE HAUNTING OF SUNSHINE GIRL has been described as ÒGilmore Girls meets Paranormal Activity for the new media age.Ó YA fans new and old will learn the secrets behind SunshineÑthe adorkable girl living in a haunted houseÑa story that is much bigger, and runs much deeper, than even the most devoted viewer can imagineÉ
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl caught my eye because of the “Gilmore Girls meets Paranormal Activity” tagline. Though I don’t know that that is 100% accurate a description, it’s definitely a fun read. I will say that I feel like this skews a bit younger than what I was expecting as I dove into the story which is probably why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would.
This book is actually based on a YouTube channel and I was instantly intrigued.
Quick recap – Sunshine and her mom move from sunny Austin, Texas to perpetually rainy, Ridgemount, Washington. Upon arrival, the house they find they are renting isn’t quite the nicest place in the area… but whatever, they’ll make it work.
That is until the creepy things start happening. Okay… I’m going to stop right there.
I know I say creepy, and I was so super excited about this, especially after this one thing happens, but to be honest, the creepiness kind of fades and other things are focused on a bit more. I was kind of hoping we’d get a lot more of that kind of stuff throughout but that just wasn’t the case. Which is why I think this would probably do well for the younger YA readers.
Sunshine instantly connects with a guy Nolan at school – bonding over vintage clothes and … ghosts. I really enjoyed their friendship and can see this blossoming into more than friendship down the road, which I’d totally love.
But there’s more to this story than just the creepy house and the ghosts. Sunshine has a story that is slowly unraveling and I’d definitely consider picking up the next in the series to find out how this story progresses.
Definitely not a super scary read… not a lot of angst either. The story moves along at a quick pace and while I was expecting a bit more, I wasn’t necessarily disappointed with the story that I got with this first book. For sure would recommend this for the younger YA crowd who likes a book with a good creepy factor!
Thank you to Weinstein books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!
Quick recap – Sunshine and her mom move from sunny Austin, Texas to perpetually rainy, Ridgemount, Washington. Upon arrival, the house they find they are renting isn’t quite the nicest place in the area… but whatever, they’ll make it work.
That is until the creepy things start happening. Okay… I’m going to stop right there.
I know I say creepy, and I was so super excited about this, especially after this one thing happens, but to be honest, the creepiness kind of fades and other things are focused on a bit more. I was kind of hoping we’d get a lot more of that kind of stuff throughout but that just wasn’t the case. Which is why I think this would probably do well for the younger YA readers.
Sunshine instantly connects with a guy Nolan at school – bonding over vintage clothes and … ghosts. I really enjoyed their friendship and can see this blossoming into more than friendship down the road, which I’d totally love.
But there’s more to this story than just the creepy house and the ghosts. Sunshine has a story that is slowly unraveling and I’d definitely consider picking up the next in the series to find out how this story progresses.
Definitely not a super scary read… not a lot of angst either. The story moves along at a quick pace and while I was expecting a bit more, I wasn’t necessarily disappointed with the story that I got with this first book. For sure would recommend this for the younger YA crowd who likes a book with a good creepy factor!
Thank you to Weinstein books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!
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