Book Review: The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl was EXACTLY what I hoped it would be! Creepy, cute, and really interesting!

When sixteen year-old Sunshine and her mother move to Washington from Texas, Sunshine is wrapped in a chill she can’t shake. Their new house is creepy, old and her new room is blindingly pink. But that’s not what makes the place so eerie, it’s the moving board games in her room, the giggling of a little girl, who is nowhere to be found, the shadows in her photos and the smell of mildew that gets under Sunshine’s skin. And the fact that her mom doesn’t believe her is stranger than the invisible little girl who is trying to play checkers with her. As the giggles turn into screams and Sunshine has the deep urge to help the little girl, she has to come to terms with the fact that she is different, she is something else entirely and it’s up to her to save those she loves from a darker force that’s at play in her home.

Okay, so I LOVED this book. It was the right amount of creepiness and real enough to be believable, even! Sunshine is totally relatable and sounds adorable with her vintage style and artsy personality. Oh and NOLAN! YES! He is Sunshine’s new friend who she is drawn to, and for good reason! (wink wink.)

Recommended age:

13+

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

I haven’t found a book I have connected with this well since I read The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. I found myself of the verge of tears twice and really felt for, of all characters, the ghost girl! The relationship Sunshine and her mom Kat have is really sweet and very Gilmore Girls-like. Totally loved that. Also, there are the feels stemmed from Nolan and Sunshine’s connection.

7/10

Violence:

There is just a little violence as Sunshine has to face the dark force in her home.

3/10

Sexual content:

None.

0/10

Crude language:

Very little, one or two minor profanities.

1/10

Other elements/comments:

Demons and Ghosts are mentioned, so if you or your child want to read this book and are easily scared then I’d advise you to pick another more cheerful book. But if you or your child is, like me, cool with the creep-factor then go for it! No sexual content and hardly any crude language at all!!

Overall:

I loved this book. I love supernatural things, I'm very drawn to ghost stories and stories involving demons or angels and this book was right up my ally! Really fun and quick read!

9/10

Xoxo

- Sarah

Book Review: The Young World by Chris Weitz

The Young World by Chris Weitz

Some time ago I saw this book’s cover (the one shown above) somewhere on Instagram and thought, “Whoa, this looks cool.” Then I went to Goodreads and looked it up. I wasn’t letdown by this story at all. Think, The Hunger Games meets The Maze Runner meets The Darkest Minds, although there is no prominent corrupt leader or superpowers.

The Young World focuses on Jefferson and Donna, two teens living in post-apocalyptic New York. The city, USA and possibly the world even, had been hit over a year ago with a sickness that wiped out all children and adults, leaving only the teenagers to fend for themselves. After the death of Jefferson’s brother, he and a group of friends go on a hunt for a journal that may have information that could lead them to finding out what this disease is and may just lead them to finding a cure. It’s a long-shot and they are never sure the book really exists. Along the way they run into some obstacles, including finding love, being hunted by the stuck up, rich, teenage, mafia, and trying to figure out the possibility of having a future beyond dying when you turn eighteen. The group of teens is diverse and funny at times, which I liked. Donna is a sassy girl who is pretty normal, I’d say. Jefferson is your typical lead teen protagonist, who knows loss and battles within himself with love, hope and the pressure of leadership. He is cute and kind! Then there is the odd Brain Box who is mysterious and kind of displays autistic behavior in that he is anti-social and extremely smart, but he isn't the oddity of the group because then we have Peter. The gay, Christian…how that happened, I don’t know seeing as how biblically speaking that lifestyle is an “abomination.” But with that aside Peter was one of the better written characters. Over all I really enjoyed this book, which I listened to on audio so that I could multitask. Lol. The ending was, for me, really epic. I caught myself saying, “ooo! That was good!”

Recommended age:

15+ (due to profane language)

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

I’ll be honest here and say that lately I haven’t been able to get into any book and really feel the feels. But there were some potentially feely moments. Donna talks about her dead baby brother a lot which was sad. The way she described him and their inter actions were really sweet. There is a bit of a love triangle going on for some of the book and I quickly found myself shipping Donna and Jeff early on!

4/10  

Violence:

There is always violence in Dystopian YA. Always. This book has your typical bloody fights, chase scenes and creepy captors.

6.5/10

Sexual content:

Some kissing. Mild talk about sex and “messing around” one girl provocatively strips and skinny dips in front of guys.

5/10

Crude language:

There are more than one of every profane word used throughout. Including three uses of the religious slur, GD, and multiple uses of the F word.

9/10

Other elements/comments:

*DISCLAIMER: PERSONAL VIEWS AND BIBLICAL VIEWS ARE STATED BELOW AND SHOULD IN NO WAY BE MISCONSTRUED AS HATE OF ANY KIND!!!*

For me, as a follower of Christ, it was slightly difficult for me to take the character Peter seriously. Although he was well written and really funny at times he just threw me off. Being gay and identifying as Christian at the same time is very controversial. Biblically speaking that lifestyle isn't accepted into the Christian religion. But then again it’s fiction and the author probably either just doesn’t know about the conflict between the gay lifestyle choice and Christianity or wanted his book talked about. (Probably the latter.) This is part of the reason I don’t say that I am “Christian” I identify as a follower of Christ because the term “Christian” is used too loosely and diluted by people who don’t know a lot about Christianity or just choose to follow and believe certain things from the religion. Also there is underage drinking and smoking, but there were no adults around to tell them otherwise, so what do you expect? Lol!

Overall:

I really enjoyed the book. I in NO WAY want you as the reader to feel offended by my above statements//comments. I don’t believe in hate and don’t want anyone to take my comments here as such or as anything other than stating a conflicting plot choice, I must say that I found Peter the most interesting of all of the characters. The book was funny and interesting and I really want to read book 2!

6/10

Xoxo

- Sarah