The Haunting of Sunshine Girl Book One Review- 4 Stars!

Today's Tea Choice: Bigelow Earl Grey (Citrusy and Refreshing!)

Trigger Warnings: child death, demons, adoption, self-harm scene, mild violence

Genre: YA Horror/Paranormal

Pages: 296

Summary(goodreads.com):

Something freaky's going on with Sunshine's new house... there's the chill that wraps itself around her bones, the giggling she can hear in the dead of night, and then the strange shadows that lurk in her photographs. But the more weird stuff that happens, the less her mom believes her. Sunshine's always had a quirky affiliation with the past, but this time, history is getting much too close for comfort...

If there is something, or someone, haunting her house, what do they want? And what will they do if Sunshine can't help them?

As things become more frightening and dangerous, and the giggles she hears turn to sobs and screams, Sunshine has no choice but to accept what she is, face the test before her and save her mother from a fate worse than death.

The first in a frighteningly good new series based on the popular YouTube sensation The Haunting of Sunshine Girl Network, created by Paige McKenzie.

My Review:

Ghosts have always fascinated me, especially since I grew up in a house where someone died. Unexplainable events started occuring when we did some light construction, and since then, I've been a believer. I also love to read a good ghost story, so I couldn't pass this one up when I found it at my local library!

What I loved:

Plot: The book begins with immediate intrigue in the prologue. Someone or something is watching Sunshine on her sixteenth birthday as she blows out the candles on her cake, surrounded by her mother and best friend Ashley. This creepy figure also notes that Sunshine's heart rate increases along with her body temperature, but we aren't sure why. All we understand is that a massive change occurs within Sunshine, something that later impacts the plot.

As we progress into the first chapter, Sunshine and her mother Kat move into a new home. We instantly feel a sense of dread within our MC. Something about the house is not right, and although she tries to tell her mother this, Kat ignores it and explains it's just the nerves of moving to a new state. However, when Sunshine hears a little girl giggling and running along the second floor hallway, she immediately knows they aren't alone. Paige Mackenzie really builds the tension and suspense in these opening chapters and hooks the reader into the story.

Things continue to get worse with Kat, who is normally happy and relaxed. Sunshine slowly notices a turn in personality as she becomes snappy, resentful and even violent. One night at the dinner table, Sunshine cuts into her chicken and discovers its raw, but Kat eats it and claims it's perfect! As a vegan, this made me sick but I appreciated this scene because it's a prime example of using show don't tell and subtext.

Once Nolan, Sunshine's new friend learns of the haunting and uncovers research, we learn that there is an entire world of luiseach (guardian angels against dark spirits) protecting humans and the author included excellent lore on how spirits work in this world along with how they become malevolent. The end of the plot has an engaging supernatural fight that ends with even more twisted turns to set up the next book!

POV:  The story is told in first person POV so we get a sense of Sunshine's emotions and her intuitive feelings about the house. The narration style also keeps you guessing what is real or something else with all of the unexpected events. Sunshine even questions if she's crazy, creating instances of an unreliable narrator. Mackenzie also included smaller chapters from the mysterious person watching Sunshine during the prologue. As a reader, this had me guessing who is following her and who we can trust, furthering my intrigue about the plot!

Setting/Historical Context: When Sunshine moves to Ridgemont, Washington, we see from her perspective how her world is changing. Instead of warm Texas, she moves to an eerily quiet neighborhood that is constantly foggy and cold. There aren't any kids playing outside, no neighbors, nothing. Utilizing this technique of personification within the setting is effective in convey a dark, tense tone, a sense of a foreboding atmosphere right away. You can also check out my Key Writing Post about The Impact of Weather on A Scene.

When she gets inside, Sunshine immediately feels freezing, comparing it to feeling cold when you're sick despite having a fever. This is another excellent instance of foreshadowing and subtext, showing that this house is infested with something and also hinting at possible illness. The house layout was a bit difficult to picture since it's so important to the plot, but I still enjoyed the novel!

Ghostly Elements: The tension is built up well since the book starts with multiple small incidents of ghostly encounters. Sunshine's stuff is sometimes moved in different spots like her favorite taxidermized owl (weird AF) or her collection of board games. Then one night a game of checkers is set up and ready to go on her bed and when she doesn't play, the lights flicker and the TV gets messed up. But things get dark when we learn who is inhabiting the house, how they died, and why they are there (no spoilers!)

Characters:  Each character was described well with just enough physical features for readers to picture what they look like with personality traits shown through dialogue, actions, and other elements. Sunshine is a teenager who loves vintage stuff and shops at thrift stores. She also loves classic novels, especially Jane Austen books, which adds a quirky touch to her personality! We can also see through interactions that Kat and Sunshine are close, which is why it's so devastating when Kat starts acting aggressive and nasty later on.

The visual arts teacher is another strange but intriguing character. Mrs. Wilde is described as very pale with long dark hair, always wearing black, and reminded me of Morticia Addams.

Then there is Nolan, who was one of my favorite characters! He serves as a potential love interest while also becoming Sunshine's first friend in her new school. They quickly bond over vintage items and their love of history. He also seems to have some connection to the dead as Mrs. Wilde points out when examining his art project(which had nothing to do with death, so I was super curious where this was headed!) Sunshine always feels extra hot around him, but not in a flirty way. She's super uncomfortable and even mentions wanting to gag. This reaction is hinted at slightly later on but still needs more exploration in the next book.

Dialogue: The interactions were written authentically with cute banter between sunshine and her mom, showing their close bond. The dialogue was also really well written with her friend Ashley with some cute banter and minimal dialogue tags, a must if you want to keep the focus on conversation.

What Needed Improvement:

I had very few issues while reading this book, and it constantly kept my interest. However, I wish the house layout was described in more detail. If you don't read high fantasy or lore-rich novels often, you might find it difficult to keep track of the ghost's backstory and the supernatural lore.

Authors Can Learn:

-How to utilize the setting to create a sense of foreboding with foreshadowing elements

-How to build tension within your plot and avoid unnecessary exposition

-The importance of minimal dialogue tags and great character detail.

Readers Will Love This For:

A fantastic start to a ghostly trilogy with a different spin on common supernatural elements.

I give this book 4 stars.

Kyla