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barbistull's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audiobook and really fell in love with the story.
Jackie is a city girl who gets the opportunity to spend the summer at her uncle's house while her dad and stepmother travel to Europe. Luckily her cousin Willa and her become close quickly and the memories began. One evening Willa disappeared without a trace. Jackie returned to her life always wondering what happened after that night.
Twenty years later, after her aunt passed away and left her the sprawling estate, Jackie returned for the first time since 1979. She has to work through her feelings, revisit memories, meet a few new people and find out what she truly wants with her life.
Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for this book for review.
4 out of 5 stars.
Jackie is a city girl who gets the opportunity to spend the summer at her uncle's house while her dad and stepmother travel to Europe. Luckily her cousin Willa and her become close quickly and the memories began. One evening Willa disappeared without a trace. Jackie returned to her life always wondering what happened after that night.
Twenty years later, after her aunt passed away and left her the sprawling estate, Jackie returned for the first time since 1979. She has to work through her feelings, revisit memories, meet a few new people and find out what she truly wants with her life.
Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for this book for review.
4 out of 5 stars.
mooncerulean's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
barbistull's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audiobook and really fell in love with the story.
Jackie is a city girl who gets the opportunity to spend the summer at her uncle's house while her dad and stepmother travel to Europe. Luckily her cousin Willa and her become close quickly and the memories began. One evening Willa disappeared without a trace. Jackie returned to her life always wondering what happened after that night.
Twenty years later, after her aunt passed away and left her the sprawling estate, Jackie returned for the first time since 1979. She has to work through her feelings, revisit memories, meet a few new people and find out what she truly wants with her life.
Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for this book for review.
4 out of 5 stars.
Jackie is a city girl who gets the opportunity to spend the summer at her uncle's house while her dad and stepmother travel to Europe. Luckily her cousin Willa and her become close quickly and the memories began. One evening Willa disappeared without a trace. Jackie returned to her life always wondering what happened after that night.
Twenty years later, after her aunt passed away and left her the sprawling estate, Jackie returned for the first time since 1979. She has to work through her feelings, revisit memories, meet a few new people and find out what she truly wants with her life.
Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for this book for review.
4 out of 5 stars.
brooke_review's review
3.0
A famed musicians’ retreat on the California coast during the iconic era of the 1970s - it is the stuff of music legend and the setting of Amy Mason Doan’s new absorbing novel, Lady Sunshine.
Traveling back in forth in time between the 70s and 90s, Lady Sunshine tells the story of teenage Jackie Pierce’s coming of age at her famous folk singer uncle’s communal estate, The Sandcastle. Jackie, who has lived a banal life of privilege in San Francisco, has her eyes opened to a whole new world during this life-changing summer in which she forms a friendship with her cousin Willa, gets in touch with her inner soul and bonds with some of the Sandcastle’s vagrants, and even finds love. However, nothing gold can stay, and things change forever when Jackie’s wonderful summer ends in tragedy.
Twenty years later, Jackie finds herself inheriting The Sandcastle and returning to the place that helped shape and form the woman she is today. When a group of musicians converge at the estate to record a tribute album to Jackie’s uncle in his iconic music studio, Jackie is transported back to the summer of 79 and the dark secrets she has kept all of this time.
At its heart, Lady Sunshine is a coming of age story set amongst a memorable backdrop of music and an era gone by. The atmospheric setting and vibes that Doan creates within her book really shine, as well as the relationship between Jackie and Willa. Readers who enjoy books about musicians and artists, unconventional living situations, and times of the past, will find much to love about this heady piece of work. On the other hand, the book does move slowly, and it may lose readers who are looking for something more attention-grabbing and fast-paced.
Traveling back in forth in time between the 70s and 90s, Lady Sunshine tells the story of teenage Jackie Pierce’s coming of age at her famous folk singer uncle’s communal estate, The Sandcastle. Jackie, who has lived a banal life of privilege in San Francisco, has her eyes opened to a whole new world during this life-changing summer in which she forms a friendship with her cousin Willa, gets in touch with her inner soul and bonds with some of the Sandcastle’s vagrants, and even finds love. However, nothing gold can stay, and things change forever when Jackie’s wonderful summer ends in tragedy.
Twenty years later, Jackie finds herself inheriting The Sandcastle and returning to the place that helped shape and form the woman she is today. When a group of musicians converge at the estate to record a tribute album to Jackie’s uncle in his iconic music studio, Jackie is transported back to the summer of 79 and the dark secrets she has kept all of this time.
At its heart, Lady Sunshine is a coming of age story set amongst a memorable backdrop of music and an era gone by. The atmospheric setting and vibes that Doan creates within her book really shine, as well as the relationship between Jackie and Willa. Readers who enjoy books about musicians and artists, unconventional living situations, and times of the past, will find much to love about this heady piece of work. On the other hand, the book does move slowly, and it may lose readers who are looking for something more attention-grabbing and fast-paced.
bethanie22's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was a great telling of how much a young person can miss when they are in awe of new surroundings. I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of the Sandcastle both in 1979 and 1999. Overall I really liked the story and the twist.
esmuldi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
andrearbooks's review
3.0
At its core, this is a story about the stories we don't know and the secrets people keep. It's also the story of how music inspires and connects us. The story focuses on Jackie who returns to a place she spent the summer of 1979. That summer included a lot of growing up and discovery, and in returning to the place, she has a spectrum of feels. At the core of the present day is an artist recording music that her uncle wrote long ago in the on-site studio. This elicits emotions specific to Jackie's cousin's disappearance. I love a good dual timeline, and this one was especially captivating as it explored the things we think we know about people only to find out we maybe don't know everything.
yasdnilr's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this was pretty good and readable, dreamy and nostalgic like The Virgin Suicides. I liked the characterisations and the dialogue, they read really well and true.
But what was the mystery? I mean…I finished and felt, so? Lots of directions they could’ve taken that in and went the most pointless and anticlimactic
But what was the mystery? I mean…I finished and felt, so? Lots of directions they could’ve taken that in and went the most pointless and anticlimactic
molzgoda's review
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0