The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is haunting my dreams
Since Halloween is approaching fast, I thought I would review a scary novel. I didn't expect this book to be as scary or as good as it was, but I was quickly sucked in and reading it with all the lights on.
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is by Paige McKenzie, and it's based off her YouTube web series by the same name. The series started off with ghost sightings and weird phenomena at Paige's new house. She is affectionately named Sunshine instead of using her real name. All of the early videos are pretty low tech and look crazy real. I'm a fan of horror movies and am not scared too easily, but these videos did freak me out. I suggest you go watch a few if you're bored on Halloween night.
Now the book is so much better than the web series, at least in my opinion. You follow 16 year old Sunshine as she moves into a new town. It just so happens her new house has a freaky past. Sunshine immediately feels that something is wrong with this house, and when her mom witnesses it as well but forgets the next morning, she knows something is wrong with her mom as well.
She befriends Nolan, who actually believes in ghosts, and together they try to figure out what's wrong with her house and her mom. It quickly becomes more than Sunshine expected or what I expected. I thought this story was going to be a typical ghost story with spirits in a haunted house that the main character researches and then helps to move on. Pretty much a standard episode of The Ghost Whisperer.
It's not that. At all.
Sunshine is thrown into a paranormal world that she knows nothing about but plays a major role in. Seriously, you should just go read it because I can't tell you much more than that without giving it away.
The entire book is well written and the protagonist's voice is strong and entertaining. The entire plot is fast-paced and crazy and scary, especially the climactic scene.
And the best part is, there is always more after you finish this book. Aside from the web series, Paige McKenzie has written a sequel called The Awakening of Sunshine Girl which continues Sunshine's adventure as she learns more about herself and her role to play in this new world. There is also a third book that is due out in the spring of next year.
I'm excited to read the next two, and I greatly recommend this book for the Halloween season (or really for any time because it's definitely worth reading).
