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Sunshine Nails Cover Image E-audiobook E-audiobook

Sunshine Nails [electronic resource] / Mai Nguyen.

Nguyen, Mai. (Author). Do, Carolina. (Added Author). Huynh, David Lee. (Added Author). Ngo, Quyen. (Added Author). Nguyen, Vyvy. (Added Author). Tran, Trieu. (Added Author). OverDrive, Inc. (Added Author).

Summary:

A Real Simple Must-Read Book of Summer 2023 "Mai Nguyen has proven herself to be a real standout." ?Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author A tender, humorous, and page-turning debut about a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto who will do whatever it takes to protect their no-frills nail salon after a new high end salon opens up?even if it tears the family apart. Perfect for readers of Olga Dies Dreaming and The Fortunes of Jaded Women . Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have built a comfortable life for themselves in Toronto with their family nail salon. But when an ultra-glam chain salon opens across the street, their world is rocked. Complicating matters further, their landlord has jacked up the rent and it seems only a matter of time before they lose their business and everything they've built. They enlist the help of their daughter, Jessica, who has just returned home after a messy breakup and a messier firing. Together with their son, Dustin, and niece, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. Relationships are put to the test as the line between right and wrong gets blurred. Debbie and Phil must choose: do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon? Sunshine Nails is a light-hearted, urgent fable of gentrification with a cast of memorable and complex characters who showcase the diversity of immigrant experiences and community resilience.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781797157542
  • ISBN: 179715754X
  • ISBN: 9781668025154
  • ISBN: 1668025159
  • Physical Description: 1 online resource
  • Publisher: [S.I.] : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023.

Content descriptions

Participant or Performer Note:
Read by Carolina Ðo, David Lee Huynh, Quyen Ngo, VyVy Nguyen, and Trieu Tran
Subject: Fiction.
Literature.
Humor (Fiction)
Manicuring > Fiction.
Family-owned business enterprises > Ontario > Toronto > Fiction.
Vietnamese > Ontario > Toronto > Fiction.
Refugees > Canada > Fiction.
Toronto (Ont.) > Fiction.
Genre: Audiobooks.

Electronic resources


  • AudioFile Reviews : AudioFile Reviews 2023 July
    A full cast of narrators brings this family drama debut to life. Debbie and Phil Tran, Vietnamese refugees who run their own nail salon in Toronto, are barely breaking even. Things worsen when a new high-end salon opens across the street and rents surge in their gentrifying neighborhood. Desperate to save their family business, they recruit their children and niece to help them undermine the competition. The perspectives of the chapters move among the various flawed Tran family members. The narrators' performances ensure that the characters are easy to distinguish, although some characters are less developed. The nuanced deliveries capture complex family dynamics and generational differences as the story explores themes of gentrification, the immigrant experience, and racism. V.T.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
  • LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews

    An ensemble cast narrates Nguyen's warmhearted debut, giving voice to multiple members of the Tran family as they navigate changing family dynamics, neighborhood gentrification, and the challenges of finding space in a new country. Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran, owners of a Toronto nail salon, live a comfortable life. However, when a sparkly new salon moves in across the street, it becomes nearly impossible for the Trans to keep their salon afloat. In a desperate bid to save the business, the Trans enlist the support of their daughter Jessica, who has returned home after a nasty breakup, along with Jessica's brother Dustin and their cousin Thuy. The ensemble of talented narrators—Carolina Ðo, David Lee Huynh, Quyen Ngo, Vyvy Nguyen, and Trieu Tran—bring out each family member's personality and convey the spirit of Nguyen's text, which is sprinkled throughout with Vietnamese phrases. Listeners will likely enjoy Nguyen's descriptions of tasty foods and a sweet love scene between the parents, but insufficient character development occasionally makes it hard to connect. VERDICT Fans of family dramas with multiple perspectives, such as Balli Kaur Jaswal's The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, will find much to like.—Laura Stein

    Copyright 2024 LJExpress.

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