The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (Sunshine Girl) (Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #2)

by Paige McKenzie

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

Sunshine's Luiseach powers have been fully awakened. For months now, Sunshine has felt spirits everywhere. She hears their voices; feels their emotions . . . it's intense and sometimes overwhelming. She tries to ignore them, but it's impossible. Hoping to get her powers under control (and hoping for answers to her never-ending questions) she agrees to start training with her Luiseach mentor, leaving her family - and her friend Nolan - behind.

But Sunshine's mentor doesn't understand her attachment to the humans in her life; and she can't forgive his abandonment of her so many years ago. The only thing getting Sunshine through the terrifying and creepy training is her new, distractingly attractive, friend ­- another young Luiseach.

Though Sunshine's mentor is reluctant to answer her many questions, she finally learns the truth about her lineage, as well as the rift that threatens the future of Luiseach and the human race . . . and the crucial part she has to play in repairing it.

• ISBN10: 1509801855
• ISBN13: 9781509801855
• Publish Date: 21 April 2016 (first published 1 March 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 18 October 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[anne]

Did not grip me in the first few pages...she suddenly sees ghosts at 16 felt like a familiar plot...

[Kelly]

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl series is a fun, entertaining series that's a breath of fresh air. In a market flooded with true to life contemporaries and heavy fantasy novels, paranormal young adult reads feel as though they are too few and far between and Sunshine Girl brilliantly bridges that gap. In the same vain as Anna Dressed in Blood, The Awakening of Sunshine Girl follows the story of Sunshine who is still coming to terms with being branded a Luiseach, a role in which she sees spirits of those who have passed and has the ability to guide them from our world. But unlike her fellow Luiseach, Sunshine's abilities to feel each spirit and their lives is not only what sets her apart. She is the last Luiseach to have been born, on the day of her birth women miscarried and have been unable to conceive in the past sixteen years, dividing the Luiseach community and igniting a war between the segregated factions.

We also see Sunshine taken away from her mother to be cared for and trained, leaving Nolan behind. I enjoyed the lack of romance, not that Nolan and Sunshine are officially together as she cannot touch him without experiencing excruciating pain. But the separation element allowed Sunshine to grow as a character and also establish why she was abandoned as a newborn child.

Where The Haunting of Sunshine Girl was all about establishing Sunshine as a character and learning about her abilities. Sunshine is a girl who is still unsure of herself, often lacking in confidence but while making her relatable despite her abilities. It also felt like a more mature installment in the series, which I really enjoyed. I missed Nolan's character, as he is absent from the main storyline but readers still see glimpses of their separation through Sunshine's dreamscape, a new development with her abilities.

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl series is captivating, entertaining and has invigorated the young adult paranormal genre. With the emphasis on Sunshine, her place in the world and not reliant on romance, it's a breath of fresh air. The Awakening of Sunshine Girl is often brutal and fierce, introducing a horror type suspense to the young and young at heart. Really enjoyed it.