“Sometimes you get stuck with an identity that is associated with your past. Also, in some cases, you get stuck because you don’t know what else you want in life, and you find yourself stuck in a rut.”
Social media is a huge part of our society and there is no denying that it has changed our habits and the way we see others and even ourselves. Do you use your phone and social media responsibly? Does it distract you from responsibilities? Do you seek validation through likes and followers? Suzanne Park covers all these topics and more head on in her new novel, Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous.
Sunny Song spends all her free time working hard towards growing her social media presence on both YouTube and Instagram in order to reach the desired 100k followers benchmark. However, her parents think she has an addiction and they aren’t the only ones who are concerned. Even though all her posts are scheduled, the headmaster of her LA school is worried that her online presence may affect how the school is viewed by other parents. And when a brownie baking livestream goes accidentally viral, Sunny is sent off to a digital detox summer camp on a farm in Iowa to avoid getting expelled from school. Not exactly the big summer plan she had in mind: reach that follower milestone, get Rafael Kim as her boyfriend, and have the best summer ever with her best friend, Needless to say that spending weeks in a remote farm in the middle of nowhere is one big challenge for an LA teen whose life revolves around social media. No electronic devices, no Wi-Fi, farm duties, group meetings with a counsellor… How is she supposed to survive?
At camp, Sunny is immersed in a world that’s very different from the one she is used to and there she meets many other influencers who also struggle with technology in one way or another. At first she is quite reticent to camp activities and rules: she manages to sneak in a phone and use it to keep in contact with her friend at home who is managing her socials and helping her with her application for a competition that will help her build her brand. However, as weeks go by, and as she spends more time with Theo, the cute farm boy who caught her attention, she starts to question everything about her life, her beliefs, and her usage of technology.
The main themes Park leans into throughout the book are enjoyable and insightful. Park did a wonderful job portraying the way social media has overtaken society. This constant need for being liked and how easy it is to get addicted to instant gratification. It’s interesting to see the conflicting thoughts the main character has regarding this as well as the struggle to mark some boundaries between our public persona and who we are in real life, that is the constant battle of what we choose to share with the world and what we choose to keep private. This novel will definitely make people question whether they let social media define them or not.
This is a novel that is quick to read due to being very fast-paced and having a simple storyline, however, the writing sometimes dragged a little bit in terms of describing little moments in plenty of detail when maybe it wasn’t really necessary. But that doesn’t make the book boring since there is a lot happening all the time.
When it comes to the characters, obviously, the one that stands out the most is Sunny. Although not unlikable, she can be a bit irritating at times, due to her being so self-absorbed. Thankfully, she becomes more mature by the end of the book. It’s also nice to see that she has real teenage concerns and the way she navigates these conflicting thoughts she has and how she reacts when she is presented with tough decisions. In comparison, the rest of the characters feel a bit flat at times but most of them are still likeable and the little romance was also quite cute.
Another interesting point and theme that the book brings up is Sunny’s identity as a Korean-American. She often thinks she is not Korean enough because she sort of rejected that side of herself a little bit. Throughout the book she also comes to embrace her Korean side. She also faces some microaggressions but she manages to deal with them well.
All in all, Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous is an easy, enjoyable, and reflective summer read. The story and its themes are relevant to this day and age. Park shows both sides of the dependency that society has on technology—that whilst social media can enhance our lives and can help us connect with others, it also can take a toll on our confidence and social skills. We’re certain this novel will make readers think twice about their own social media usage.
Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 1st, 2021.
Will you be picking up Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A social media influencer is shipped off to a digital detox summer camp in this funny coming-of-age story, perfect for fans of Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty and Love and Gelato .
Sunny Song’s Big Summer Goals:
1) Make Rafael Kim my boyfriend (finally!)
2) Hit 100K followers (almost there…)
3) Have the best last summer of high school ever
Not on Sunny’s list: accidentally filming a PG-13 cooking video that goes viral (#browniegate). Extremely not on her list: being shipped off to a digital detox farm camp in Iowa (IOWA??) for a whole month. She’s traded in her WiFi connection for a butter churn, and if she wants any shot at growing her social media platform this summer, she’ll need to find a way back online.
But between some unexpected friendships and an alarmingly cute farm boy, Sunny might be surprised by the connections she makes when she’s forced to disconnect.
