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Sunshine
There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it's unwise to walk. But there hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts. Vampires never entered her mind.
Until they found her...
Until they found her...
405 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2003
About the author
Robin McKinley
40 books7,135 followersBorn in her mother's hometown of Warren, Ohio, Robin McKinley grew up an only child with a father in the United States Navy. She moved around frequently as a child and read copiously; she credits this background with the inspiration for her stories.
Her passion for reading was one of the most constant things in her childhood, so she began to remember events, places, and time periods by what books she read where. For example, she read Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book for the first time in California; The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time in New York; The Lord of the Rings for the first time in Japan; The Once and Future King for the first time in Maine. She still uses books to keep track of her life.
McKinley attended Gould Academy, a preparatory school in Bethel, Maine, and Dickinson College in 1970-1972. In 1975, she was graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College. In 1978, her first novel, Beauty, was accepted by the first publisher she sent it to, and she began her writing career, at age 26. At the time she was living in Brunswick, Maine. Since then she has lived in Boston, on a horse farm in Eastern Massachusetts, in New York City, in Blue Hill, Maine, and now in Hampshire, England, with her husband Peter Dickinson (also a writer, and with whom she co-wrote Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits in 2001) and two lurchers (crossbred sighthounds).
Over the years she has worked as an editor and transcriber (1972-73), research assistant (1976-77), bookstore clerk (1978), teacher and counselor (1978-79), editorial assistant (1979-81), barn manager (1981-82), free-lance editor (1982-85), and full-time writer. Other than writing and reading books, she divides her time mainly between walking her "hellhounds," gardening, cooking, playing the piano, homeopathy, change ringing, and keeping her blog.
Her passion for reading was one of the most constant things in her childhood, so she began to remember events, places, and time periods by what books she read where. For example, she read Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book for the first time in California; The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time in New York; The Lord of the Rings for the first time in Japan; The Once and Future King for the first time in Maine. She still uses books to keep track of her life.
McKinley attended Gould Academy, a preparatory school in Bethel, Maine, and Dickinson College in 1970-1972. In 1975, she was graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College. In 1978, her first novel, Beauty, was accepted by the first publisher she sent it to, and she began her writing career, at age 26. At the time she was living in Brunswick, Maine. Since then she has lived in Boston, on a horse farm in Eastern Massachusetts, in New York City, in Blue Hill, Maine, and now in Hampshire, England, with her husband Peter Dickinson (also a writer, and with whom she co-wrote Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits in 2001) and two lurchers (crossbred sighthounds).
Over the years she has worked as an editor and transcriber (1972-73), research assistant (1976-77), bookstore clerk (1978), teacher and counselor (1978-79), editorial assistant (1979-81), barn manager (1981-82), free-lance editor (1982-85), and full-time writer. Other than writing and reading books, she divides her time mainly between walking her "hellhounds," gardening, cooking, playing the piano, homeopathy, change ringing, and keeping her blog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,048 reviews
June 9, 2010
Okay, so I seriously pondered over whether to give this book three stars or four. In the end, I DID enjoy it so I felt generous and gave it four, but it's not without its faults.
Once, when I was a little kid, my parents bought me my favourite ice cream. There's actually only one kind of ice cream that I actually like and that's mint choc chip. Only they bought this MASSIVE bowl of it with a banana in it and extra chocolate sauce. I can only guess that they'd finally decided to slowly kill me via diabetes, cholesterol and blood-pressure, and be rid of my annoying, argumentative, five-year-old ways.
I can promise that it almost worked and they were almost home free except they'd miscalculated one thing - my short attention span. Sure the ice cream was delicious and kept me entertained but there was just so much of it and the mint ice cream was just a little too much in ratio to the choc chip that I like and even the chocolate sauce couldn't entirely keep my concentration.
Well, Sunshine is a bit like that. It's good. It's really good. It's a vampire novel so it's pretty much RIGHT up my alley too and so by definition I should have really enjoyed this book.
There was really just the problem that there was too much useless narrative in ratio to the action and suspense. Sunshine would start babbling about some inane facet of life that had NOTHING to do with the story and doesn't really add anything to it. Now, if this was world building for a future novel I could have forgiven it, but I have heard, rather mournfully, that there will be no more to this series and that makes me very annoyed. Like when I lost interest in my mint choc chip ice cream at one interval and my evil parents had it whisked away by an annoyed waitress (I'll have my revenge one day!)
So whilst I enjoyed much of the book, I found myself falling asleep a lot because it would launch into these long stories like my 80 year old grandma does when you ask her how her day was.
Don't even get me started on how UNRESOLVED the end was. There were things I REALLY wanted to know. There were certain sexy scenes I REALLY wanted to read and there was information and intrigue that was left dangling! It's infuriating!
One good praise I would like to make for Sunshine is the reversal in a genre of a practice that baffles me. I've complained before that often in YA books, swearing and sex between the main characters doesn't really happen.
Yet rape and violence is often described and occurs, sometimes rather graphically.
Well, in this book the main character has sex with her long time boyfriend and it's a sweet nonevent - these positive and healthy examples of sex are good! Can we have more caring and loving and healthy relationships displayed for our youth like this, please?
There is one particular swearword I wished the book hadn't used (it starts with C and rhymes with bunt... figure it out.)
I really hate that word. But the two mentions of dick are cool with me - except Robin Cockblocking McKinley is a cockblocking temptress of doom and if you have read this book then you'll know why I say this!
Can someone explain to me why she is not continuing with Sunshine and Con? Please? Why? Why build all this world and have all this and cockblock us (Yes! That's exactly what you did!) only to leave us hanging? It's just rude. At this point I really wouldn't mind what would end out to be the literary equivalent of a pityfuck just to satisfy me and tie up all the freakin' loose ends!
Finally, I say I enjoyed this book. I did. Like my ice cream, it was just the kind of thing I liked. Too bad there was so much of it and at times it became work just to get through it and finally finish it. Over all, it was a really good serving of mint choc chip ice cream with a huge serving of cockblock.
I liked it, but I refuse to go on a date with Robin McKinley again unless she promises to put out.
Once, when I was a little kid, my parents bought me my favourite ice cream. There's actually only one kind of ice cream that I actually like and that's mint choc chip. Only they bought this MASSIVE bowl of it with a banana in it and extra chocolate sauce. I can only guess that they'd finally decided to slowly kill me via diabetes, cholesterol and blood-pressure, and be rid of my annoying, argumentative, five-year-old ways.
I can promise that it almost worked and they were almost home free except they'd miscalculated one thing - my short attention span. Sure the ice cream was delicious and kept me entertained but there was just so much of it and the mint ice cream was just a little too much in ratio to the choc chip that I like and even the chocolate sauce couldn't entirely keep my concentration.
Well, Sunshine is a bit like that. It's good. It's really good. It's a vampire novel so it's pretty much RIGHT up my alley too and so by definition I should have really enjoyed this book.
There was really just the problem that there was too much useless narrative in ratio to the action and suspense. Sunshine would start babbling about some inane facet of life that had NOTHING to do with the story and doesn't really add anything to it. Now, if this was world building for a future novel I could have forgiven it, but I have heard, rather mournfully, that there will be no more to this series and that makes me very annoyed. Like when I lost interest in my mint choc chip ice cream at one interval and my evil parents had it whisked away by an annoyed waitress (I'll have my revenge one day!)
So whilst I enjoyed much of the book, I found myself falling asleep a lot because it would launch into these long stories like my 80 year old grandma does when you ask her how her day was.
Don't even get me started on how UNRESOLVED the end was. There were things I REALLY wanted to know. There were certain sexy scenes I REALLY wanted to read and there was information and intrigue that was left dangling! It's infuriating!
One good praise I would like to make for Sunshine is the reversal in a genre of a practice that baffles me. I've complained before that often in YA books, swearing and sex between the main characters doesn't really happen.
Yet rape and violence is often described and occurs, sometimes rather graphically.
Well, in this book the main character has sex with her long time boyfriend and it's a sweet nonevent - these positive and healthy examples of sex are good! Can we have more caring and loving and healthy relationships displayed for our youth like this, please?
There is one particular swearword I wished the book hadn't used (it starts with C and rhymes with bunt... figure it out.)
I really hate that word. But the two mentions of dick are cool with me - except Robin Cockblocking McKinley is a cockblocking temptress of doom and if you have read this book then you'll know why I say this!
Can someone explain to me why she is not continuing with Sunshine and Con? Please? Why? Why build all this world and have all this and cockblock us (Yes! That's exactly what you did!) only to leave us hanging? It's just rude. At this point I really wouldn't mind what would end out to be the literary equivalent of a pityfuck just to satisfy me and tie up all the freakin' loose ends!
Finally, I say I enjoyed this book. I did. Like my ice cream, it was just the kind of thing I liked. Too bad there was so much of it and at times it became work just to get through it and finally finish it. Over all, it was a really good serving of mint choc chip ice cream with a huge serving of cockblock.
I liked it, but I refuse to go on a date with Robin McKinley again unless she promises to put out.
April 1, 2011
Here is a useful tip, should you ever find yourself face-to-face with a vampire: they are living corpses that eat people. They are not sun-sparkling, abstinent forever-teens. Staying inside all day and being forced to personally kill all of your food doesn't bode well for your mental health (not to mention the fact that you have been alive so long, you've had to re-buy all your Beatles albums in like five different formats).
Robin McKinley gets this the way Stephanie Meyer or even, sometimes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, don't -- generally, it is safe to say, vampires aren't creatures whose pictures you want to pin up in your locker. Yes, authors can rewrite the rules of vampirism all they want to make them easy to romanticize (I have a soul! Oh yeah? We'll I'm vegetarian), but it all still comes down to A) creatures of the night B) part of a race that, by and large, views humans as walking ketchup dispensers C) unflattering complexions. In Sunshine, the vampires are gross. They look like what they are, which is, if you will remember, dead. They are also rightly feared by the populace, but that might have more to do with the role they played in the vaguely defined Voodoo Wars that ravaged society some years before, to the point where what seems like a pretty nondescript small city is now the eighth largest remaining population in the U.S. In short, vampires: not very nice.
And yet, there's always the special one. But if Sunshine (not her real name, thankfully) can be the Buffy who befriends a vampire, at least she is a total screw-up in every other way (and I mean more of a screw-up than just that she pretends to trip on things and makes too many boys fall in love with her). She gives her mom hell. She barely graduated from high school. She dates a guy with too many tattoos. She's kind of a bitch. She's flawed, and fun to read about, which is important, because she's our narrator. But she is special, with an unknown magical heritage that saves her ass when she's kidnapped by bloodsuckers and chained up in a room with one of them. This turns out to be Constantine, who is that Special Vampire who doesn't eat people, but at least he's still pretty disgusting, as romantic heroes go. The no heartbeat thing would get pretty weird. Also the bathing in his blood, but that comes later.
In many ways, this is a Twilight-y book, and you can see why the publisher decided to repackage it in a sparkly teen edition, even though it is about adult characters who actually screw instead of lying in fields and gazing longingly at one another: There's a special girl. There's a vampire. There is a little bit of romance (though Sunshine has the good sense to be freaked out about it, and, at least, never describes anyone's beautiful chest). Also in both books nothing happens for long stretches of time, only to rush through an action-packed climax in just a few pages. (Oh, I forgot, both also involve scenes of googling and message board reading, which still isn't all that interesting.) The difference is that Robin McKinley can write, and instead of filling her pages with repetition and day-to-day mundanities (new word!), she creates a fun cast of supporting characters at the bakery where Sunshine works (I could almost write an entire separate review about the role baking plays in this book, but I didn't want to make anyone hungry) and puts real thought into the way you might react to a traumatic experience like almost being eaten. Like, you might throw yourself back into your work (mmm, cinnamon rolls!) even as you struggled to cope with the fallout, alienating your friends and loved ones in the bargain.
This is a really entertaining book that slowed down just a little too much in the middle for me, but it is much, much better than a phrase like "vampire romance" might imply. In a parallel dimension, this book is the famous one, and Stephanie Meyer, bless her heart, is selling her books to Kindle owners on Amazon, because writing is a nice little hobby but why do it full time when you are so bad at it?
Man, I really didn't mean to rag on Twilight so much. Sorry about that.
(Oh, p.s. to Karen -- sorry for failing at that whole tandem review thing. We can just pretend I wrote this a week ago.)
Robin McKinley gets this the way Stephanie Meyer or even, sometimes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, don't -- generally, it is safe to say, vampires aren't creatures whose pictures you want to pin up in your locker. Yes, authors can rewrite the rules of vampirism all they want to make them easy to romanticize (I have a soul! Oh yeah? We'll I'm vegetarian), but it all still comes down to A) creatures of the night B) part of a race that, by and large, views humans as walking ketchup dispensers C) unflattering complexions. In Sunshine, the vampires are gross. They look like what they are, which is, if you will remember, dead. They are also rightly feared by the populace, but that might have more to do with the role they played in the vaguely defined Voodoo Wars that ravaged society some years before, to the point where what seems like a pretty nondescript small city is now the eighth largest remaining population in the U.S. In short, vampires: not very nice.
And yet, there's always the special one. But if Sunshine (not her real name, thankfully) can be the Buffy who befriends a vampire, at least she is a total screw-up in every other way (and I mean more of a screw-up than just that she pretends to trip on things and makes too many boys fall in love with her). She gives her mom hell. She barely graduated from high school. She dates a guy with too many tattoos. She's kind of a bitch. She's flawed, and fun to read about, which is important, because she's our narrator. But she is special, with an unknown magical heritage that saves her ass when she's kidnapped by bloodsuckers and chained up in a room with one of them. This turns out to be Constantine, who is that Special Vampire who doesn't eat people, but at least he's still pretty disgusting, as romantic heroes go. The no heartbeat thing would get pretty weird. Also the bathing in his blood, but that comes later.
In many ways, this is a Twilight-y book, and you can see why the publisher decided to repackage it in a sparkly teen edition, even though it is about adult characters who actually screw instead of lying in fields and gazing longingly at one another: There's a special girl. There's a vampire. There is a little bit of romance (though Sunshine has the good sense to be freaked out about it, and, at least, never describes anyone's beautiful chest). Also in both books nothing happens for long stretches of time, only to rush through an action-packed climax in just a few pages. (Oh, I forgot, both also involve scenes of googling and message board reading, which still isn't all that interesting.) The difference is that Robin McKinley can write, and instead of filling her pages with repetition and day-to-day mundanities (new word!), she creates a fun cast of supporting characters at the bakery where Sunshine works (I could almost write an entire separate review about the role baking plays in this book, but I didn't want to make anyone hungry) and puts real thought into the way you might react to a traumatic experience like almost being eaten. Like, you might throw yourself back into your work (mmm, cinnamon rolls!) even as you struggled to cope with the fallout, alienating your friends and loved ones in the bargain.
This is a really entertaining book that slowed down just a little too much in the middle for me, but it is much, much better than a phrase like "vampire romance" might imply. In a parallel dimension, this book is the famous one, and Stephanie Meyer, bless her heart, is selling her books to Kindle owners on Amazon, because writing is a nice little hobby but why do it full time when you are so bad at it?
Man, I really didn't mean to rag on Twilight so much. Sorry about that.
(Oh, p.s. to Karen -- sorry for failing at that whole tandem review thing. We can just pretend I wrote this a week ago.)
Read
January 15, 2014I've seen Robin McKinley accused of having only one plot: variations on "Beauty and the Beast." This kind of reductionism, of course, can be extended to just about any story. Some of us over a certain age even used to have test questions on this in Tenth Grade Literature: What is the plot of this book? A) Man vs. Man, B) Man vs. Nature, C) Man vs.Universe. Perhaps this one can be further reduced to Woman Gains Choice, and we first encounter it in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, written in the early 1800s, wherein a female makes the choice concerning her future life and doesn't have to pay the price for such temerity by promptly dying of consumption. What it means is that woman gains power over her own life, and it's a trope women (and men) have been exploring in various story forms such as "Beauty and the Beast."
McKinley looks at this story form from several angles. Anyone who thinks her stories cookie cutter have not paid attention: The Blue Sword is probably the most conventional; Deerskin is not at all conventional.
This story has to do with vampires.
I've heard people talking about how sick they are of vampire stories, that they are stale, nothing new to be said, and of course vampires, like elves and dragons (and horses), have been tamed down by many writers into being very pretty forms of humans, pretty, powerful, but with very human (usually mapping heavily onto middle-teen adolescence) emotions.
Well, McKinley teases apart the threads of this familiar tapestry and reweaves them into a very strange form.
The story begins with our first person protagonist describing her pleasant but claustrophobic life as the baker for a roadside diner that is very popular in her small town. We gain the impression of ordinary folk of the type we recognize in our own lives, an ordinary diner, an ordinary small town. Exactly when the reader feels as closed in by all these cheery, well-intentioned ordinariness as does the protagonist, she takes off to be by herself to the lakeside, which, we are told, is not popular any more since the Voodoo Wars.
The Voodoo Wars? We've had, so far, exactly one other hint that things are not quite as ordinary as they appear when the protagonist mentions that one of her very normal brothers wants to go into Other law. Well, 'other' is easily assumed to be on the side of the downtrodden, and on goes the story: Voodoo Wars catches the eye but the story still marches on a few paragraphs, and then, abruptly, while she's at the lakeside, the vampires come. This is page 12.
I had to look back at that beginning to really appreciate the mastery of McKinley's story-telling skills. Twelve pages of ordinariness, and a cliff-hanger, after which she pauses to tell us that the worst of the Others are vampires. Okay... then this is our world, but with vampires. No, wait, there's just this tiny mention of demons. But the story flashes on, and the protagonist is taken by vampires to a disintegrating ballroom, forced to dress in an extravagant crimson gown, and shackled to the wall-within reach of another vampire. Who is also shackled to the wall. Then they leave, giggling.
The story takes off like a rocket from there: we find out the protagonist's name after we find out about the power of names, we find out more about vampires, and the Voodoo Wars, and the protagonist's background. Boundaries are broken over and over, and the reader, along with the characters, has to struggle to redefine them. The ordinary roadside inn with its ordinary characters turns out to be an anchor of relative safety in an increasingly strange and dangerous world. This is not our world. It's even more threatening, more perilous, but there are ways to fight it. Each ones exacts its cost: there are no wish-fulfillment mega-powers gained just by suffering winsomely enough. Power has to be fought for, inwardly and outwardly, it rips apart lives and requires dispassionate remapping of one's universal landscape. And using power is painful, just as a real punch bruises the attacker as well as the victim.
Along the way McKinley examines families, love, romance, sexual attraction, morality, ethics, deception, the social contract, eschatology, the perils of responsibility. Absolutely nothing is easy -- except, perhaps, the sharing of food.
McKinley's vampire is not pretty, does not react with adolescent emotion; he is compelling, and a fascinating study in how human can become alien, yet retain a conflicted nexus of human traits. The ending is not neatly tied off, but is breathtaking with possibility. I sure hope she returns to this world. There is so much more to explore and to say -- and I really want to know more about the spinster landlady, who was my favorite character of all.
McKinley looks at this story form from several angles. Anyone who thinks her stories cookie cutter have not paid attention: The Blue Sword is probably the most conventional; Deerskin is not at all conventional.
This story has to do with vampires.
I've heard people talking about how sick they are of vampire stories, that they are stale, nothing new to be said, and of course vampires, like elves and dragons (and horses), have been tamed down by many writers into being very pretty forms of humans, pretty, powerful, but with very human (usually mapping heavily onto middle-teen adolescence) emotions.
Well, McKinley teases apart the threads of this familiar tapestry and reweaves them into a very strange form.
The story begins with our first person protagonist describing her pleasant but claustrophobic life as the baker for a roadside diner that is very popular in her small town. We gain the impression of ordinary folk of the type we recognize in our own lives, an ordinary diner, an ordinary small town. Exactly when the reader feels as closed in by all these cheery, well-intentioned ordinariness as does the protagonist, she takes off to be by herself to the lakeside, which, we are told, is not popular any more since the Voodoo Wars.
The Voodoo Wars? We've had, so far, exactly one other hint that things are not quite as ordinary as they appear when the protagonist mentions that one of her very normal brothers wants to go into Other law. Well, 'other' is easily assumed to be on the side of the downtrodden, and on goes the story: Voodoo Wars catches the eye but the story still marches on a few paragraphs, and then, abruptly, while she's at the lakeside, the vampires come. This is page 12.
I had to look back at that beginning to really appreciate the mastery of McKinley's story-telling skills. Twelve pages of ordinariness, and a cliff-hanger, after which she pauses to tell us that the worst of the Others are vampires. Okay... then this is our world, but with vampires. No, wait, there's just this tiny mention of demons. But the story flashes on, and the protagonist is taken by vampires to a disintegrating ballroom, forced to dress in an extravagant crimson gown, and shackled to the wall-within reach of another vampire. Who is also shackled to the wall. Then they leave, giggling.
The story takes off like a rocket from there: we find out the protagonist's name after we find out about the power of names, we find out more about vampires, and the Voodoo Wars, and the protagonist's background. Boundaries are broken over and over, and the reader, along with the characters, has to struggle to redefine them. The ordinary roadside inn with its ordinary characters turns out to be an anchor of relative safety in an increasingly strange and dangerous world. This is not our world. It's even more threatening, more perilous, but there are ways to fight it. Each ones exacts its cost: there are no wish-fulfillment mega-powers gained just by suffering winsomely enough. Power has to be fought for, inwardly and outwardly, it rips apart lives and requires dispassionate remapping of one's universal landscape. And using power is painful, just as a real punch bruises the attacker as well as the victim.
Along the way McKinley examines families, love, romance, sexual attraction, morality, ethics, deception, the social contract, eschatology, the perils of responsibility. Absolutely nothing is easy -- except, perhaps, the sharing of food.
McKinley's vampire is not pretty, does not react with adolescent emotion; he is compelling, and a fascinating study in how human can become alien, yet retain a conflicted nexus of human traits. The ending is not neatly tied off, but is breathtaking with possibility. I sure hope she returns to this world. There is so much more to explore and to say -- and I really want to know more about the spinster landlady, who was my favorite character of all.
December 12, 2024
This is my 4th Robin McKinley book and I have yet to fall under the spell of her writing.
And this one has kind of the same problem that the rest of the books had - there are a lot of words here and not a whole lot of anything much storywise.
400-something pages of whothefuckcares for 150-200 pages of something actually happening to move the action forward. There's just a lot of staring off into space and picking at a hole in her jeans going on here.
I mean, it's interesting that she likes to bake. But I don't need to be reminded about her love of baking in her family's restaurant on every other page.
You know what I can do? Bake.
You know what I can't do? Magic.
So why don't you take all that page time you spent telling me about her fucking cinnamon buns, and describe to me what kind of magic she has going on?
So you have a baker who finds herself chained up in a room with a vampire and they escape their captors due to some spoilery magic stuff. Over the course of the book they awkwardly bond and perhaps even grow to have a romantic relationship at some point. I'm completely unsure about that last part because while she is apparently attracted to him at times, she describes him as ugly. Usually, if you're interested in someone romantically, you don't personally find them repulsive. Just saying.
So, that ending was...I don't know. Weird.
There actually could have been a really good story, but McKinley decided to focus all of the energy on everything that wasn't of the least bit of interest to me.
There are all kinds of paranormal creatures in this world, including the vampire that Ray befriends. So, maybe some in-depth vampire lore?
Forget it. Let's go on about how squishy the dough feels.
Ray's father? How did this super-wizard family simply disappear from the face of the earth?
Nah. Let's discuss some chocolate cake recipe she came up with last year.
What about the reasons behind her mother's decision to leave her father and basically go into hiding?
Nooo. Let's talk about how her biker boyfriend is nice and really good at not really being too talky or bothering her about stuff.
WHAT?
There's a cool story set in an interesting world here, and that's maybe why I was so frustrated when it was over. It could have been such an amazing book, but it wasn't because it skipped over the interesting bits in favor of all the mundane garbage. It was like picking up a book about a famous battle, but instead of hearing about the action, the author mainly recounts what sort of soap the soldiers used, the kind of linen their boxer shorts were made of, and if they liked the noises the tent flaps made at night.
And I get that there are readers out there that are interested in that sort of war story.
But that reader isn't me.
Sunshine isn't my jam, but I can't in good conscience say that it is badly written. Ten billion fans of this author's work can't all be wrong. It just isn't the type of story I personally enjoy.
So.
If you're a fan of McKinley, then you already know how her stories tend to wander around, and you'll probably love this one.
If you haven't read any of her books yet but dig that sort of thing, this book will be right up your alley.
But if you're an action-oriented reader like I am, this story might just test your patience.
And this one has kind of the same problem that the rest of the books had - there are a lot of words here and not a whole lot of anything much storywise.
400-something pages of whothefuckcares for 150-200 pages of something actually happening to move the action forward. There's just a lot of staring off into space and picking at a hole in her jeans going on here.
I mean, it's interesting that she likes to bake. But I don't need to be reminded about her love of baking in her family's restaurant on every other page.
You know what I can do? Bake.
You know what I can't do? Magic.
So why don't you take all that page time you spent telling me about her fucking cinnamon buns, and describe to me what kind of magic she has going on?
So you have a baker who finds herself chained up in a room with a vampire and they escape their captors due to some spoilery magic stuff. Over the course of the book they awkwardly bond and perhaps even grow to have a romantic relationship at some point. I'm completely unsure about that last part because while she is apparently attracted to him at times, she describes him as ugly. Usually, if you're interested in someone romantically, you don't personally find them repulsive. Just saying.
So, that ending was...I don't know. Weird.
There actually could have been a really good story, but McKinley decided to focus all of the energy on everything that wasn't of the least bit of interest to me.
There are all kinds of paranormal creatures in this world, including the vampire that Ray befriends. So, maybe some in-depth vampire lore?
Forget it. Let's go on about how squishy the dough feels.
Ray's father? How did this super-wizard family simply disappear from the face of the earth?
Nah. Let's discuss some chocolate cake recipe she came up with last year.
What about the reasons behind her mother's decision to leave her father and basically go into hiding?
Nooo. Let's talk about how her biker boyfriend is nice and really good at not really being too talky or bothering her about stuff.
WHAT?
There's a cool story set in an interesting world here, and that's maybe why I was so frustrated when it was over. It could have been such an amazing book, but it wasn't because it skipped over the interesting bits in favor of all the mundane garbage. It was like picking up a book about a famous battle, but instead of hearing about the action, the author mainly recounts what sort of soap the soldiers used, the kind of linen their boxer shorts were made of, and if they liked the noises the tent flaps made at night.
And I get that there are readers out there that are interested in that sort of war story.
But that reader isn't me.
Sunshine isn't my jam, but I can't in good conscience say that it is badly written. Ten billion fans of this author's work can't all be wrong. It just isn't the type of story I personally enjoy.
So.
If you're a fan of McKinley, then you already know how her stories tend to wander around, and you'll probably love this one.
If you haven't read any of her books yet but dig that sort of thing, this book will be right up your alley.
But if you're an action-oriented reader like I am, this story might just test your patience.
February 9, 2017
This was a very welcome surprise coming out of my dire expectations. :)
I mean, a vampire romance. Seriously? Another?
Well stop scratching your head and stop moving on to another title. This happens to be one of the *good* ones. There are lots of elements that you've seen before, I'm sure, but it's all in how its written. McKinley has been writing all kinds of fantasy for over thirty years. She knows how to accomplish a lot in relatively no time at all.
Gorgeous world-building and a populace that will soon be overrun by vampires. Part-demons and sorcerers waging wars against them. The elemental mastery of the magic is amazing. Sunshine? This isn't just a nickname. :) When these little bits and pieces started unfolding out of the normal bakery life and a nasty kidnapping, I kept thinking to myself: well, isn't this just another setup for a romance?
Yes. BUT. McKinley never stints on complicated and interesting plots that kept me going all the way through. It kind of stunned me just how deep and complex this novel became out of my initial observation. And it's not just the characters, either. The kinds of races, the kinds of magic, the twists and the turns, all of them were added like spice to the novel and it kind of blew me away.
I've read a lot of mediocre vamp novels. I've read a few excellent ones. This one fooled me on it's premise and it's opening. It turned into an excellent one. :)
So what about shelves that call it YA? Why didn't I also do the same? Because she's apparently a quarter of a century old. Long out of HS and working happily in a bakery. That *might* be called a tiny tiny sliver of the new-adult market, but there's a LOT of dark stuff going on here with complicated emotions and reactions. It's definitely not simple and its often beautifully adult. :)
I completely recommend for fans of better vampire novels. (Even ones that feature romance!)
Edit 12/6/16:
It has been brought to my attention that I should clarify what kind of romance this is. It's not Eros. It's Philia. That's the greek term for ppl you'd trust your life for in battle. Deep friendships. Ultimate trust. These two share a lot more than just that. Psychic bonds, the ability to pull one another from the brink even out of outright battle, and he even gives her a wondrous magical item that allows her access to his sanctum of sanctums. That's a level of trust unheard of in a world where all vampires know that they can't trust each other, let alone any other kind of person. :)
So I call it romance in the traditional sense. A huge step up from a buddy-novel, too. :)
I mean, a vampire romance. Seriously? Another?
Well stop scratching your head and stop moving on to another title. This happens to be one of the *good* ones. There are lots of elements that you've seen before, I'm sure, but it's all in how its written. McKinley has been writing all kinds of fantasy for over thirty years. She knows how to accomplish a lot in relatively no time at all.
Gorgeous world-building and a populace that will soon be overrun by vampires. Part-demons and sorcerers waging wars against them. The elemental mastery of the magic is amazing. Sunshine? This isn't just a nickname. :) When these little bits and pieces started unfolding out of the normal bakery life and a nasty kidnapping, I kept thinking to myself: well, isn't this just another setup for a romance?
Yes. BUT. McKinley never stints on complicated and interesting plots that kept me going all the way through. It kind of stunned me just how deep and complex this novel became out of my initial observation. And it's not just the characters, either. The kinds of races, the kinds of magic, the twists and the turns, all of them were added like spice to the novel and it kind of blew me away.
I've read a lot of mediocre vamp novels. I've read a few excellent ones. This one fooled me on it's premise and it's opening. It turned into an excellent one. :)
So what about shelves that call it YA? Why didn't I also do the same? Because she's apparently a quarter of a century old. Long out of HS and working happily in a bakery. That *might* be called a tiny tiny sliver of the new-adult market, but there's a LOT of dark stuff going on here with complicated emotions and reactions. It's definitely not simple and its often beautifully adult. :)
I completely recommend for fans of better vampire novels. (Even ones that feature romance!)
Edit 12/6/16:
It has been brought to my attention that I should clarify what kind of romance this is. It's not Eros. It's Philia. That's the greek term for ppl you'd trust your life for in battle. Deep friendships. Ultimate trust. These two share a lot more than just that. Psychic bonds, the ability to pull one another from the brink even out of outright battle, and he even gives her a wondrous magical item that allows her access to his sanctum of sanctums. That's a level of trust unheard of in a world where all vampires know that they can't trust each other, let alone any other kind of person. :)
So I call it romance in the traditional sense. A huge step up from a buddy-novel, too. :)
February 19, 2019
Sunshine is definitely worthwhile if you like vampire lit, though this is a bit of an odd one. :)
This urban fantasy novel starts with a bang, one of my favorite beginnings in a fantasy novel. Rae "Sunshine" Seddon is kidnapped by a gang of vampires, chained to the wall in an abandoned, isolated mansion, and left as a victim for another vampire, Constantine, who is also chained up nearby (the gang even cuts Sunshine so the blood will make her harder for Constantine to resist). But resist he does, even as daylight comes, though it’s a near thing, and they know the vampire gang will be returning when night falls.
Then Sunshine begins to remember some near-forgotten magical skills taught her many years ago by her grandmother. It’s a game-changer - but her odd (and very secret) alliance with Constantine may also bring Sunshine into situations where she’s faced with dangers she’s never known before.
I knew nothing about this book when I bought it - this was back in the day when I was auto-buying everything Robin McKinley wrote, a time that has now, sadly, ended for me as her stuff's gotten progressively weirder over the years. But this one is only semi-weird, and definitely worth reading if you're interested in vampires and urban fantasy, except without the smokin' hot sexy vampire. Okay, there is a rather sexy scene, and Constantine the vampire is a very cool character but also, undeniably, vampirish, in a not-really-sexy kind of way.
I loved what McKinley did with the main character and her magically gifted family and with vampire lore in this novel; I just wished she'd dug a little deeper into the world-building and the family history. And there is (as typical with McKinley) one of those murky, bizarre nightmarish scenes where you're not sure exactly what's going on except that it's highly strange. The story doesn't wrap up with a nice bow either, which left many fans hoping, in vain, for McKinley to write a sequel or at least another book in this world.
But there are at least parts of this story that are truly fantastic - the first few chapters are AMAZING - and shouldn't be missed. At least if you're interested in vampire lit. :)
This urban fantasy novel starts with a bang, one of my favorite beginnings in a fantasy novel. Rae "Sunshine" Seddon is kidnapped by a gang of vampires, chained to the wall in an abandoned, isolated mansion, and left as a victim for another vampire, Constantine, who is also chained up nearby (the gang even cuts Sunshine so the blood will make her harder for Constantine to resist). But resist he does, even as daylight comes, though it’s a near thing, and they know the vampire gang will be returning when night falls.
Then Sunshine begins to remember some near-forgotten magical skills taught her many years ago by her grandmother. It’s a game-changer - but her odd (and very secret) alliance with Constantine may also bring Sunshine into situations where she’s faced with dangers she’s never known before.
I knew nothing about this book when I bought it - this was back in the day when I was auto-buying everything Robin McKinley wrote, a time that has now, sadly, ended for me as her stuff's gotten progressively weirder over the years. But this one is only semi-weird, and definitely worth reading if you're interested in vampires and urban fantasy, except without the smokin' hot sexy vampire. Okay, there is a rather sexy scene, and Constantine the vampire is a very cool character but also, undeniably, vampirish, in a not-really-sexy kind of way.
I loved what McKinley did with the main character and her magically gifted family and with vampire lore in this novel; I just wished she'd dug a little deeper into the world-building and the family history. And there is (as typical with McKinley) one of those murky, bizarre nightmarish scenes where you're not sure exactly what's going on except that it's highly strange. The story doesn't wrap up with a nice bow either, which left many fans hoping, in vain, for McKinley to write a sequel or at least another book in this world.
But there are at least parts of this story that are truly fantastic - the first few chapters are AMAZING - and shouldn't be missed. At least if you're interested in vampire lit. :)
June 3, 2020
since joel is being a slowpoke, i am going to write this review before i forget everything i was/am thinking about it and it gets lost in too-many-books-past.
yeah, so i had no idea this book was about vampires.
but, karen, you have voted for both elizabeth and mariel's review of this book, surely you read reviews before you vote!! surely you don't just "insta-vote" and RUIN goodreads.com for the rest of us???
yeah, yeah, yeah.
to be fair, i did read elizabeth's review but it was ages ago, when i had no intention of ever reading this book, so i just enjoyed her writing without absorbing the details, and the book itself went "whhhooosshh" outta my brain. and mariel. well, mariel is a very special brand of reviewer, and i think she only said "vampire" one time in her very convoluted but awesome review.
i mixed this up in my head with the other fantasy books i have been commanded to read, and i thought this was another beauty and the beast retelling. imagine my confusion when the vampires showed up to crash the party.and i liked it, but i did not get out of it what everyone else seems to have gotten from it. this is like a seminal work to the fantasy-lovers and they swoon when it is mentioned.
so what am i missing??
this is intended as a genuine question because i have never read/seen any of it, but is this what true blood is like?? this is the sense i get - southern location, accepted and casual reactions to the supernatural mingling with humankind, central woman straddling two worlds and looking good doing it. is this a fair assessment?? i am just curious if this book was an inspiration to a young(er) charlaine harris, or if this is just a common theme in fantasy novels.
so i am going to talk about genre fiction briefly, as someone who does not read much genre fiction, because i just have some questions/observations.and you will correct me if i am totally off base.
fantasy novels, including this one, seem to revolve around a strong central female character and several "helper" male characters who don't have much power, but work to protect or nurture the female. in this book, she does have a boyfriend, but he is more symbolic, like something for her to rub her sexuality against.he can physically protect her with his might, but he is really only there to give her what she needs and not ask unpleasant questions, fading into the background so she can and she pretty much does see him as a means to an end, as she freely confesses. she is glad that he doesn't ask her the questions (which, considering what is going on all around her, and the behavioral and physical changes that are happening to her, would be pretty natural for him to ask) but she sees his presence as comforting and his "respect" for her emotional reticence as a mark in his favor. he is the comfiest of sweaters (the garment), but no one has a conversation with a sweater.
(this is totally different from high or epic fantasy, which i gather is pretty misogynistic and rapey.)
now, if this was a romance novel, the characters' dynamics would be all different.in romance novels, (the few i have read) women seem to give up all their agency to be swept away by something larger than themselves, they wouldn't be taking charge and we all know what happens when a woman meets a vampire in a romance novel.
she becomes a lesbian rock star, of course...
so i guess i can see how this book would appeal to self-possessed women more than the romance-novel variety...
but the sentences were kind of killing me:
and
aggg - it makes me exhausted unpacking those sentences. it shouldn't take this much rereading to make sense of a vampire novel, should it?other than that - i did enjoy all of the baking. i have some questions about the nature of sunshine's talents, and how with her work schedule, she would ever ever see the daylight, and
awesome librarian character a plus...
not really a review, but some things that have been bouncing around in my head since i finished this like 8 books ago. i blame joel!! joel is the problem with goodreads.com!
come to my blog!
yeah, so i had no idea this book was about vampires.
but, karen, you have voted for both elizabeth and mariel's review of this book, surely you read reviews before you vote!! surely you don't just "insta-vote" and RUIN goodreads.com for the rest of us???
yeah, yeah, yeah.
to be fair, i did read elizabeth's review but it was ages ago, when i had no intention of ever reading this book, so i just enjoyed her writing without absorbing the details, and the book itself went "whhhooosshh" outta my brain. and mariel. well, mariel is a very special brand of reviewer, and i think she only said "vampire" one time in her very convoluted but awesome review.
i mixed this up in my head with the other fantasy books i have been commanded to read, and i thought this was another beauty and the beast retelling. imagine my confusion when the vampires showed up to crash the party.and i liked it, but i did not get out of it what everyone else seems to have gotten from it. this is like a seminal work to the fantasy-lovers and they swoon when it is mentioned.
so what am i missing??
this is intended as a genuine question because i have never read/seen any of it, but is this what true blood is like?? this is the sense i get - southern location, accepted and casual reactions to the supernatural mingling with humankind, central woman straddling two worlds and looking good doing it. is this a fair assessment?? i am just curious if this book was an inspiration to a young(er) charlaine harris, or if this is just a common theme in fantasy novels.
so i am going to talk about genre fiction briefly, as someone who does not read much genre fiction, because i just have some questions/observations.and you will correct me if i am totally off base.
fantasy novels, including this one, seem to revolve around a strong central female character and several "helper" male characters who don't have much power, but work to protect or nurture the female. in this book, she does have a boyfriend, but he is more symbolic, like something for her to rub her sexuality against.he can physically protect her with his might, but he is really only there to give her what she needs and not ask unpleasant questions, fading into the background so she can and she pretty much does see him as a means to an end, as she freely confesses. she is glad that he doesn't ask her the questions (which, considering what is going on all around her, and the behavioral and physical changes that are happening to her, would be pretty natural for him to ask) but she sees his presence as comforting and his "respect" for her emotional reticence as a mark in his favor. he is the comfiest of sweaters (the garment), but no one has a conversation with a sweater.
(this is totally different from high or epic fantasy, which i gather is pretty misogynistic and rapey.)
now, if this was a romance novel, the characters' dynamics would be all different.in romance novels, (the few i have read) women seem to give up all their agency to be swept away by something larger than themselves, they wouldn't be taking charge and we all know what happens when a woman meets a vampire in a romance novel.
she becomes a lesbian rock star, of course...
so i guess i can see how this book would appeal to self-possessed women more than the romance-novel variety...
but the sentences were kind of killing me:
My mother, who would have loved to forbid these visits—when Mom goes off someone, she goes off comprehensively, and when she went off my dad she went off his entire family, excepting me, whom she equally passionately demanded to keep—didn't, but the result of her not-very-successfully restrained unease and disapproval made those trips out to the lake more of an adventure than they might otherwise have been, at least in the beginning.
and
The Cinnamon Roll Queen wasn't going to be bought off by a fast food hamburger—supposing I ate hamburgers, which I didn't, and after tonight, even if I had, id've given them up—but Prime Time was a twenty-four-hour gourmet deli.
aggg - it makes me exhausted unpacking those sentences. it shouldn't take this much rereading to make sense of a vampire novel, should it?other than that - i did enjoy all of the baking. i have some questions about the nature of sunshine's talents, and how with her work schedule, she would ever ever see the daylight, and
awesome librarian character a plus...
not really a review, but some things that have been bouncing around in my head since i finished this like 8 books ago. i blame joel!! joel is the problem with goodreads.com!
come to my blog!
October 13, 2010
I didn't know much about this book going in - vampires and cinnamon rolls - that was about it. Therefore, I, of course, was quite surprised to learn Sunshine was a hardcore urban fantasy novel. Quite a departure for Robin McKinley known for her fairy tale retellings. This book was nothing like she ever wrote before, that's for sure. I didn't know she had it in her to write something so tech-heavy, at times sexy and in such a perky "voice."
Now, I love to complain about new urban fantasy that lacks originality, proper world-building and just plain satisfactory writing. McKinley didn't disappoint in this regard. I thought the plot was brilliant, especially the beginning and the ending - I am amazed nobody had used the whole chaining-to-the-walls-and-using-a-human-as-a-vamp-bait scenario before. The mythology was completely new and very inventive - I loved how creepy, nasty and otherwordly the vamps were. One gets tired of sparkly and sexy creatures that have nothing to distinguish them from humans except wondrous stamina and sexual prowess. Try writing about a girl falling for someone who looks and acts like Constantine in a convincing manner! That's a challenge in itself, I am sure. And the writing, well, McKinley has a remarkable command of the language.
But all these things that I loved about Sunshine were at the same time its negatives. I pretty much thought the book was way overwritten. Sometimes the mythology got so complicated I thought I was on some kind of drug-induced hallucinogenic "trip." And Sunshine herself. Good lord, the woman talked SO much to herself! By about page 200 she started to grate on my nerves so bad I needed a break from her "voice." This book badly needed some editing out of Sunshine's rambling internal monologue and some more dialog. Often reading Sunshine's thoughts was like reading McKinley's own blog - sometimes interesting, sometimes boring, with never-ending parenthesis, notes, *s, and P.S.'s. Weeding out about 100 pages of Sunshine's irrelevant musings would have made this book a much more enjoyable read.
Surprisingly, many things that annoyed readers of this book, didn't bother me. The cinnamon rolls - the bakery business was interesting to me, I thought it added a nice dimension to Sunshine's personality.
As for the sequel, I am fine without one. McKinley is still toying with the idea of maybe, possibly, one day, writing it. But I will tell you this for free, it will never happen. I have never seen her go back to her projects and I doubt it will happen this time. This I, actually, sort of understand and even respect - I have seen way too many sequels pulled out of the asses. Sometimes it is better not to force things out.
What else is there to say? It was an OK reading experience. From literary standpoint Sunshine is probably one of the strongest urban fantasy works, but in terms of entertainment it doesn't quite deliver. Ultimately, I don't think I would care to ever re-read this book again or read the sequel if it ever comes out. Too much work.
Now, I love to complain about new urban fantasy that lacks originality, proper world-building and just plain satisfactory writing. McKinley didn't disappoint in this regard. I thought the plot was brilliant, especially the beginning and the ending - I am amazed nobody had used the whole chaining-to-the-walls-and-using-a-human-as-a-vamp-bait scenario before. The mythology was completely new and very inventive - I loved how creepy, nasty and otherwordly the vamps were. One gets tired of sparkly and sexy creatures that have nothing to distinguish them from humans except wondrous stamina and sexual prowess. Try writing about a girl falling for someone who looks and acts like Constantine in a convincing manner! That's a challenge in itself, I am sure. And the writing, well, McKinley has a remarkable command of the language.
But all these things that I loved about Sunshine were at the same time its negatives. I pretty much thought the book was way overwritten. Sometimes the mythology got so complicated I thought I was on some kind of drug-induced hallucinogenic "trip." And Sunshine herself. Good lord, the woman talked SO much to herself! By about page 200 she started to grate on my nerves so bad I needed a break from her "voice." This book badly needed some editing out of Sunshine's rambling internal monologue and some more dialog. Often reading Sunshine's thoughts was like reading McKinley's own blog - sometimes interesting, sometimes boring, with never-ending parenthesis, notes, *s, and P.S.'s. Weeding out about 100 pages of Sunshine's irrelevant musings would have made this book a much more enjoyable read.
Surprisingly, many things that annoyed readers of this book, didn't bother me. The cinnamon rolls - the bakery business was interesting to me, I thought it added a nice dimension to Sunshine's personality.
As for the sequel, I am fine without one. McKinley is still toying with the idea of maybe, possibly, one day, writing it. But I will tell you this for free, it will never happen. I have never seen her go back to her projects and I doubt it will happen this time. This I, actually, sort of understand and even respect - I have seen way too many sequels pulled out of the asses. Sometimes it is better not to force things out.
What else is there to say? It was an OK reading experience. From literary standpoint Sunshine is probably one of the strongest urban fantasy works, but in terms of entertainment it doesn't quite deliver. Ultimately, I don't think I would care to ever re-read this book again or read the sequel if it ever comes out. Too much work.
January 10, 2018
Adult vampire urban fantasy. Sunshine lives in an alternate post-apocalyptic world in which Others - vampires, weres, demons and angels - are accepted and everywhere. We don't see any angels, mind you. This one's all about the horror. Sunshine herself lives an ordinary life working in her step dad's cafe, until she does something stupid and gets herself captured by the 'darkest' of the Others: vampires. Seriously messed up psychopathic supervillains. Sunshine finds out a few things about herself, and forges an alliance with somebody she shouldn't even be able to look at, let alone develop feelings for.
I wanted to love this. It's a classic of the genre. It's an intricately thought-out world, and a lot of the ideas, especially about magic, are rather cool. But it is, for me, flawed in ways I can't get over. Principally, I had trouble with the POV. It's first person, and the style is fairly colloquial - we don't ever forget that it's Sunshine herself telling the story - but it's the most distant first person narrative I've ever read. Even after three hundred pages of first person story, I don't feel that I have a handle on Sunshine as a character. Her voice distances us from the action by diverging into random info-dumps about the world (which, yes, very complex and layered) and about her own backstory. At one point she grabs a steak knife and lunges out the door after a vampire, and then gives us a page and a half of information about the proper way to kill a vampire and basically how a steak knife won't cut it, before we finally get to the end of her lunge. And, OK, I accept that that info was relevant to the action, but it should have gone, oh, any time before the lunge.
She's also a somewhat unreliable narrator, which further distances us from the story. She doesn't lie, but she keeps secrets from the reader. She'll obsess about something for weeks, and even though we're with her for those weeks, we won't find out until weeks later, when she suddenly brings it up. I think this is a deliberate stylistic decision, and is supposed to reflect Sunshine's own mindset and the way she's trying to hide her own thoughts from herself and pretend amnesia that she doesn't feel. Still, it works against my involvement in the story. Case in point, I was actually musing about these things while reading the life-or-death climax, which shouldn't have been possible. But the truth is, I didn't care very much whether Sunshine and Con came out of the climax OK.
Two more things, quickly:
One is the villain, Bo. He's supposed to be a looming menace over the entire book, but we not only don't meet him until the last couple of scenes - The Lord of the Rings has a successful villain the heroes never meet, so that's not a deal-breaker - but we don't get any clear sense of his personality or presence before then either. He doesn't work as an antagonist. The Goddess of Pain is a better one, but she's not central to the plot, and is also introduced fairly late.
The other is the romance. Or, rather, the sex. There's this completely random, very graphic, not-quite sex scene in the middle of the book, that just made me tilt my head to the side and stare. There's growing feeling between the two central characters, which could be read as sexual tension, but then this sex scene, which is over in about a paragraph and a half, comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere and is never followed up on and I just kind of wonder if McKinley's editor asked her to make it sexier and this was what she came up with? It didn't add anything for me. It's too short to be hot, and too random to be powerful.
All that said, this book made me think, a lot, and that's the sign of an interesting book. And she does a mean aftermath, and a nice final scene, which I can appreciate.
I wanted to love this. It's a classic of the genre. It's an intricately thought-out world, and a lot of the ideas, especially about magic, are rather cool. But it is, for me, flawed in ways I can't get over. Principally, I had trouble with the POV. It's first person, and the style is fairly colloquial - we don't ever forget that it's Sunshine herself telling the story - but it's the most distant first person narrative I've ever read. Even after three hundred pages of first person story, I don't feel that I have a handle on Sunshine as a character. Her voice distances us from the action by diverging into random info-dumps about the world (which, yes, very complex and layered) and about her own backstory. At one point she grabs a steak knife and lunges out the door after a vampire, and then gives us a page and a half of information about the proper way to kill a vampire and basically how a steak knife won't cut it, before we finally get to the end of her lunge. And, OK, I accept that that info was relevant to the action, but it should have gone, oh, any time before the lunge.
She's also a somewhat unreliable narrator, which further distances us from the story. She doesn't lie, but she keeps secrets from the reader. She'll obsess about something for weeks, and even though we're with her for those weeks, we won't find out until weeks later, when she suddenly brings it up. I think this is a deliberate stylistic decision, and is supposed to reflect Sunshine's own mindset and the way she's trying to hide her own thoughts from herself and pretend amnesia that she doesn't feel. Still, it works against my involvement in the story. Case in point, I was actually musing about these things while reading the life-or-death climax, which shouldn't have been possible. But the truth is, I didn't care very much whether Sunshine and Con came out of the climax OK.
Two more things, quickly:
One is the villain, Bo. He's supposed to be a looming menace over the entire book, but we not only don't meet him until the last couple of scenes - The Lord of the Rings has a successful villain the heroes never meet, so that's not a deal-breaker - but we don't get any clear sense of his personality or presence before then either. He doesn't work as an antagonist. The Goddess of Pain is a better one, but she's not central to the plot, and is also introduced fairly late.
The other is the romance. Or, rather, the sex. There's this completely random, very graphic, not-quite sex scene in the middle of the book, that just made me tilt my head to the side and stare. There's growing feeling between the two central characters, which could be read as sexual tension, but then this sex scene, which is over in about a paragraph and a half, comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere and is never followed up on and I just kind of wonder if McKinley's editor asked her to make it sexier and this was what she came up with? It didn't add anything for me. It's too short to be hot, and too random to be powerful.
All that said, this book made me think, a lot, and that's the sign of an interesting book. And she does a mean aftermath, and a nice final scene, which I can appreciate.
January 18, 2009
Extremely enjoyable, I liked this book much more than Twilight. It was a while ago I read it, but I kept the hardback around, which says a lot since I am forced to be ruthless with what I keep after I read due to space.
September 27, 2009
I have mixed feelings about this book. It took me multiple attempts to finish it, but I'm glad I did. Someone compared this to Buffy and Angel as far as the romance aspects. Do not believe that. This book has some romantic aspects, but it's more of a coming of age story (although Sunshine is an adult when it starts). She's coming into her powers that she never really understood.
The writing is very intricate and quite stream of consciousness. If you made it through The Sound and the Fury, this book shouldn't be a problem. But for genre fiction, I think you have to work too hard to get the enjoyment factor out of it. I'm no literary snob. In fact, I prefer genre fiction. I want to enjoy reading a story and get a message. This one makes it difficult. I am a foodie, so I was salivating at the descriptions of the baked goods that Sunshine makes (she's a talented baker). However, I wanted more of the supernatural aspects and certainly more of the intriguing Constantine. I could have done with about fifty pages more of him.
I think that a reader who enjoys seeing strong women come into their own in a fantasy novel setting would enjoy this, moreso than a fan of vampire romance. There were some geninuely scary moments that gave me a thrill as well. There are also a few gory moments (not too bad, but I feel the need to warn). I'd give Sunshine three stars because it was a good book, but I don't feel the need to reread it. Now if she writes a sequel with more Constantine, sign me up!
The writing is very intricate and quite stream of consciousness. If you made it through The Sound and the Fury, this book shouldn't be a problem. But for genre fiction, I think you have to work too hard to get the enjoyment factor out of it. I'm no literary snob. In fact, I prefer genre fiction. I want to enjoy reading a story and get a message. This one makes it difficult. I am a foodie, so I was salivating at the descriptions of the baked goods that Sunshine makes (she's a talented baker). However, I wanted more of the supernatural aspects and certainly more of the intriguing Constantine. I could have done with about fifty pages more of him.
I think that a reader who enjoys seeing strong women come into their own in a fantasy novel setting would enjoy this, moreso than a fan of vampire romance. There were some geninuely scary moments that gave me a thrill as well. There are also a few gory moments (not too bad, but I feel the need to warn). I'd give Sunshine three stars because it was a good book, but I don't feel the need to reread it. Now if she writes a sequel with more Constantine, sign me up!
November 9, 2013
I've liked Robin McKinley in a low-level way for the past ten years or so. I really liked
Beauty
,
The Hero and the Crown
and
The Blue Sword
, and when I've seen a new McKinley book I've generally tried to pick it up and read it, for old time's sake. I thought I was fairly familiar with her style and tone.
Which is why I was completely unprepared for Sunshine. Who knew McKinley had a dark, experimental, inventive, alternate-universe/vampire novel in her? Who knew she had an engaging, modern, flawed character like Sunshine just waiting to come out and win my heart completely over?
Ever since I first picked it up, I reread Sunshine every few months, and it never ceases to enthrall and delight me. It has become one of my favorite books of all time.
Which is why I was completely unprepared for Sunshine. Who knew McKinley had a dark, experimental, inventive, alternate-universe/vampire novel in her? Who knew she had an engaging, modern, flawed character like Sunshine just waiting to come out and win my heart completely over?
Ever since I first picked it up, I reread Sunshine every few months, and it never ceases to enthrall and delight me. It has become one of my favorite books of all time.
June 5, 2024
2024 Re-read
Not sure why I absolutely had to read this novel again, but it was available at the library and I signed it out. I enjoyed it the second time around. I still wonder why Ms. McKinley never wrote a follow-up?
Original Review
I am a sucker for vampire stories. (Hahaha, see what I did there?) So I was almost guaranteed to like this novel. But I appreciated the differences between this book and some of the more usual vampire fantasies. Rae, aka Sunshine, finds herself in a very dangerous situation, early in the action. She is shackled in a deserted house with a vampire who is similarly imprisoned. It's pretty obvious that she is the live mouse put into the cage with a bird of prey.
Here's where Sunshine's urban fantasy heroine pedigree shines through. She spent most of her life denying to herself who her father was. But she fondly remembers his mother who taught her the first few tricks to do with her magical talents. All of a sudden, those hidden, mostly forgotten skills are going to come in handy. And she seems to have made a friend, as the captive vampire, Constantine, comes with her and they mutually stagger to safety.
Constantine is not the usual sensual, attractive vamp, all interested in human women. Indeed, he's very removed from humanity and actually rather reptilian, but seems to have some sense of honour or comradeship or something. Sunshine frequently wonders what she has gotten herself into. Her disappearance has brought her to the attention of the police of the supernatural and their questions make her feel guilty that she feels responsible and has friendly feelings for a vampire. She and Con seem to adhere to the old saw that when you save someone you are then responsible for them forever. Since they escaped as a team, they seem destined to remain a team. Their strange entanglement develops as the book progresses and as they decide to deal with the vamp who trapped them together in the first place.
McKinley's refusal to follow the well worn rut of most urban fantasy tales was both refreshing and sometimes annoying. I hadn't realized how programmed I have become to expect certain plot points, like for instance a human-style romance. I am also kind of impressed that she felt one book was enough. If you want to know where Sunny goes from there, you'll have to write fan fiction.
Book Number 438 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
Not sure why I absolutely had to read this novel again, but it was available at the library and I signed it out. I enjoyed it the second time around. I still wonder why Ms. McKinley never wrote a follow-up?
Original Review
I am a sucker for vampire stories. (Hahaha, see what I did there?) So I was almost guaranteed to like this novel. But I appreciated the differences between this book and some of the more usual vampire fantasies. Rae, aka Sunshine, finds herself in a very dangerous situation, early in the action. She is shackled in a deserted house with a vampire who is similarly imprisoned. It's pretty obvious that she is the live mouse put into the cage with a bird of prey.
Here's where Sunshine's urban fantasy heroine pedigree shines through. She spent most of her life denying to herself who her father was. But she fondly remembers his mother who taught her the first few tricks to do with her magical talents. All of a sudden, those hidden, mostly forgotten skills are going to come in handy. And she seems to have made a friend, as the captive vampire, Constantine, comes with her and they mutually stagger to safety.
Constantine is not the usual sensual, attractive vamp, all interested in human women. Indeed, he's very removed from humanity and actually rather reptilian, but seems to have some sense of honour or comradeship or something. Sunshine frequently wonders what she has gotten herself into. Her disappearance has brought her to the attention of the police of the supernatural and their questions make her feel guilty that she feels responsible and has friendly feelings for a vampire. She and Con seem to adhere to the old saw that when you save someone you are then responsible for them forever. Since they escaped as a team, they seem destined to remain a team. Their strange entanglement develops as the book progresses and as they decide to deal with the vamp who trapped them together in the first place.
McKinley's refusal to follow the well worn rut of most urban fantasy tales was both refreshing and sometimes annoying. I hadn't realized how programmed I have become to expect certain plot points, like for instance a human-style romance. I am also kind of impressed that she felt one book was enough. If you want to know where Sunny goes from there, you'll have to write fan fiction.
Book Number 438 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
February 15, 2022
4.5 stars - I really enjoyed this.
We find ourselves in a world that seems a bit like ours, but with demons and were-people (werewolves, were-skunks and even were-chickens!), and the most evil “others”; vampires, as well as human magic-handlers, ward creators (that’s not the right word, but I can’t find the term) and part-bloods and a government agency to handle all of them, Others and special humans.
I won’t say more, because that would be spoilery.
McKinley balances the darkness of events with humor and self-deprecation and real kindness and compassion. The story unfolds in quite a logical way, despite completely bizarre and illogical things happening to our MC. The ending is pretty good closure, but leaves a door open a crack for one’s own speculation or an actual sequel, which at this point, I’m uncertain will be forthcoming.
The narration is quite well done. I was mildly distracted by Merlington’s voice, accent and delivery being uncannily similar to Kate Mulgrew’s. Like a younger sister, but I know they are not at all related. Both grew up in the Midwest, at about the same time, but Iowa and Michigan have slightly different accents. I’m not sure any of that could account for the similarities. I enjoyed her narration nevertheless.
We find ourselves in a world that seems a bit like ours, but with demons and were-people (werewolves, were-skunks and even were-chickens!), and the most evil “others”; vampires, as well as human magic-handlers, ward creators (that’s not the right word, but I can’t find the term) and part-bloods and a government agency to handle all of them, Others and special humans.
I won’t say more, because that would be spoilery.
McKinley balances the darkness of events with humor and self-deprecation and real kindness and compassion. The story unfolds in quite a logical way, despite completely bizarre and illogical things happening to our MC. The ending is pretty good closure, but leaves a door open a crack for one’s own speculation or an actual sequel, which at this point, I’m uncertain will be forthcoming.
The narration is quite well done. I was mildly distracted by Merlington’s voice, accent and delivery being uncannily similar to Kate Mulgrew’s. Like a younger sister, but I know they are not at all related. Both grew up in the Midwest, at about the same time, but Iowa and Michigan have slightly different accents. I’m not sure any of that could account for the similarities. I enjoyed her narration nevertheless.
June 24, 2018
I enjoyed this book a lot.
My problem with it is that is hard to read, it has excessive amounts of unnecessary information, but the story and the connection between the characters is so strong and unconventional that is worth pushing through it.
The tension that the writer creates between Sunshine and Con is incredible, I just wished there had been more about their relationship; I want more about Sunshine and Con together!
I definitely wish there was a sequel, in fact I can't believe there isn't! it's like a cruel joke, not funny at all.
My problem with it is that is hard to read, it has excessive amounts of unnecessary information, but the story and the connection between the characters is so strong and unconventional that is worth pushing through it.
The tension that the writer creates between Sunshine and Con is incredible, I just wished there had been more about their relationship; I want more about Sunshine and Con together!
I definitely wish there was a sequel, in fact I can't believe there isn't! it's like a cruel joke, not funny at all.
January 7, 2015
Thinking is bad for you. The heroine of this novel, Rae Blaise or Sunshine, as she is better known, finds this out the hard way after she drives out to the lake to have a think and avoid arguing with her mum. Because while there, she is kidnapped by a group of vampires, dressed in blood red silk and chained in a room with another vampire, Constantine. But clearly, Sunshine is a bright girl (I am still unsure exactly how old she is supposed to be, early twenties, I'd guess) and learns her lesson quickly and pretty much stops thinking from then on. At least enough for her latent powers to reveal themselves and take over her logical processes.
I am doing this all wrong, aren't I? Because, actually, I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. And even the fact that listening to Sunshine is like talking to someone with a severe case of ADD because she keeps diverting and sidetracking until you lose all sense of what she was talking about to begin with and the fact that the book was like the worst kind of tease, sucking you in, turning you on and dumping you with barely a hint of a resolution, no answers to most of the questions and no sequel in sight wouldn't put me off.
I liked Sunshine. Despite her ADD and obsession with baking (I hate cooking with a passion). She felt real. She was sometimes snarky, sometimes frustrating, sometimes puzzling but always interesting and complex and believable as a character.
I've never read any McKinley before but I new fairy tale retellings were usually her thing but that this wasn't quite her usual thing, being a gritty and dark urban tale about vampires. Yet I am not so sure. This is a dark vampire tale but with a healthy dose of fairy (tale) dust sprinkled all over it, I think, and some sunshine. It is a Beauty and the Beast story, which Sunshine tells to Constantine during their confinement and which, I hear, McKinley is a teeny bit obsessed with but it is not really a romance (damn it!).
Yes, Constantine is definitely the Beast of this piece. He is ugly and alien and he smells. No sparklingly brooding underwear models here. No sighing over anybody's eyes and beautiful chests. Yet Sunshine, and I along with her, grows to love him despite herself and the "resolution" to their relationship at the end, while it is incredibly frustrating in its unclarity, is also incredibly sweet (I did tell you this was a fairy tale, right?).
But back to the unclarity (and the biggest fattest BUT of this book). Questions. Questions, questions everywhere. Where did Sunshine's father and the entire Blaise family disappear to? What are the "bad spots"? Why does Sunshine's mum avoid her all the time and why did she leave her father? What precipitated the Voodoo Wars? Has the presense of supernatural beasties always been the reality of this world or have they just crawled out of the woodwork at some point? What is the Goddess of Pain? What is Mel? And so on and so forth. Answers are not forthcoming.
You know that scene in the middle where naked Sunshine lands on equally naked Constantine but, while he initially appears into this, he soon comes to his senses and won't put out and Sunshine is all frustrated with engorged labia and parts to match. Well, I swear McKinley put this in just to illustrate graphically how she was going to leave her readers at the end of this book. Coitus interruptus, are you bloody kidding me? I need the other two books (at least) in this series, which Mckinley is not writing.
I was going to take a star off for that but then, I know for a fact that I am now going to go read every single other book that McKinley has ever written and come back to this one over and over looking for that something that I have possibly missed but really just to spend some time with Con and Sunshine again, even if they are not doing anything new and Sunshine is mainly blathering on about her cinnamon rolls as big as her head. And if that doesn't make a book five star worthy, I don't know what does.
I am doing this all wrong, aren't I? Because, actually, I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. And even the fact that listening to Sunshine is like talking to someone with a severe case of ADD because she keeps diverting and sidetracking until you lose all sense of what she was talking about to begin with and the fact that the book was like the worst kind of tease, sucking you in, turning you on and dumping you with barely a hint of a resolution, no answers to most of the questions and no sequel in sight wouldn't put me off.
I liked Sunshine. Despite her ADD and obsession with baking (I hate cooking with a passion). She felt real. She was sometimes snarky, sometimes frustrating, sometimes puzzling but always interesting and complex and believable as a character.
I've never read any McKinley before but I new fairy tale retellings were usually her thing but that this wasn't quite her usual thing, being a gritty and dark urban tale about vampires. Yet I am not so sure. This is a dark vampire tale but with a healthy dose of fairy (tale) dust sprinkled all over it, I think, and some sunshine. It is a Beauty and the Beast story, which Sunshine tells to Constantine during their confinement and which, I hear, McKinley is a teeny bit obsessed with but it is not really a romance (damn it!).
Yes, Constantine is definitely the Beast of this piece. He is ugly and alien and he smells. No sparklingly brooding underwear models here. No sighing over anybody's eyes and beautiful chests. Yet Sunshine, and I along with her, grows to love him despite herself and the "resolution" to their relationship at the end, while it is incredibly frustrating in its unclarity, is also incredibly sweet (I did tell you this was a fairy tale, right?).
But back to the unclarity (and the biggest fattest BUT of this book). Questions. Questions, questions everywhere. Where did Sunshine's father and the entire Blaise family disappear to? What are the "bad spots"? Why does Sunshine's mum avoid her all the time and why did she leave her father? What precipitated the Voodoo Wars? Has the presense of supernatural beasties always been the reality of this world or have they just crawled out of the woodwork at some point? What is the Goddess of Pain? What is Mel? And so on and so forth. Answers are not forthcoming.
You know that scene in the middle where naked Sunshine lands on equally naked Constantine but, while he initially appears into this, he soon comes to his senses and won't put out and Sunshine is all frustrated with engorged labia and parts to match. Well, I swear McKinley put this in just to illustrate graphically how she was going to leave her readers at the end of this book. Coitus interruptus, are you bloody kidding me? I need the other two books (at least) in this series, which Mckinley is not writing.
I was going to take a star off for that but then, I know for a fact that I am now going to go read every single other book that McKinley has ever written and come back to this one over and over looking for that something that I have possibly missed but really just to spend some time with Con and Sunshine again, even if they are not doing anything new and Sunshine is mainly blathering on about her cinnamon rolls as big as her head. And if that doesn't make a book five star worthy, I don't know what does.
July 9, 2018
Oh man what a fucking disappointment. I was really really looking for some creepy vampires, this has been tagged as "horror"? Didn't really feel horror-ish to me.. annnnd I don't know but Constantine was like the lamest vampire love interest ever. The female MC annoyed the fuck out of me and I mostly just fantasized about kicking her teeth in.
And for the most part of the book ABSOLUTELY NOTHING happened!!! It was all blah blah blah "the Others this and that" and making cinnamon rolls.
I can't even remember when I read a book this boring...
And for the most part of the book ABSOLUTELY NOTHING happened!!! It was all blah blah blah "the Others this and that" and making cinnamon rolls.
I can't even remember when I read a book this boring...
May 31, 2017
Hmm. Where to start? This book was quite unique and strange. I love me a good vampire tale and this certainly was one- vampires are at the centre of the actions of the story. And yet...the point of the book seemed to be more about the world building. This was a fascinating world with many magics and part blood demons, ward makers and charm weavers, a special Others police force...
But while it was fascinating in places, the book seemed to be almost a long information dump. If this was the first in a series, this would make more sense, but Sunshine is a stand- alone. It was frustrating to me that we did not learn more about Constantine. He is alien, aloof, cold, as one might expect from a vampire and yet hard to get a handle on.
I thought Sunshine was a great character in an urban fantasy setting different to many others in tone as much as geography. The book felt wordy but this may have to do with my tiny print mass market paperback and my dodgy eyesight and not McKinley's writing!
Did I like this book? I don't know. Did I like reading another and different take on vampires? Very much.
But while it was fascinating in places, the book seemed to be almost a long information dump. If this was the first in a series, this would make more sense, but Sunshine is a stand- alone. It was frustrating to me that we did not learn more about Constantine. He is alien, aloof, cold, as one might expect from a vampire and yet hard to get a handle on.
I thought Sunshine was a great character in an urban fantasy setting different to many others in tone as much as geography. The book felt wordy but this may have to do with my tiny print mass market paperback and my dodgy eyesight and not McKinley's writing!
Did I like this book? I don't know. Did I like reading another and different take on vampires? Very much.
March 24, 2011
I wish that Robin Mckinley's Sunshine never had to end. I almost didn't read it. I'd visit the fantasy shelf in the book shops and go "ooh um do I want to read this or not?" (Funny how the films and books I debate on are often the ones that I've loved the most.) Now, I visit the McKinley shelves, beaming at my favorites. "I wish I could read you for the first time again!"
I read the goodreads and amazon reviews. Some are favorable, others are not. I couldn't tell anyone if they'd like it or not. It's the difference between liking someone and not liking them. The kinds of people that you just click with when you first talk to them. Some grow on you. Sunshine could easily annoy anyone, it's hard to say. Personally, I loved Sunshine's voice. The rambling, yammering, babbling, run-on sentences, digressions (really? *gasp*!). Robin Mckinley's world building and Sunshine's exterior and inner lives were "This is where I live" taking me by the hand. I never wanted to leave. Sometimes quiet reflection is best. Those unnameable life things like falling in or out of love. I've often thought people made up reasons afterwards to put a finger on something that just plain is. Another thing I loved about this book is that those facts are the underlying, respectful quiet. The lust for life is vibrant. I loved it all. The taking by the hand and thought threads I didn't wanna let go of.
I didn't want to let go of the darkness either. McKinley made it necessary. Like how the best artists will see the beauty in the mundane, McKinley saw the darkness in everything. Turning out the lights and seeing what is really there. Rather, it would be hearing because most can't see in the dark. Star Wars lifeforce stuff. McKinley is freaking Yoda. Put your ears to the grindstone (as Con lives in stone! Right-on, Mariel! Idiot) and all kinds of things slither out from the bottom. I loved the fantasy of what had been trapped getting free. Owning up to the dark.
McKinley is the best at writing those haunting scenes that stick out in my mind. (I don't wanna spoil for anyone who hasn't read it...) The Hero and the Crown had a great part of a talking dragon's head infecting the heroine with its sickness beyond death. That stood out to me and I liken it to my own negative thoughts during times of depression. A dragon's head mounted on my wall would taunt me. (I inherited my grandpa's shark's head on a wall mount. I'd get rid of it if it weren't one of two things I have of his [d'oh and don't forget the cat, Mariel!]. My birds like to sit in its head. Probably shouldn't have reminded myself of that. I'm just the kind of nutjob who will make up a shark voice and use it to threaten the little guys...)
Sunshine has no shortage of those scenes. When Sunshine meets Con. There was no doubt that this book was going down in my favorites list after that scene.
I pictured Con the vampire to look like Dave Gahan during the Songs of Faith and Devotion Depeche Mode era. (Depeche Mode's In Your Room video, for example.) Um I kinda have a type. Dave Gahan/Jeremy Northam/Michael Imperioli/Mitchell on uk Being Human show (sigh they are doing an American remake). (Mitchell is a wonderful vampire character. I love his struggles to be human. Much like humanity struggles to be human. Badly.) Yeah, he's sexy but that's just me being a pervert. The point of this story was never about romance. It's just about attraction. Mervyn Peake wrote in his wonderful Gormenghast books that Fuchsia was naturally more attracted to the dark than to the light. It's the way that some people grow in directions.
I do wish that McKinley would write a sequel. She has said that she might eventually write another set in the same 'verse. There was more that I'd like to know about the magical elements. Otherwise, I just wish it went on because it was that absorbing that I could forget about everything else. Why can't every book do that?
P.s. One thing everyone is right about is that the cinnamon rolls sound delicious.
I read the goodreads and amazon reviews. Some are favorable, others are not. I couldn't tell anyone if they'd like it or not. It's the difference between liking someone and not liking them. The kinds of people that you just click with when you first talk to them. Some grow on you. Sunshine could easily annoy anyone, it's hard to say. Personally, I loved Sunshine's voice. The rambling, yammering, babbling, run-on sentences, digressions (really? *gasp*!). Robin Mckinley's world building and Sunshine's exterior and inner lives were "This is where I live" taking me by the hand. I never wanted to leave. Sometimes quiet reflection is best. Those unnameable life things like falling in or out of love. I've often thought people made up reasons afterwards to put a finger on something that just plain is. Another thing I loved about this book is that those facts are the underlying, respectful quiet. The lust for life is vibrant. I loved it all. The taking by the hand and thought threads I didn't wanna let go of.
I didn't want to let go of the darkness either. McKinley made it necessary. Like how the best artists will see the beauty in the mundane, McKinley saw the darkness in everything. Turning out the lights and seeing what is really there. Rather, it would be hearing because most can't see in the dark. Star Wars lifeforce stuff. McKinley is freaking Yoda. Put your ears to the grindstone (as Con lives in stone! Right-on, Mariel! Idiot) and all kinds of things slither out from the bottom. I loved the fantasy of what had been trapped getting free. Owning up to the dark.
McKinley is the best at writing those haunting scenes that stick out in my mind. (I don't wanna spoil for anyone who hasn't read it...) The Hero and the Crown had a great part of a talking dragon's head infecting the heroine with its sickness beyond death. That stood out to me and I liken it to my own negative thoughts during times of depression. A dragon's head mounted on my wall would taunt me. (I inherited my grandpa's shark's head on a wall mount. I'd get rid of it if it weren't one of two things I have of his [d'oh and don't forget the cat, Mariel!]. My birds like to sit in its head. Probably shouldn't have reminded myself of that. I'm just the kind of nutjob who will make up a shark voice and use it to threaten the little guys...)
Sunshine has no shortage of those scenes. When Sunshine meets Con. There was no doubt that this book was going down in my favorites list after that scene.
I pictured Con the vampire to look like Dave Gahan during the Songs of Faith and Devotion Depeche Mode era. (Depeche Mode's In Your Room video, for example.) Um I kinda have a type. Dave Gahan/Jeremy Northam/Michael Imperioli/Mitchell on uk Being Human show (sigh they are doing an American remake). (Mitchell is a wonderful vampire character. I love his struggles to be human. Much like humanity struggles to be human. Badly.) Yeah, he's sexy but that's just me being a pervert. The point of this story was never about romance. It's just about attraction. Mervyn Peake wrote in his wonderful Gormenghast books that Fuchsia was naturally more attracted to the dark than to the light. It's the way that some people grow in directions.
I do wish that McKinley would write a sequel. She has said that she might eventually write another set in the same 'verse. There was more that I'd like to know about the magical elements. Otherwise, I just wish it went on because it was that absorbing that I could forget about everything else. Why can't every book do that?
P.s. One thing everyone is right about is that the cinnamon rolls sound delicious.
March 23, 2021
Insufferably verbose - you can't go a full scene without McKinley interjecting with 6 pages of worldbuilding - and painfully overwritten. By the end of Part II, about 200 pages in (paperback ed.) we've had literally three (3) things happening, the rest of the page-time being dedicated to vapid dialogues, insipid characterization (I found telling this amorphous blob of secondary characters apart all but impossible), an overly-detailed worldbuilding that somehow still manages to come off as inconsistent and vague, and a frankly inexplicable obsession with the genetic makeup of supernatural creatures I'm pretty sure absolutely no one has, like, ever asked for.
The protagonist - called, variably, Raven or Rae or Sunshine: obviously she couldn't be your run-of-the-mill Lisa or Ashely because, and I hope for your sake you're receiving this mind-blowing piece of news while sitting down, SHE IS SPECIAL (but props to McKinley for coming up with not one, not two, but three equally absurd names for her, I guess?) kept addressing the readers directly for no reason I can fathom, save for the fact that the woman clearly suffers from a bad case of being incapable of shutting up ("Mind you..." Mind what, Raven-Rae-Sunshine? Mind what). Or possibly McKinley thought this is a cute literary quirk? *Shudders*
The book is also ridden by extremely uncomfortable jabs at people who suffer from addiction (according to McKinley covering yourself head to toe with mud and algae from the nearby lake will give you the distinctive appearance of aswamp monster drug addict) and mental health issues (ah, the early 2000s!) but the crown for Cringiest Moment of All goes to that time Raven-Rae-Sunshine's thoughts took a bizarre tangent that brought her to consider how "ugly people" are perceived as being more threatening than "beautiful people" (she also mentions "a study" to support this profound truth about human nature so this is clearly Scientific Stuff).
Whatever. Don't mind me, I'm extra cranky because most of my friends apparently really enjoyed this, and I am bitter, all right? I wanted in on the Sunshine love train too! But I just couldn't take this book seriously (McKinley didn't help any, what with using words like "globnet" for the internet, "blinks" for dollars, "thing-thralls" for folks subjugated by incubi/succubi, and "Carthaginian" and "Spartan" as, I kid you not, swear words).
Nah.
The protagonist - called, variably, Raven or Rae or Sunshine: obviously she couldn't be your run-of-the-mill Lisa or Ashely because, and I hope for your sake you're receiving this mind-blowing piece of news while sitting down, SHE IS SPECIAL (but props to McKinley for coming up with not one, not two, but three equally absurd names for her, I guess?) kept addressing the readers directly for no reason I can fathom, save for the fact that the woman clearly suffers from a bad case of being incapable of shutting up ("Mind you..." Mind what, Raven-Rae-Sunshine? Mind what). Or possibly McKinley thought this is a cute literary quirk? *Shudders*
The book is also ridden by extremely uncomfortable jabs at people who suffer from addiction (according to McKinley covering yourself head to toe with mud and algae from the nearby lake will give you the distinctive appearance of a
Whatever. Don't mind me, I'm extra cranky because most of my friends apparently really enjoyed this, and I am bitter, all right? I wanted in on the Sunshine love train too! But I just couldn't take this book seriously (McKinley didn't help any, what with using words like "globnet" for the internet, "blinks" for dollars, "thing-thralls" for folks subjugated by incubi/succubi, and "Carthaginian" and "Spartan" as, I kid you not, swear words).
Nah.
May 18, 2014
For my sanity, I need to stop reading any books that are marketed towards fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Because spoiler alert: none of these books are ever like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Sunshine is about a normal girl--seriously cannot express how numbingly normal this girl is--who, guess what!, is nicknamed Sunshine (gag) and finds herself tangled up in a supernatural battle after being kidnapped by vampires.
Sunshine wakes up every morning at 4am to bake cinnamon rolls for the family bakery. Sunshine likes to spend time in the sun. Sunshine spends pages and pages describing her family, her friends, her cinnamon rolls, her cherry tarts, her apple pies, and her bakery's customers even though it's terribly uninteresting and nobody cares. Sunshine does not like to talk about the fact that she's a powerful sorceress or the fact that she's embroiled in a war between vampires and humans or the fact that she is party to a very tense, strange, and unexplained sex scene with a vampire midway through her story. Sunshine doesn't like to talk about anything that is of actual importance or interest. Sunshine makes cinnamon rolls at 4am every morning, though, and Sunshine loves to talk about that. Sunshine manages to kill a vampire with a butter knife, which should be nigh impossible and definitely merits some investigation, but Sunshine doesn't really mention it afterward. Sunshine is too busy baking cinnamon rolls at 4am.
Sunshine and Sunshine are deathly dull.
Sunshine is about a normal girl--seriously cannot express how numbingly normal this girl is--who, guess what!, is nicknamed Sunshine (gag) and finds herself tangled up in a supernatural battle after being kidnapped by vampires.
Sunshine wakes up every morning at 4am to bake cinnamon rolls for the family bakery. Sunshine likes to spend time in the sun. Sunshine spends pages and pages describing her family, her friends, her cinnamon rolls, her cherry tarts, her apple pies, and her bakery's customers even though it's terribly uninteresting and nobody cares. Sunshine does not like to talk about the fact that she's a powerful sorceress or the fact that she's embroiled in a war between vampires and humans or the fact that she is party to a very tense, strange, and unexplained sex scene with a vampire midway through her story. Sunshine doesn't like to talk about anything that is of actual importance or interest. Sunshine makes cinnamon rolls at 4am every morning, though, and Sunshine loves to talk about that. Sunshine manages to kill a vampire with a butter knife, which should be nigh impossible and definitely merits some investigation, but Sunshine doesn't really mention it afterward. Sunshine is too busy baking cinnamon rolls at 4am.
Sunshine and Sunshine are deathly dull.
October 29, 2011
I look forward to this season every year because it means I get to reread SUNSHINE. This is one of my few solid seasonal reads. I revisit it every year for so many reasons. Because it originally came out in October. Because it absolutely encapsulates autumn for me. And Halloween, of course, what with all the vampires and the midnight outings and the smell of fallen leaves and cinnamon rolls in the air. And because it's just one of the biggest Angie books there is. I remember being almost apoplectic with excitement when I heard Robin McKinley was writing a vampire novel. The whole notion filled me with tingles. And imagine how happy I was when it turned out to be better than I could ever have imagined. I know people have strong feelings on this book, one way or the other, and it's certainly not your run-of-the-mill urban fantasy (thank heavens for that). But for those who love feisty girls with thoughts of their own, ugly vampires with developing senses of humor, and wonderfully rich, dense, smart writing, this book may very well have your name on it. As for me, I bought it the day it came out (almost exactly eight years ago). I took it home and read it aloud with DH. And to this day favorite passages and scenes come up in our daily conversation. So as Halloween approaches, a review of my very favorite spooky read.
A side note: I'm not even slightly embarrassed to admit I own all three U.S. editions. If a new edition of SUNSHINE comes out, I buy it. End of story. It helps that they're all so very pretty. If pressed, I will admit that the original hardcover with the chandelier is my favorite. But I adore all three. And the important thing is that they're there. On my shelves. So that when the urge arises, I can take them out and stroke them and know that they're there and that they're loved. I know. But like I said--not even a little embarrassed.
These opening lines set the scene. Sunshine just wanted some solitude. Just a little time away from the strange and chaotic life she leads as the head baker at Charlie's and as her mother's daughter. She gets up every morning at the butt crack of dawn to get the dough going for her famous Cinnamon Rolls as Big as Your Head. And for Sunshine's Killer Zebras. And for Bitter Chocolate Death. And any number of awesome, original desserts and pastries she whips up on a daily basis at Charlie's--her stepfather's diner. She gets up and fights another round with her overprotective, obsessive mother. She gets up and goes out with her former soldier/reformed biker/cook boyfriend Mel. She gets up and gets through another day in New Arcadia--one of the few remaining spots that wasn't utterly demolished by the Voodoo Wars. And all she wanted was a moment alone in a peaceful place. So she drove out to the lake to sit. And that's when they came. And that's where they got her. As everybody knows, you don't hear them coming. Not when they're vampires. And you don't come back either. But Sunshine does come back after her extended and terrifying encounter with one vampire Constantine. She comes back and comes home. But. Even though she's home once more, nothing is the same. For all her surviving the encounter, she may not survive living with herself after.
Sunshine is one of those sarcastic, supremely set-in-her-ways tough girls that I seem to live for. The girl holds my heart in her flour-dusted hands. And because she is rendered in Robin McKinley's trademark prose, she's even more quirky and meandering and tangentially-inclined than those girls usually are. The tangents and meanderings bother some readers, I understand. If long internal monologues aren't your cup of tea, then they're not your cup of tea. But nobody can say that Ms. McKinley didn't go all-out hardcore when she sat down to write an urban fantasy. Because she did. And I love SUNSHINE with the fierce kind of love I reserve for those characters and stories that take no prisoners and make no apologies. I knew I would love Sunshine herself on page two when she set out to describe her stepfather.
There's so much fight and heart in that simple statement. Her relationship with Charlie is a highlight of the book, as he took her in as his own, gave her a job and a way out, and understood her when her mother could only scream. The way she introduced him made me love her. Many of Rae's rambling monologues include wry, self-effacing asides that always make me grin. For example:
Set against the backdrop of almost certain doom, these barbs of humor secured my affection the way nothing else could have. I laugh a lot when I read SUNSHINE. I also shiver deliciously with fear. Which brings us to Con. As if Sunshine wasn't enough, Robin McKinley had to go and write Con--a vampire as far removed from the sexy-sparkly variety as is inhumanly possible. I really don't know of any other author who could make me fall in love with a vampire with skin the color of old mushrooms and a voice that unhinges your spine. But fall in love with Con I did. Or, more precisely, fall in love with the unlikely alliance of Sunshine-and-Con I did. It is this unprecedented friendship between human and vampire that is the real heart of the book. And it is made more believable (and much more valuable) by the lengths to which the author goes to to display how antithetical, how other, they are from one another. These two are not drawn together by attraction or random circumstance. They are bound together by the will to survive, by the refusal to live at the expense of another life, and by a slow-simmering, if uncomfortable, mutual admiration. The combination of Sunshine's jittery rambles and Con's remote and ominous silences gets me every time. As does the smart, knotty writing, Sunshine's passion for what she does, and the wonderful, wonderful restraint exercised to let the story unfold in its own way. Every time I read it, I find extra nuance and sympathy. And a perfect ending. As only she knows how to write them. This book, you guys. This best of all combinations of fairy tale, urban fantasy, and horror story. Neil Gaiman notably described it as "pretty much perfect," and I have to concur. I never tire of it. It's October once more, and I'm feeling that familiar SUNSHINE pull. Which copy shall I read this time?
A side note: I'm not even slightly embarrassed to admit I own all three U.S. editions. If a new edition of SUNSHINE comes out, I buy it. End of story. It helps that they're all so very pretty. If pressed, I will admit that the original hardcover with the chandelier is my favorite. But I adore all three. And the important thing is that they're there. On my shelves. So that when the urge arises, I can take them out and stroke them and know that they're there and that they're loved. I know. But like I said--not even a little embarrassed.
It was a dumb thing to do but it wasn't that dumb. There hadn't been any trouble out at the lake in years. And it was so exquisitely far from the rest of my life.
These opening lines set the scene. Sunshine just wanted some solitude. Just a little time away from the strange and chaotic life she leads as the head baker at Charlie's and as her mother's daughter. She gets up every morning at the butt crack of dawn to get the dough going for her famous Cinnamon Rolls as Big as Your Head. And for Sunshine's Killer Zebras. And for Bitter Chocolate Death. And any number of awesome, original desserts and pastries she whips up on a daily basis at Charlie's--her stepfather's diner. She gets up and fights another round with her overprotective, obsessive mother. She gets up and goes out with her former soldier/reformed biker/cook boyfriend Mel. She gets up and gets through another day in New Arcadia--one of the few remaining spots that wasn't utterly demolished by the Voodoo Wars. And all she wanted was a moment alone in a peaceful place. So she drove out to the lake to sit. And that's when they came. And that's where they got her. As everybody knows, you don't hear them coming. Not when they're vampires. And you don't come back either. But Sunshine does come back after her extended and terrifying encounter with one vampire Constantine. She comes back and comes home. But. Even though she's home once more, nothing is the same. For all her surviving the encounter, she may not survive living with herself after.
Sunshine is one of those sarcastic, supremely set-in-her-ways tough girls that I seem to live for. The girl holds my heart in her flour-dusted hands. And because she is rendered in Robin McKinley's trademark prose, she's even more quirky and meandering and tangentially-inclined than those girls usually are. The tangents and meanderings bother some readers, I understand. If long internal monologues aren't your cup of tea, then they're not your cup of tea. But nobody can say that Ms. McKinley didn't go all-out hardcore when she sat down to write an urban fantasy. Because she did. And I love SUNSHINE with the fierce kind of love I reserve for those characters and stories that take no prisoners and make no apologies. I knew I would love Sunshine herself on page two when she set out to describe her stepfather.
Charlie is one of the big good guys in my universe.
There's so much fight and heart in that simple statement. Her relationship with Charlie is a highlight of the book, as he took her in as his own, gave her a job and a way out, and understood her when her mother could only scream. The way she introduced him made me love her. Many of Rae's rambling monologues include wry, self-effacing asides that always make me grin. For example:
I didn't want to know that the monster that lived under your bed when you were a kid not only really is there but used to have a few beers with your dad.
Set against the backdrop of almost certain doom, these barbs of humor secured my affection the way nothing else could have. I laugh a lot when I read SUNSHINE. I also shiver deliciously with fear. Which brings us to Con. As if Sunshine wasn't enough, Robin McKinley had to go and write Con--a vampire as far removed from the sexy-sparkly variety as is inhumanly possible. I really don't know of any other author who could make me fall in love with a vampire with skin the color of old mushrooms and a voice that unhinges your spine. But fall in love with Con I did. Or, more precisely, fall in love with the unlikely alliance of Sunshine-and-Con I did. It is this unprecedented friendship between human and vampire that is the real heart of the book. And it is made more believable (and much more valuable) by the lengths to which the author goes to to display how antithetical, how other, they are from one another. These two are not drawn together by attraction or random circumstance. They are bound together by the will to survive, by the refusal to live at the expense of another life, and by a slow-simmering, if uncomfortable, mutual admiration. The combination of Sunshine's jittery rambles and Con's remote and ominous silences gets me every time. As does the smart, knotty writing, Sunshine's passion for what she does, and the wonderful, wonderful restraint exercised to let the story unfold in its own way. Every time I read it, I find extra nuance and sympathy. And a perfect ending. As only she knows how to write them. This book, you guys. This best of all combinations of fairy tale, urban fantasy, and horror story. Neil Gaiman notably described it as "pretty much perfect," and I have to concur. I never tire of it. It's October once more, and I'm feeling that familiar SUNSHINE pull. Which copy shall I read this time?
October 3, 2018
3.5
What a frustrating book! On one side, this is an amazing read. McKinley paints a deeply complex and detailed world peopled by humans, weres, vampires, demons, and people who can wield magic. The feel is very much urban however, but one that has suffered wars and has not yet quite recovered. The author succeeds in conveying such depths that it is only too easy to immerse oneself.
Characters are also brilliantly portrayed, full of subtlety and ambiguity. Rae is very easy to like. Her seemingly simple life as a baker (yes, the descriptions of her baking are mouth-watering!) transforms into something else but nothing is as what it seems.
Additionally, the vampires in this story are nothing we have come used to expect. There is an alieness to them that makes them more than just 'Other' - somehow even repulsive.
So, what went wrong? Well, as much as I liked Rae, her narration ended up distancing me from the story. The first person in this instance becomes a kind of stream of consciousness. Usually I'm fine with this but here it made the narrative convoluted. This annoyed me to no end because otherwise I can see I would have loved this book.
Perhaps it is me after all... I may try to give Sunshine another go in a while.
What a frustrating book! On one side, this is an amazing read. McKinley paints a deeply complex and detailed world peopled by humans, weres, vampires, demons, and people who can wield magic. The feel is very much urban however, but one that has suffered wars and has not yet quite recovered. The author succeeds in conveying such depths that it is only too easy to immerse oneself.
Characters are also brilliantly portrayed, full of subtlety and ambiguity. Rae is very easy to like. Her seemingly simple life as a baker (yes, the descriptions of her baking are mouth-watering!) transforms into something else but nothing is as what it seems.
Additionally, the vampires in this story are nothing we have come used to expect. There is an alieness to them that makes them more than just 'Other' - somehow even repulsive.
So, what went wrong? Well, as much as I liked Rae, her narration ended up distancing me from the story. The first person in this instance becomes a kind of stream of consciousness. Usually I'm fine with this but here it made the narrative convoluted. This annoyed me to no end because otherwise I can see I would have loved this book.
Perhaps it is me after all... I may try to give Sunshine another go in a while.
April 16, 2011
I was put off by the narrative at the start of the book that explained what had happened before. I'm never a big fan of those. Fortunately that was a concise section and I was able to get into the story about Sunshine. I loved the next 1/3 of the book. It actually felt cosy learning about Sunshine's life in the bakery. To some this may seem mundane, but to me it was nice after a hectic day to read about how to make cinnamon rolls. The section with her trapped with the vampire Constantine, both chained to a wall, was a wonderful concept. A vampire and human figuring out how to work together to escape an impossible situation was just wonderfully conceived. The middle section bogs down a bit as a lot of novels do, but the grand finale is well worth the wait. Nice to see vampires back to being vicious, unpredictable creatures, but with an innate honor code that allows them to form alliances, which in this case spurs the plot. No brooding, handsome vampires strolling through these pages. The weight of book, the worthiness, really comes down to whether I would reread a book and this book certainly qualifies.
April 2, 2017
2.5 stars
What I can only assume is a superb April Fools joke by the book gods, my first themed book for April Singles turned out to be an actual Non-series book (if you aren't as obsessed with my life as I am, usually during this theme I laugh, groan, and joke how all the books I pick for this turn out to be actually in a series). What is wrong with this you ask? There is no way on earth this should be a contained to one freaking book story.
Don't believe me? Imagine if you will, if Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning had been a standalone. Don't just shrug and move on, GO THERE. Because I have been to that bellow to the book gods place thanks to this book.
This reminded me a lot of Moning's series, incredible created universe, first person pov from heroine who is young and not aware of her own power, plethora of characters who could be good or evil, a dark mysterious intriguing dude, and a will they or won't they. Oh, and there's Mel. Who is Mel you ask? He's our heroine's boyfriend, who is sweet, sexy, and affable. I know there is more to his story because of the clues we are given but I'll never really know, because STANDALONE.
If this reminded me of Darkfever so much, why only 2.5 stars? It has the addictive reading quality but oh boy is our first person pov heroine into rambling. She goes off on tangents, which sometimes have observational little life nuggets but mostly make you want to skim. There's also a feeling of being dizzily just dropped into the world and I spent most the beginning trying to understand who and what story the author was telling.
If you want your vampire stories a little darker, the vampires in this world definitely not of the sparkle quality and something a little off the beaten path, this would be a good pick. Just be prepared to gird your loins at how rambling the heroine can get. Also, did I mention the whole no series thing? 'Cause seriously, you'll probably live at least 2.4% of your life always wishing you could know if Pat is evil, who the Goddess of Evil truly is, and if Mel is Sunshine's Tree.
This story is magical but DARK magic because it will leave you feeling like you're in a straight jacket bouncing off padded walls crying and screaming to book gods about how you "Just need to know if Sunshine and Constantine bang!!"
What I can only assume is a superb April Fools joke by the book gods, my first themed book for April Singles turned out to be an actual Non-series book (if you aren't as obsessed with my life as I am, usually during this theme I laugh, groan, and joke how all the books I pick for this turn out to be actually in a series). What is wrong with this you ask? There is no way on earth this should be a contained to one freaking book story.
Don't believe me? Imagine if you will, if Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning had been a standalone. Don't just shrug and move on, GO THERE. Because I have been to that bellow to the book gods place thanks to this book.
This reminded me a lot of Moning's series, incredible created universe, first person pov from heroine who is young and not aware of her own power, plethora of characters who could be good or evil, a dark mysterious intriguing dude, and a will they or won't they. Oh, and there's Mel. Who is Mel you ask? He's our heroine's boyfriend, who is sweet, sexy, and affable. I know there is more to his story because of the clues we are given but I'll never really know, because STANDALONE.
If this reminded me of Darkfever so much, why only 2.5 stars? It has the addictive reading quality but oh boy is our first person pov heroine into rambling. She goes off on tangents, which sometimes have observational little life nuggets but mostly make you want to skim. There's also a feeling of being dizzily just dropped into the world and I spent most the beginning trying to understand who and what story the author was telling.
If you want your vampire stories a little darker, the vampires in this world definitely not of the sparkle quality and something a little off the beaten path, this would be a good pick. Just be prepared to gird your loins at how rambling the heroine can get. Also, did I mention the whole no series thing? 'Cause seriously, you'll probably live at least 2.4% of your life always wishing you could know if Pat is evil, who the Goddess of Evil truly is, and if Mel is Sunshine's Tree.
This story is magical but DARK magic because it will leave you feeling like you're in a straight jacket bouncing off padded walls crying and screaming to book gods about how you "Just need to know if Sunshine and Constantine bang!!"
September 18, 2010
Lots of people seem to want RM to write a sequel to this. After one reread, what I truly demand is the cookbook. Perhaps wisely the author avoids too many details about the cooking/baking, which is maybe wise, readers with different baking skills might find it obvious or ludicrous or something, but the references are all so tempting. I really want to know the secret for Bitter Chocolate death! And I am half-seriously thinking of compiling a list of everything Rae bakes during this book just for inspiration. But for the list of fictional books I would love to read ( nod to another McKinley book) would be Rae Seddon´s cookbooks.
A few thoughts:
- this book is a lot like Dragonhaven. I had spotted they were alike, but only now on rereading this how much they really are alike, maybe I should call them mentally the "tough" McKinley books, they are very different in tone from the other dreamier, gentler of her novels. They are also non-dog books which is a bit of a pity, I love her fictional dogs. Back to comparing, both books are first person narratives, set in very different alternate worlds and where lots of exposition about that world is necessary. Exposition which must came from a 1st person PoV which can be a bit jarring. I think the author does it well, but not sure that can be done seamlessly, not for worlds sufficiently different and books relatively short, and not all readers will like it (I do). On both Dragonhaven and Sunshine the narrators are not *likable* or well integrated, or perhaps even neurotypical ( Jake. I think there are hints enough on Dragonhaven) narrators. I loved both books, but I can see where that would bother a lot of people specially if they need characters to be likable to like them (I will admit I do not have to, though not sure I can explain why). And on both books, major stuff happens within the rules of its universe that changes how the rules thought to be true.
- Has anybody found that the first part of this book feels like a novella and (almost)complete on its own? Enough exposition of the rules of the universe, action, personal discoveries, a conclusion ( and a wonderful "last" line which just makes me go wow). Without any sort of evidence at all it feels to me like the novel grew out of a novella type story ( the first part). I do not mean that in a padded-extraneous-story way, but in a good way, that the interesting things sometimes are what is after the story. And this relates to perhaps the need, or not, for a sequel which I was just getting into:
- There are many things about that universe we do not know about and which I want to know - more on Con and his difference take on vampirism, more on the goddess of pain, more on Mel, more on the Blaises. But it ends well, without cliffhangers, and with a feeling that this story is always about there being more story. Do we really need a sequel? I don´t know. I would read it absolutely and love finding out more about that universe, but I am not sure if it truly is required.
- this is a crazy, but the one novel Sunshine really reminded me of was The Lord of the Rings particularly The Fellowship, the sense of ominous evil threatening, though without any clear plan of how it could be defeated. Or not so crazy, but also reminded me a bit of Barbara Hambly´s great ( horrific and creepy and sort of anti vampire fandom) Those who Hunt the Night, that vampires are *horror*.
- now for something spoilerific, rereading I was impressed how well written and planned and plotted it all was. Except for one small detail, I can not understand why Rae would suddenly see significance in the number of Mel´s live tattoos, when she tells us about it before without seeing anything on it. She is different than before, yes, but I do not understand it well enough. Maybe on a sequel, we find out more about Mel which makes sense of it.
A few thoughts:
- this book is a lot like Dragonhaven. I had spotted they were alike, but only now on rereading this how much they really are alike, maybe I should call them mentally the "tough" McKinley books, they are very different in tone from the other dreamier, gentler of her novels. They are also non-dog books which is a bit of a pity, I love her fictional dogs. Back to comparing, both books are first person narratives, set in very different alternate worlds and where lots of exposition about that world is necessary. Exposition which must came from a 1st person PoV which can be a bit jarring. I think the author does it well, but not sure that can be done seamlessly, not for worlds sufficiently different and books relatively short, and not all readers will like it (I do). On both Dragonhaven and Sunshine the narrators are not *likable* or well integrated, or perhaps even neurotypical ( Jake. I think there are hints enough on Dragonhaven) narrators. I loved both books, but I can see where that would bother a lot of people specially if they need characters to be likable to like them (I will admit I do not have to, though not sure I can explain why). And on both books, major stuff happens within the rules of its universe that changes how the rules thought to be true.
- Has anybody found that the first part of this book feels like a novella and (almost)complete on its own? Enough exposition of the rules of the universe, action, personal discoveries, a conclusion ( and a wonderful "last" line which just makes me go wow). Without any sort of evidence at all it feels to me like the novel grew out of a novella type story ( the first part). I do not mean that in a padded-extraneous-story way, but in a good way, that the interesting things sometimes are what is after the story. And this relates to perhaps the need, or not, for a sequel which I was just getting into:
- There are many things about that universe we do not know about and which I want to know - more on Con and his difference take on vampirism, more on the goddess of pain, more on Mel, more on the Blaises. But it ends well, without cliffhangers, and with a feeling that this story is always about there being more story. Do we really need a sequel? I don´t know. I would read it absolutely and love finding out more about that universe, but I am not sure if it truly is required.
- this is a crazy, but the one novel Sunshine really reminded me of was The Lord of the Rings particularly The Fellowship, the sense of ominous evil threatening, though without any clear plan of how it could be defeated. Or not so crazy, but also reminded me a bit of Barbara Hambly´s great ( horrific and creepy and sort of anti vampire fandom) Those who Hunt the Night, that vampires are *horror*.
- now for something spoilerific, rereading I was impressed how well written and planned and plotted it all was. Except for one small detail, I can not understand why Rae would suddenly see significance in the number of Mel´s live tattoos, when she tells us about it before without seeing anything on it. She is different than before, yes, but I do not understand it well enough. Maybe on a sequel, we find out more about Mel which makes sense of it.
September 29, 2021
Did Not Finish--51 percent.
This book broke me. It had all of my not favorite things to wade through as a reader. We had endless information dumps, random monologuing, and just random pages of the main character talking/remembering something and then we jump back to the "present" where someone is asking her a freaking question. I can't even tell you anything except this has vampires (or suckers), weres, and demons. And I guess magical families? I don't even know people. This was terrible. And people saying this screamed for a second book. It did not.
"Sunshine" follows a baker named Rae, also called Sunshine (hence the title) who ends up kidnapped by a bunch of vampires in order to have another vampire feed on her. And from that instance we have Rae remember her grandmother and a game they used to play and you know what, go look up the book synopsis. I don't even have the energy I need to fake caring about what this book was about.
Rae was just a walking plot point. I can't even talk about her really. She's all over the place and McKinley did not do a good job with developing her through the 51 percent of the book I read. I can tell you that she loves sunshine. Has an unhealthy relationship with her mom (who we never hear talk or speak to her since they are constantly beefing) and has a boyfriend named Mel. And Rae loves to just talk and provide information dumps.
Everyone else is just there. They are asking questions or explaining things and it's to provide context and information to us dear readers, but it's done in such a bad way. I can only recall one book whose world building was this bad for me and that was Divergent.
The writing was painful. There's very little dialogue happening.
The flow was awful. I hit part three at about 47 percent and felt despair. This book felt endless.
The setting is a world where humans know about vampires, weres, demons. There seems to be arbitrary rules/laws going on and you get to read about them all. There's also a so called War that happened, but apparently no one won? I don't even know. There's a constant discussion of the Special Other Forces (SOF) so I hope you like seeing that acronym over and over again.
I read this for Halloween Bingo 2021, "Vampires" square.
This book broke me. It had all of my not favorite things to wade through as a reader. We had endless information dumps, random monologuing, and just random pages of the main character talking/remembering something and then we jump back to the "present" where someone is asking her a freaking question. I can't even tell you anything except this has vampires (or suckers), weres, and demons. And I guess magical families? I don't even know people. This was terrible. And people saying this screamed for a second book. It did not.
"Sunshine" follows a baker named Rae, also called Sunshine (hence the title) who ends up kidnapped by a bunch of vampires in order to have another vampire feed on her. And from that instance we have Rae remember her grandmother and a game they used to play and you know what, go look up the book synopsis. I don't even have the energy I need to fake caring about what this book was about.
Rae was just a walking plot point. I can't even talk about her really. She's all over the place and McKinley did not do a good job with developing her through the 51 percent of the book I read. I can tell you that she loves sunshine. Has an unhealthy relationship with her mom (who we never hear talk or speak to her since they are constantly beefing) and has a boyfriend named Mel. And Rae loves to just talk and provide information dumps.
Everyone else is just there. They are asking questions or explaining things and it's to provide context and information to us dear readers, but it's done in such a bad way. I can only recall one book whose world building was this bad for me and that was Divergent.
The writing was painful. There's very little dialogue happening.
The flow was awful. I hit part three at about 47 percent and felt despair. This book felt endless.
The setting is a world where humans know about vampires, weres, demons. There seems to be arbitrary rules/laws going on and you get to read about them all. There's also a so called War that happened, but apparently no one won? I don't even know. There's a constant discussion of the Special Other Forces (SOF) so I hope you like seeing that acronym over and over again.
I read this for Halloween Bingo 2021, "Vampires" square.
October 30, 2007
Truth be told, I’m sick to death of vampire stories. There’s so rarely anything original or new in the genre, and I’m really just not a fan of the Sexy, Mysterious, Dangerous Creature of the Night thing anymore.
However, I do love Robin McKinley, she’s the only reason I picked this book up, and I’m glad I did. Turns out this book isn’t “about vampires” in the way you might think; Sunshine’s world is either ours in an unspecified future, or an alternate versions of ours in which magic is very real, supernatural creatures are every damn place, and vampires are just one of the dangers that lurk in the night.
I liked Sunshine because she’s really pretty flawed: she’s got no real ambition other than to continue baking at her stepfather’s coffee house, she doesn’t want to do anything heroic, she’s not precisely warm, friendly, or social, and she freely admits that she’s not a brave person,and that at times, she’s a huge bitch for no real reason. And she’s really not interested in much of anything outside the coffeehouse or books.
I quite like the vampire, Constantine, as well. McKinley seems to have made absolutely no effort to make him in any way attractive, and in fact, makes him nerve-wrackingly inhuman. Actually, she does that with any vampire we see in the story, points out how very human they’re not, which pleased me. Not only that, Constantine almost seems to treat the human world as an aside – not necessarily that he and all vampires are superior to humans, just that the world of humanity is neither here nor there, which I found interesting.
I s’pose I should’ve expected this type of approach; McKinley does love her some twists on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, and this does kind of boil down to that. Except there’s no romance (although there is some accidental nakedness) which is certainly refreshing, but frankly, I’d be willing to read vampire romance she wrote, because she so rarely annoys me with her unlikely romances.
However, I do love Robin McKinley, she’s the only reason I picked this book up, and I’m glad I did. Turns out this book isn’t “about vampires” in the way you might think; Sunshine’s world is either ours in an unspecified future, or an alternate versions of ours in which magic is very real, supernatural creatures are every damn place, and vampires are just one of the dangers that lurk in the night.
I liked Sunshine because she’s really pretty flawed: she’s got no real ambition other than to continue baking at her stepfather’s coffee house, she doesn’t want to do anything heroic, she’s not precisely warm, friendly, or social, and she freely admits that she’s not a brave person,and that at times, she’s a huge bitch for no real reason. And she’s really not interested in much of anything outside the coffeehouse or books.
I quite like the vampire, Constantine, as well. McKinley seems to have made absolutely no effort to make him in any way attractive, and in fact, makes him nerve-wrackingly inhuman. Actually, she does that with any vampire we see in the story, points out how very human they’re not, which pleased me. Not only that, Constantine almost seems to treat the human world as an aside – not necessarily that he and all vampires are superior to humans, just that the world of humanity is neither here nor there, which I found interesting.
I s’pose I should’ve expected this type of approach; McKinley does love her some twists on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, and this does kind of boil down to that. Except there’s no romance (although there is some accidental nakedness) which is certainly refreshing, but frankly, I’d be willing to read vampire romance she wrote, because she so rarely annoys me with her unlikely romances.
January 5, 2009
First of all, let me say I love Robin McKinley's work, and was so excited to see a new title I just grabbed it and started right in. I was pulled into this new world, having a hard time putting the book down, when WHAM! Two pages of erotic description, using language I would never have expected from an author of McKinley's caliber. I felt betrayed, as if I had found a beloved, trusted family friend showing pornographic videos to my children. The language and passage under consideration did nothing either to advance the plot or enhance the characterizations. It was just there, like a worm in the center of what looks to be a lovely piece of fruit. I went on to finish the book, and while there were no more episodes of this nature, my enjoyment of the story was tarnished. McKinley has dealt with far darker sexual issues (Deerskin), but she has never before resorted to the vulgar or titillating trash talk of the so-called romance novels. This could have been a fun read, but fell short. It isn't necessary for a gifted author like McKinley to cheapen her talent by pandering to the lowest common denominator.
March 3, 2013
I have the worst touch pad in the world on my computer, which just erased an entire review. So here's the short version:
The plot: unfocused, slow. It has a few exciting hot spots, spaced widely apart. The end is anti-climatic and doesn't feel worth all the build up. I wasn't thrilled with all the time she spent world-building, which didn't seem to make sense for a standalone novel in which most of that information would never be used or heard from again.
The characters: Sunshine herself was well-drawn. McKinley spent a lot of time detailing her thought processes and letting us get to know her. Her voice was consistent, her fears realistic, and her choices fairly reasonable. Her day-to-day life was very fleshed out, and one of the strongest pieces of the novel. However, other than the lead protagonist and to a certain extent her sort-of hero (who, really, was a strong-and-silent-type archetype with a better vocabulary than usual), the characters in this book were very vaguely sketched or barely outlined at all. They were mostly plot devices or evidence of our character's background and what an awesome chick she is to have the devotion of these people. I wasn't hugely thrilled with the amount of the Special Snowflake Female stuff we had going on here. I hate when authors make a novel centered on a female and then make sure every other woman in the book is duly inferior. (There's one possible exception to that in this one, but I think even she is shown to be lesser by her choice of loyalties and choice to lie to her best friend.) A corollary I find just as irritating is showing her Special Snowflake-ness by the amount of men around her who are overprotective and adore her (even if they don't want to date her) and will do anything for her. There was a bit of that here, too. McKinley kept her use of this mild (I reeeally appreciated that I got to the end of the book and had little idea of what the narrator looked like except that she was skinny-too much to hope that that one would be left out- and nor did I know what the other women looked like either). But there were several pinches too much of it all the same.
And yet: The writing. McKinley is a great writer with a curious, thoughtful mind, and it shows all the way through. She's wonderful at producing an atmosphere and a rhythm that really gives you a sense of the world she's trying to convey, or the inside of the head she's trying to give you a peek into. Her many, many forays into describing the magic of the book, while distracting and, after awhile, a bit repetitive, were also interesting to read. You can tell she was just bursting to tell us her ideas about how the magic worked, and what it must feel like. She clearly took her time choosing her metaphors and making them appropriate for her character, and that really paid off. She really thought through her magic and wanted to explore the how and why and the experience... and managed to do it without taking away the mystery that makes reading about the mystical fun and even enthralling in the hands of the right writer.
She also did a wonderful job of grounding her magic-infused, supernatural haunted story in the experience of the every day. Her heroine worked at a bakery, which involved long hours and not great pay, and we heard about every single time she had to change shifts, work extra hours or deal with complaining customers. We heard about her car troubles and the practicalities of making bread in August. This allowed McKinley to infuse magic in the way that magic works best- seeping up through the cracks of everyday life, when people reach for it on their breaks, or dream about it in their precious few hours of consciousness after work hours are over. Her repeated interest in exploring the workings of the magic and the supernatural beings in the novel ended up making it a bit too regular a part of the routine, which was another problem with how often she went on those digressions. But overall, placing this story within the structure of the mundane still worked very well.
In the end, I appreciated the atmosphere, found one or two moments I connected with the character, and even felt a little sad when we whispered out at the end and I didn't know what was going to happen next. I would have read a sequel. Just goes to show you- even a half-done idea in the hands of a wonderful writer can be very much worth the time spent.
The plot: unfocused, slow. It has a few exciting hot spots, spaced widely apart. The end is anti-climatic and doesn't feel worth all the build up. I wasn't thrilled with all the time she spent world-building, which didn't seem to make sense for a standalone novel in which most of that information would never be used or heard from again.
The characters: Sunshine herself was well-drawn. McKinley spent a lot of time detailing her thought processes and letting us get to know her. Her voice was consistent, her fears realistic, and her choices fairly reasonable. Her day-to-day life was very fleshed out, and one of the strongest pieces of the novel. However, other than the lead protagonist and to a certain extent her sort-of hero (who, really, was a strong-and-silent-type archetype with a better vocabulary than usual), the characters in this book were very vaguely sketched or barely outlined at all. They were mostly plot devices or evidence of our character's background and what an awesome chick she is to have the devotion of these people. I wasn't hugely thrilled with the amount of the Special Snowflake Female stuff we had going on here. I hate when authors make a novel centered on a female and then make sure every other woman in the book is duly inferior. (There's one possible exception to that in this one, but I think even she is shown to be lesser by her choice of loyalties and choice to lie to her best friend.) A corollary I find just as irritating is showing her Special Snowflake-ness by the amount of men around her who are overprotective and adore her (even if they don't want to date her) and will do anything for her. There was a bit of that here, too. McKinley kept her use of this mild (I reeeally appreciated that I got to the end of the book and had little idea of what the narrator looked like except that she was skinny-too much to hope that that one would be left out- and nor did I know what the other women looked like either). But there were several pinches too much of it all the same.
And yet: The writing. McKinley is a great writer with a curious, thoughtful mind, and it shows all the way through. She's wonderful at producing an atmosphere and a rhythm that really gives you a sense of the world she's trying to convey, or the inside of the head she's trying to give you a peek into. Her many, many forays into describing the magic of the book, while distracting and, after awhile, a bit repetitive, were also interesting to read. You can tell she was just bursting to tell us her ideas about how the magic worked, and what it must feel like. She clearly took her time choosing her metaphors and making them appropriate for her character, and that really paid off. She really thought through her magic and wanted to explore the how and why and the experience... and managed to do it without taking away the mystery that makes reading about the mystical fun and even enthralling in the hands of the right writer.
She also did a wonderful job of grounding her magic-infused, supernatural haunted story in the experience of the every day. Her heroine worked at a bakery, which involved long hours and not great pay, and we heard about every single time she had to change shifts, work extra hours or deal with complaining customers. We heard about her car troubles and the practicalities of making bread in August. This allowed McKinley to infuse magic in the way that magic works best- seeping up through the cracks of everyday life, when people reach for it on their breaks, or dream about it in their precious few hours of consciousness after work hours are over. Her repeated interest in exploring the workings of the magic and the supernatural beings in the novel ended up making it a bit too regular a part of the routine, which was another problem with how often she went on those digressions. But overall, placing this story within the structure of the mundane still worked very well.
In the end, I appreciated the atmosphere, found one or two moments I connected with the character, and even felt a little sad when we whispered out at the end and I didn't know what was going to happen next. I would have read a sequel. Just goes to show you- even a half-done idea in the hands of a wonderful writer can be very much worth the time spent.
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