Sunshine

Rating:
Summary: Great Book makes you want more
Review: This was the first time I ever read Robin McKinley books. This story was great even though things didn't happen the way i wanted to. I was kind of mysterious and left me questioning ever turn. I only wish is that she make a second book to tell me what happens to them in the end.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, well-written, a touch of darkness
Review: Sunshine is quite possibly my favorite book by McKinley, who happens to be on my list of favorite writers. But for those familiar with the faerie-tale settings of her other books, Sunshine starts with a bit of a jolt. It's more of an "adult" book, not only in the graphic sexuality and violence, but also in the way themes are presented. Most of her other books have more-or-less the faerie tale ending...everything ties up nicely. This story...leaves a lot of issues trailing (possible sequel?).

I actually liked it better this way. It leaves much to the imagination. Furthermore, though this is also a fantasy (urban fantasy?) novel, it seems more realistic. Sunshine (the main character) is very likeable. McKinley writes true to "tone"...Sunshine seems as real and developed as anyone you might know in real life.

McKinley also does a great job of drawing the reading into a very unlikely romance--the same plotline under a less masterful hand would seem downright corny. But with McKinley, well, you find yourself rooting for the "good guys" with a bit of delightful reluctance.

This is a book well worth buying. I read it from cover to cover in one night--it definitely captures your attention, and keeps through all the way through.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: I got this book for Christmas, and have only now gotten around to reading it. Wow. This book is really, really good. It has an interesting plot presented in a sometimes-humorous manner, which only makes it more enjoyable. I got into vampire stories after reading Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series, and this book, in my opinion, surpasses them all. I have recommended this to all of my friends and would do the same for anyone else. My only complaint is that the ending was not very conclusive, and I truly hope there will be a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Horror Romance
Review: Robin McKinley is most famous in adult fiction for her retellings of Beauty and the Beast (in Beauty and Rose Daughter), and in a way this is another revision of that same story. McKinley herself refers to this by making Beauty and the Beast Sunshine's favorite tale; it's the story Sunshine tells Constantine at the beginning of the book as part of her effort to keep him from eating her, and Sunshine mentions there are a million different ways to present it. Fortunately, this book isn't tightly tied to the fairy tale and seems to use it only as a touchstone.

I don't usually go for first person narratives; I often find them limiting. This book suffered from some of what I don't like about being trapped in one character's head (in this case, Sunshine's): namely, that most of the large cast of supporting characters comes across as rather shallow and defined only by a few distinguishing traits each. That being said, this book wouldn't be itself if we didn't see the action filtered through Sunshine's perception of it. She isn't just the main character - she's the main attraction. She natters away as if telling the story over a cup of coffee (or more likely tea for her) at her beloved coffeehouse, complete with all the diversions into what she considers necessary explanation that would happen in live conversation. Her sidestories of her past gradually reveal a great deal about her and her world and are a necessary element of making this tale feel real. The only time they become a nuisance is when they get used to stretch out the tension. Something big will be about to happen, and then Sunshine will start explaining something tangentially related. This is a nice enough trick but one that felt overused to me.

There's plenty of gore and fear and surprise and magic in this book, enough that it kept me reading during every free minute I had from work (the night I finished it, I read for four and a half hours straight). There's something like romance as well, though you'll have to read the book yourself in order to fully appreciate it. My own theory is that Constantine is compelling because he amplifies all the traits considered to be most masculine: he's strong, sometimes dangerous and always in control of his emotions, but he's capable of tenderness and can use his violent tendencies for protection as well as attack.

I checked the author's website, and she's coy about whether there will be a sequel. However, to me this book feels like the setup not just for one sequel but a whole series, given the amount of space that is dedicated to building this fascinating world. And too many threads are left dangling at the end. The true natures of Mel (Sunshine's boyfriend) and the "goddess of pain" remain mysteries, and despite how much Sunshine talks about her mother, we never actually meet her in present-time action. Plus, I suspect a reunion with at least one once-thought-dead member of Sunshine's father's family is in order. But even if none of these questions are answered, the resolution Sunshine reaches in accepting her changed self at the end of this book is enough to make reading this more than worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the ending?!?
Review: A Robin McKinley fan for going on 10 years now, I have read (and own) every book she's written. I read "Sunshine" all in one sitting; I will admit it captures the attention. I was not totally impressed with it...it just didn't compare to previous favorites ("The Blue Sword", etc.) My particular peeve with this book was the lack of ending...I mean, what happens? Did she and Con become romantically linked? who was Mel REALLY? where did the grandmother go? was mom partblood or what? WHAT HAPPENED?!? That ruined it for me. I like the end of a book to be all wrapped up so that I can close the book with a nice, fat, contented, sigh...not the case here.

Rating:
Summary: Hopefully there's a sequel
Review: Just finished this book and I can't stop thinking about it. Took me a while to get used to McKinley's tone in this one. There was a lot of narrative going on inside Sunshine's head, rather than dialogue, and lots of slang that needed defining... but after I got used to all that, I enjoyed it. The characters were all likeable. Read a few others of McKinely's books and I enjoyed them too. Hope there's a sequel to this one because I'd like to find out what happens to Sunshine.

Rating:
Summary: Robin McKinley is back!
Review: McKinley fans, rejoice! After the publication of 'The Hero and the Crown', it seemed that McKinley was a heaven-sent for all us fantasy-adventure-girl power bookworms out there. Damar took Middle Earth outside and spanked it. It didn't get better than 'Beauty'. 'Outlaws of Sherwood' didn't really seem to know what was going on, but still had enough charm to outweigh it's fuzzy characterization and wavering plot (we forgave her, it's Robin Hood, what can you really do with him?) We endured through the grotesque and morbid yet charismatic 'Deerskin', even though some of us would rather we had not; we braved through a 'Knot in the Grain', although her anthology seemed more made of grain than knots; 'Rose Daughter' seemed a bit of a reprieve from the muddle, yet despite being as beautifully written as ever, McKinley's charming and fond tribute to her former home didn't let us in the door. Then came 'Spindle's End', and by then end of it, I had almost given up hope. I regretfully came to the realization that McKinley's wondrous worlds of magic and heroics had eaten her alive. Where were the fond characters that we loved because they were so like us? What happened to the magic that used to be thrown in to the story without spoiling the plot? Honor played dragons by jumping out of trees and scaring people, feared teacups, and said "errrr....". Rosie whatever-her-name-was from 'Spindle's End' was raised on bear milk and there was a talking house, and the fairy-smith love-interest guy I don't think spoke two words. The book still rang with McKinley's humor and intelligence, but the small, underlying tones that had made her early books so rich and alive had reared up and taken over. There were no small sounds anymore. Everything was overstated, underdeveloped and never really did anything. It was as if some hideous person had taken the worst parts of everything McKinley had written and made some slapstick collage. I gave up and moved on to Sherwood Smith.
Then came 'Water'. The three stories in the book were like postcards from old friends. I don't know where it went, but when I read the last story, 'A Pool in the Desert', I knew without a doubt that whatever it was that had made 'Beauty' and the Damar books so great was still there. I waited to see if it could still be teased out into a novel. Along came 'Sunshine'.
The first novel written in first person since 'Beauty', 'Sunshine' pulls the melodrama of 'Deerskin', the unexpected magic of 'Rose Daughter', rehashes the heritage issues of 'The Hero and the Crown', sets it in a world as brilliant as 'A Pool in the Desert' and gives it's hero as much kickass as Harry from 'The Blue Sword'. As if we weren't being spoiled enough, McKinley pulled out her finest skill, and draws out characters that are as real as the kid sitting across from you on the bus, yet have wild twangs of magic underneath their skin. This book gets closer to the magic that was 'Beauty' than anything else I have ever read.
I'm not going to hash out the plot again, (just go read it) but there are some elements of the book I feel like pointing out. For one thing, I think this is the first think McKinley had ever written that doesn't have a horse in it. Not even one. This, we all know, is about as likely as Tolkien writing a book in which his characters didn't randomly burst out into song or pages long poems. I think we can take this as a sign that McKinley is going for a decidedly different theme that the rest of her works. It is a growing-up story, but one for grown-ups. As for Sunshine's alter-ego partner-in-whatever rescuer Constantine (hottie) he does have as much stage presence as the Beast from 'Beauty', combined slightly (in a good way) with that smith dude from 'Spindle's End's stoicism, as well as the tenderness and charming quirks of Luthe. Sadly, McKinley pulls the Tor vs. Luthe trick again, though thankfully it's not as painful as it was in the original version. We can forgive Sunshine - and McKinley - for not being able to choose.
All in all, I can sum it up on the quote printed on the cover by Mr. Neil Gaiman: "Pretty much perfect."
Robin McKinley is back!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful , but very similar to Dead Until Dark series
Review: Loved it-- a real page turner.
Oddly enough however, has many of the same elements of Charlaine Harris's Dead Until Dark series-- lusty, twenty-something coffeshop worker heroine, telling story in the first person, strongly attracted to brooding, reticent vampire, salt-of-the-earth townspeople and relatives , the coffeeshop setting, the rival "bad" vampire gang, even the menacing goddess -- a lot of similarities between the two settings and plots-- nevertheless it was wonderful and thrilling-- one of her best

Rating:
Summary: Spartan!
Review: I've always loved the way Robin McKinley writes, and this book was lots of fun. It's very different, in style and setting, from her other books, and it's enjoyable to watch a writer develop. I liked the characters and the story, and the new slang she invented, and it's fun to guess at the resolution of the loose ends she -- quite deliberately -- left hanging. Will there be a sequel? That'd be nice, but she doesn't usually write them. That's not bad, it means the reader gets to use his imagination too.

Rating:
Summary: 300 page long ad for an upcoming series
Review: "Beautiful Writing"? You've got to be kidding me! This writer is repetitive in the extreme in her use of phrases and her character details. Reading this book it's as Yogi Berri said, "I'ts Deja Vu all over again". The main character is a baker, and by page 100 you're already sick of hearing descriptions of her great cinnamon rolls. By 300, you're well past apathy into utter boredom.

The world the author creates here, sadly, is potentially extremely interesting. The Vampires have a backstory that is eluded to, and at seems at least as interesting if not more so than the interview with a vampire world. Yet, the clues and hints that are given at page 100 are barely extrapolated on by the end. I don't mind not being given the answers. I like mysteries. But, to keep momentum you have to supply more and more questions. Here you begin with 10 questions and end with 9 questions.

Yet, the book ends with a whimper. There's no twist, or new interesting angles. The card on the table on page 1 are the same as whats there at the end. It simply feels like a come-on to buy the next books in some series. Avoid.