Sunshine

Rating:
Summary: There Must Be a Sequel
Review: The characters and setting are fascinating, the plot gripping. However, although one immediate crisis is (apparently) solved, this book seems like a big set-up for at least one sequel. The heroine is left with only a beginning understanding of her magical talents, not knowing whether her "disappeared" father and grandmother are alive and will reappear, suspecting her boyfriend Mel also has magical talents he's evaded telling her about, and not knowing whether she'll choose between Mel and, well, a more supernatural boyfriend.

Oh and the Special Other Forces (vampire killers) is pressuring her to join. Their local supervisor is so unpleasant (possibly this also is supernatural) that everyone calls her the "goddess of pain." And the supervisor takes a special interest in the heroine.

One flaw in this book is, the plot is slowed down by the heroine constantly and explicitly giving the reader buckfuls of background. I'd think there'd be a more subtle way to work it in. Another is, the heroine worries obsessively about the life-threatening crisis she's been dragged into and about her own magical talents (which she's managed to ignore most of her life). This is fine, except she repeats the same things over and over in much the same terms. It's true a real person would worry repetitively in real life--but in a novel it starts to drag.

Overall, it was a good book. But I like to buy all volumes in a series and read them all together. I hope I remember the details of this volume if a second oneis published in a couple of years.

Rating:
Summary: i read it in one night
Review: This review is going to be simple.. It was a good book. One of the best vampire books I've read in a long time. Its not as light of a read as the Southern Vamp and not as sexy as Anita, but if you like them you should like this one.
Read it.

Rating:
Summary: aggree with cmjtroy!
Review: What happened to Robin McKinley? Was she "turned"?

You drown in the heroine's internal thoughts, with not much happening in the action line. I floundered through it because I wanted to see what happened next, but I did find myself skipping over pages and pages of back story.

Warning: Stock up on baked goods while you read this book. You'll have a closer relationship with Entemann's than you would with the heroine or her heroes!

Robin, turn back! Turn back!

Rating:
Summary: When a heroine just can't stop talking
Review: Robin McKinley is among my favorite authors. Sunshine, however, just isn't at the level of McKinley's previous books. The irritating heroine kept talking, on and on and on. And not just talking - angst-ridden talking. While parts of the story were gripping, too often I wanted to scream at the heroine to shut up. But I continued to read, because there seemed to be such an accummulation of rich stories behind the talking. Unfortunately, few of the stories were ever resolved.

Despite these flaws, I was engrossed in the book (enough to want to scream at the heroine, after all). I would definitely read a sequel, if only to discover more of Sunshine's family (although the bakery could be bombed with my blessing), more of Constantine's story, who on earth their great enemy was, and more of the stories behind the secondary characters.

Rating:
Summary: Her Darker Side--Still Light-Hearted
Review: I'm a passionate McKinley fan, my favorites being her fairy tale works Beauty and Spindle's End. I love her older, more humorous style, though I like the more mysterious, darker style of Rose Daughter as well. Sunshine blends the two styles--somewhat as Spindle's End did, but definitely on the darker side. But the monogloue--as the story is first-person, something I don't think McKinley's done since Beauty, which she does beautifully--is also very darkly humorous, particularly if you like puns and the dry sort of "ha ha, I can't believe I almost laughed at that pun" sort of thing.

I don't read vampire fiction as a general rule, but I'd say there isn't the same focus on horror, graphic-ness, and gothic-ness as seems to be the genre's specialty. So vampire lovers, beware: this is more a book that has vampires in it, so don't expect the usual vampirish-focus that you are used to. Just take McKinley's beautifullly crafted world and enjoy it for what she does best: fantasy with a comfortable, humorous, everyday-feel that makes you think that the heroines are the girl next door--or yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Unlike "Sunshine's" cinnamon buns, this book is leaden.
Review: I have enjoyed Robin McKinley's books since I first discovered "Beauty" and "The Blue Sword". I generally would rate her books as 4 - 5 star efforts. "Sunshine" is just not up to her usual standards. I felt the plot was molasses oooozing out of a jar. Sometimes a good blob would plop out but mostly the book left me frustrated. (The cooking analogies will continue, so reader: Beware!)

My dissatifaction with "Sunshine" is due to the heroine "Rae" better known as Sunshine. This may be my personal quirk but I can't abide reluctant heros. You've got this power; we know you're going to use it and you know you're going to use it; I have never read a book in which the protagonist doesn't finally acknowledge power and use it! Why do authors bother to toy with the notion?! Do they think this a suspence device? Do they really believe that readers don't know where the plot is going?! All of Rae's complaints about preferring baking cinnamon buns and muffins and deserts and cookies and decadent chocolate creations (ad nauseum)... is a waste of time. If the author MUST make an obligatory bow to the value of ordinariness then she must, but for heaven's sake get over it and get on with the plot!

The world McKinley creates in "Sunshine" is interesting but'way too sketchy! Is this a future earth, a parallel earth, another world entirely...we never know! There are clearly back stories on many of the secondary characters - the author makes that very obvious - but we never find out about them! Very little but the immediate danger is ever resolved. It's not like there wasn't room for some explanation; McKinley could have lost just a few pastry descriptions!

The only character that was at all interesting was Constantine - the "good" vampire. Finally, an author who writes a vampire story that doesn't include an undead hunk, as unlikely a scenario as that would be - he's a walking corpse for heaven's sake! But we know too little about him and spend too little time with him to rescue this "half-baked" book.

Rating:
Summary: If only there was more to it
Review: My expectations for this novel were high. Very high. First off, it is supposedly a novel about vampires or, rather, vampires are used in the plot. Secondly, Neil Gaiman liked the book. He really liked it. Enough to mention the title and the words possibly perfect in the same sentence. Enough said. I was buying this book.

I got comfy on my couch and started to read and decided that I was not loving it as I should be. What was wrong? Well, let's start with the voice. It kind of slaps you in the face in a very uninteresting way right from page one. The reason for this is kind of hard to explain. Yes, Sunshine's voice does border on being monotone, but that's not why it's uninteresting. Perhaps it's her thought patterns. With all that's going on in her life you'd think she would have more titillating things on her mind than cinnamon buns. Yes, those cinnamon buns may ground her, but I feel like the kid who ate ten of them in an hour and is so sick of them that the thought of another is enough to...Yeah, you get the idea. Even when her thoughts turned to something that got you on the edge of your seat Sunshine stopped short. If what was going on in her mind was engaging, for one, I may have enjoyed the novel more.

Vampire lovers beware. This is not a novel about vampires and they are used very loosely in the plot. It was as though, in order to avoid all of the clichés, McKinley decided to not have the vampires around all that much. The one cliché she does avoid is actually, to this reader, not welcome at all. Constance, an important character/vampire who is rarely physically in the story, is "pasty." He's gray and his laugh is awful and there is very little that is appealing about him. I'm sorry, but vampires are sexy and seductive and that's part of what makes them so lethal. The fact that Sunshine finds Con next to revolting puts a kink in the fact that she is drawn to him. Hey, he's a nice vampire and he didn't eat anyone, but please. They may have a bond, but surprisingly it's not enough to make her reaction to him okay. For some it might be refreshing--you know, the fact that a vampire is actually considered gross--but not me. And despite all this, Con is still probably the most interesting character in the novel. I guess I was just really hoping for more from the vampire aspect of the book.

It feels like there should be more to the book. Characters are introduced that have a back story that is never explained. Even though we really want it to be. And the ending is unsatisfactory. A friend of mine who also read it said that there should be a sequel and she was right. There needs to be more/something else because I enjoyed the story, but not as much as I should have, and a sequel may help me to appreciate SUNSHINE in the way that I should have.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: There were several factors that kept this book from succeeding with me.

1. The language. It's been mentioned in other reviews and I have to support their findings. The stream of consciousness narrative, complete with run-ons, can get very irritating. Especially when it interrupts the few action scenes there are. It IS all very monotone, save for one scene where she *nearly* has sex, where the language suddenly becomes very jarring. It's like listening to the monotone hum of the vacuum when suddenly it turns into a shrill whine.

2. The plot's similarity to other books. Not her books. But other books. Our hero finds herself at the mercy of vampires/werewolves/monsters. She has a fellow captive that is also frightening. They escape together against all odds and go back to destroy their enemies and grow closer at the same time despite their vast lifestyle differences. It's just not a new plot. It's not even an old plot done well or with a different light.

3. The stories untold. While the hero is off on a tangent telling us all sorts of things we really don't need to know, the author has missed opportunities to tell other, more interesting stories about the other characters.

4. The lack of communication between characters. There aren't that many conversations in this book. I don't count the places in which the hero starts talking to herself in her mind.

All together, those things displease me and made for irritating reading. I'd give it two stars, but I adore this author and I just can't bring myself to hurt her any more than she might already have been by these reviews, if she reads them.

Rating:
Summary: Sunshine
Review: Set in a futuristic Earth, 'Sunshine' tells the story of a young woman whose life drastically changes after she is captured by a group of vampires. She is locked up with a starving vampire, Con, and they become tentative allies in a war against the group of vampires that captured her and their evil leader.

As plots go, the book is okay. It's full of twists and turns and leaves enough open for a sequel to be reasonable. The characters are somewhat less than endearing. Sunshine's voice is annoying because she keeps going off on tangents about one thing or another and you rather wish she would shut up and get on with the story. Her family and boyfriend are not utilized enough. I like Con. He is mysteriously sexy. There is a character nick-named 'the goddess of pain' and she's interesting, but McKinley doesn't really go anywhere with her.

The style of this book is very different from McKinley's others. The world she creates (future-Earth where magic and demons are everywhere) is not as captivating as Damar or the Beast's castle or Foggy Bottom. It feels contrived and all of the references she makes to books, etc. that are exclusive to that world are hard to follow.

I usually like McKinley's prose, all lush and lyrical, but it falls flat here. Oh, she can make a scene creepy, but the emotions never really come across. Everything is low-key and I don't get a sense of anxiety or fear or anything. In the one, I guess it was sort of a sex scene, McKinley shocks you from your stupor with unnecessarily crude language. If she'd been using it throughout the book, it would have been okay, but since she didn't, it's jarring.

If you're a McKinley, fan, you should check this out just for loyalty's sake. If you've never read her before, start with "Beauty" and don't waste your money on this.

Rating:
Summary: Not an ordinary vampire novel...
Review: Rae(Sunshine)Seddon has found her place in the post Vodoo Wars world, making cinamon rolls beginning at four a.m. every day. Life is quiet and predictable, until she is kidnapped and thrust into the midst of a vampire feud. Her captors leave her chained beside a vampire who is also bound. She is there as a temptation for the starved Constantine, for her blood has been poisoned. Only by calling on powers she has chosen to ignore can Sunshine free herself and the unexpectedly "human" vampire with her.

Now, Sunshine and Constantine share a bond that makes her a part of the ages old war between Con and Bo. She is also brought under the scrutiny of the secret police, enlisted in the ever present conflict between humans and others. One thing is sure, Sunshine's life will never be quiet and predictable again.

***** Sunshine is at once edgy and haunting. Con moves through his heroine's world in the shadows, much like Vincent in the Beauty and the Beast show. Sunshine is a cross between Stephanie Plum and Anita Blake, fighting to stay ordinary in a world of wonders. However, Sunshine can not be pigeon holed as just another vampire romance. It has it's own flavor, quite unlike any other you have read. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore