#2- Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Sunshine spends her time working at her step-father’s bakery making Cinnamon Roles as Big as Your Head. She’s dati 
ng a guy named Mel, and loves to read books about the Others. Despite the fact that her world is torn from the Voodoo Wars, and things like vampires are a very real and dangerous threat, she lives a pretty normal life. That is, until she’s kidnapped by a group of vampires. Sunshine doesn’t know what they want but they dress her in a silky red gown and drag her to a house in the woods. They chain her to a wall in an abandoned ballroom where her only companion is a hungry vampire. Sunshine has no idea what she’s getting into, how this event will awaken magic buried deep inside of her, and how that magic will change her for life.
I first read Sunshine back in 2004. Since I form a kind of amnesia if I don’t read a book for a few years, I remembered very little about the actual plot, but I remembered certain moments. I could still see the image of Sunshine sitting in that ballroom in that red dress as if I had just read it a few weeks ago. Robin McKinley sure has a way of establishing atmosphere and tension, and creating scenes that stay with you for years. I guess that comes with being someone that’s been in the writing business for around thirty years. Sunshine’s world is rich and unlike any other book I’ve read. Despite the supernatural elements, I felt as if a lot of things in the book were possible, and that everything was grounded in real life consequences. For example, one of the vampires largest threats are not their strength or speed, but that they possess one-fifth of the worlds funds, and that in a hundred years, they’ll own everything. Sunshine, despite her magical abilities, is also a very real heroine. She responds to dire situations much like anyone would. She’s no damsel in distress that needs to be rescued every scene, but her fear and frustration feels very real.
At the same time, Sunshine is not a perfect book. At times it can drag a little, and by the end, a lot has not been resolved (which leads many to wonder if there will be a sequel- the answer is no). Although I’m sure other readers would disagree, I prefer to not be left hanging on a lot of major plot points by the end of a book. There’s nothing wrong with leaving some things to the imagination, but I like a book to feel… finished.
Still, despite its flaws, Sunshine is a really enjoyable book that covers a lot of ground. The storyline is not quite horror, not quite sci-fi. The book can easily be shelved in either the young adult, or adult fiction setting in a library. There’s great characters and beautiful writing, and the story is topped off with an almost Beauty and the Beast-type love story that no one can write like Robin McKinley.
Rating: four out of five stars
Length: 389 pages
Source: My bookshelf (re-read)
TBR Pile: 155 books (already received three books from paperbackswap)
Similar Books: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (although if I were to say why, it would spoil American Gods). The Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (comics released by Dark Horse), The Beauty and the Beast Fairy Tales
Other books I've read by this author: Beauty, The Outlaws of Sherwood, The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword
x-posted to bookish and temporaryworlds
ng a guy named Mel, and loves to read books about the Others. Despite the fact that her world is torn from the Voodoo Wars, and things like vampires are a very real and dangerous threat, she lives a pretty normal life. That is, until she’s kidnapped by a group of vampires. Sunshine doesn’t know what they want but they dress her in a silky red gown and drag her to a house in the woods. They chain her to a wall in an abandoned ballroom where her only companion is a hungry vampire. Sunshine has no idea what she’s getting into, how this event will awaken magic buried deep inside of her, and how that magic will change her for life.
I first read Sunshine back in 2004. Since I form a kind of amnesia if I don’t read a book for a few years, I remembered very little about the actual plot, but I remembered certain moments. I could still see the image of Sunshine sitting in that ballroom in that red dress as if I had just read it a few weeks ago. Robin McKinley sure has a way of establishing atmosphere and tension, and creating scenes that stay with you for years. I guess that comes with being someone that’s been in the writing business for around thirty years. Sunshine’s world is rich and unlike any other book I’ve read. Despite the supernatural elements, I felt as if a lot of things in the book were possible, and that everything was grounded in real life consequences. For example, one of the vampires largest threats are not their strength or speed, but that they possess one-fifth of the worlds funds, and that in a hundred years, they’ll own everything. Sunshine, despite her magical abilities, is also a very real heroine. She responds to dire situations much like anyone would. She’s no damsel in distress that needs to be rescued every scene, but her fear and frustration feels very real.
At the same time, Sunshine is not a perfect book. At times it can drag a little, and by the end, a lot has not been resolved (which leads many to wonder if there will be a sequel- the answer is no). Although I’m sure other readers would disagree, I prefer to not be left hanging on a lot of major plot points by the end of a book. There’s nothing wrong with leaving some things to the imagination, but I like a book to feel… finished.
Still, despite its flaws, Sunshine is a really enjoyable book that covers a lot of ground. The storyline is not quite horror, not quite sci-fi. The book can easily be shelved in either the young adult, or adult fiction setting in a library. There’s great characters and beautiful writing, and the story is topped off with an almost Beauty and the Beast-type love story that no one can write like Robin McKinley.
Rating: four out of five stars
Length: 389 pages
Source: My bookshelf (re-read)
TBR Pile: 155 books (already received three books from paperbackswap)
Similar Books: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (although if I were to say why, it would spoil American Gods). The Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (comics released by Dark Horse), The Beauty and the Beast Fairy Tales
Other books I've read by this author: Beauty, The Outlaws of Sherwood, The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword
x-posted to bookish and temporaryworlds