TEST
Robin McKinley is already an established fantasy author, retelling some of our favorite childhood tales (Beauty and the Beast and Robin Hood among them) and winning various literary awards in the process. With Sunshine, she delves into the fantastic world of vampires, imbuing it with the skewed sunshine of Chick Lit and creating an unforgettable (and equally skewed) heroine with the same name.
Sunshine Blaise is a twenty-something coffeehouse cook who wakes up at 4:30 a.m. each day to make her works of art: cinnamon rolls, muffins, and the like. She lives to make people happy with her food, and is happiest when in her kitchen creating. With a tattooed, motorcycle-repairing, fellow coffeehouse worker boyfriend; a proud, independent Mom; a thoughtful stepfather; and a variety of satisfied customers, Sunshine should be happy with her life. But an innate dissatisfaction with her circumstances leads her to make some decisions that reveal her true nature, as well as that of those around her.
Instead of doing what she always does on Monday nights (movie night at her Mom’s house, featuring plenty of popcorn and laughter), Sunshine heads to the lake where she once visited her paternal grandmother. But instead of the quiet time alone that was her goal, all hell breaks loose. Literally. Sunshine’s internal monologue (this is Chick Lit, after all) tells the story, filling in the details of her past life and the people she begins to know as she wrestles with her warring demons. Again, literally.
Constantine, Sunshine’s vampire (“hero” is too strong an affirmation) is dark, dangerous and, in spite of his mushroom-gray skin, totally attractive. He is an honorable vampire, one who thinks it’s bad sport (luckily for Sunshine) to kill chained prey. After waging an eons-long battle with an exceedingly bad vampire, it seems he needs help to finally conquer him. Con, as he is referred to throughout, is a different species from humanity and McKinley does not pretty him up or make him completely anomalous to his kind. Rather, he works within his constraints, surprising himself and Sunshine with what they are able to do together.
Sunshine, like the best fantasy, creates a completely recognizable, but at the same time, completely different world. It’s post-Apocalyptic, that is if the Apocalypse had sharp teeth and arrived in the dark to drain your lifeblood. It’s so amazingly and cleverly written that it’s hard to convey its scope and depth in the course of a few paragraphs. It (pardon the pun) sucks you in with its prose, its alternate reality, and its incredible heroine. Sunshine is, like most of us, a multi-faceted character whose personality isn’t quickly distilled. She is smart, funny, courageous, self-deprecating, and totally and uniquely her. Since this is Chick Lit, albeit a vampire story (does anyone second Bit Lit?), the ending is not an ending but instead the chance for a new beginning.
Buy it at Amazon/iBooks/Kobo/Barnes and Noble
Grade: A
Book Type: Chick Lit|Vampire Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 23/10/03
Publication Date: 2004
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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I just finished this. I had a lot of ups and down with it. Loved how atmospheric it was, and its take on vampires. However, I was very frustrated with the first person narrator’s stream of consciousness that went on and on. I wanted more answers and development for many of the secondary characters. Constantine, the vampire, is very interesting, and I have a few theories about him. Would anyone like to comment on the book or share some theories on various characters?