Sunshine

I haven't read any  Robin McKinley for years and Sunshine made me wonder why. It was a good vampire story. McKinley's world was a lot of fun, sometimes disturbing and sometimes just odd, but always a nice place to be.

I've wondered about the relationship between Sunshine and Constantine; trying to see what it is that I like about it. Perhaps it's just that I'm a sucker for such relationships, or maybe it was that I didn't find it overwhelmingly or explicitly romantic (except maybe near the end). Lustful at times, sure, but mostly it's cool because both characters are uncomfortable, unsure, and frightened (at least she is, Con you wonder) by the bond between them. It was also cool that vamps and humans have a lot more differences than just their eating habits and the hours they keep; makes things that much more complicated and bizarre.

The story began and ended very well and remained interesting through out, only brief moments in the middle lacking a bit, probably from Sunshine's rambling narrative that sometimes was more than necessary, yet consistent with her character. Yeah, she can sometimes be annoying, or just stubborn and moody. But that's understandable for a baker who's life gets turned upside down and she has to adjust and grow up. She often does so reluctantly, but she does it. In the end I was satisfied.

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.

Sunshine is just a baker who makes the best cinnamon rolls in New Arcadia. So when she goes out to the lake and is snatched up by vampires, she doesn't expect to survive, much less tap into her hidden magical talents and escape. As she tries to recover, she finds the darkness pulling towards her.

Her light self, her deer self, her trees self. Can they outnumber her dark self?

This was a book that I had called my all time favorite for years when I was a teen. I loved it. This was my vampire book, and I loved the unsteady relationship Sunshine and Constantine developed over their time together. The instinctive mistrust and fear working towards understanding and the magic and the baked goods. And Jesse the SOF badass, who I inexplicably had a hardon for. Plus, I loved the lush writing style.

Fast forward probably 15 years or so (I'm pretty certain that I have not read this since high school, although maybe I did a reread in college, which was still some time ago).

The same magic I remembered from my teens was there, but holy exposition this thing needed some heavy editing, particularly towards the end.

The writing is um, lush, yes, but the exposition is a little all over the place and the storyline bounces constantly into flashbacks and segues—even the segues have flashbacks. This is not unlike McKinley, who spends have of The Hero and the Crown in a flashback, but it definitely made the storyline frustrating to follow because just as I got invested—flashback or segue into something I didn't particularly care for, like the cobblestones of Old Town.

The constant segues wouldn't have been as annoying had the information not been repeated several times over, like I was reading that information anew each time. And sometimes the information provided in this world that was kiiiiiiinda like ours if it was dark and you were squinting and the colors were all wonky and oh yeah there was magic and vampires and whatnot, although the world-building was weirder and weirder.

Also: vampire dick.

There is a lot of vampire dick in this book.

Which...adult me somehow forgot all about? And I guess teenage me overlooked? How?

Anywho, I enjoyed it this go around, even if it felt like it took forever. This is a book where the journey is what matters, not necessarily the storyline or the dialogue or whatever else.

Sunshine dives into her past and remembers events from her childhood that she had forgotten or thought were fantasies, and starts to bring her past self into her future self—and discovers something anew within her as an adult. She has no fucking clue what she's doing, because she wasn't prepared in the new world she finds herself in, and the reader muddles along just as she does.

It's circular storytelling, it's kind of a train wreck, but it's still my most favorite vampire story.

Also, That Distant Dream is written in a very similar style to this—as in, mostly in the MC's head as she figures herself out—so there is that (although there are no vampires). And now no one will ever want to read anything I write.

This is a hard review to write!! There were things I liked but didn't, things I'm not sure I understood, but overall just great emotional appeal. It's written like you are in Rae's mind, so that can be frustrating yet also revealing. It is futuristic yet doesn't feel out of touch. My favorite thing and what ultimately sold me on the story is the relationship between Con & Sunshine (aka Rae). Great depth there.

Not a new favorite, but it wasn’t what I expected (in a good way) and I thought the lore and set-up was pretty interesting on the whole.

For quite a while I thought there was something special about long-time favorite books. Something like a block or a mental brick wall that kept me from being able to put words on a page and describe how I loved that story, and how much the reading and re-reading of it changed me. Well, there IS a special magic surrounding old, favorite and familiar tales, but I’ve worked myself around to being able to write about them (a bit). Robin McKinley is one of my most favorite authors, and her adult fantasy (paranormal? urban fantasy?) Sunshine is one of her best books. The other day I needed sunshine in my life, and I picked it up off the shelf for an extremely well-timed re-read.

Sunshine is a young, perfectly ordinary (she thinks!) girl with a loving, messy, normal family. The only thing is, her world is full of the Others, including demons, Weres, and the Darkest Others, vampires. But you can get through life pretty well as long as you avoid the dangerous parts of town and have a modicum of good sense and luck. At least, that’s how it should be. It turns out that Sunshine’s life won’t be so simple after she decides to drive out to the lake one summer night.

My friends know about my thing for zombies, but I usually protest that I don’t read about vampires. This is the book that proves me a hypocrite. It’s not that these are seductive vampires. No, they are the utterly alien, terror-in-the-night kind. But as Sunshine discovers, her destiny lies in a gray area, and she won’t get to pick the cut-and-dried human ‘side.’ She’ll have to live with impossibilities. The story that takes her on that journey is fascinating and (as I said) an all-time favorite.

McKinley has created an entire world with unnamed Wars in recent history, a vampire menace, partblood discrimination, and a friendly coffee shop at its center. However, the story’s focus is Sunshine, and her first-person narration is what makes the book work. She’s self-deprecating, funny, afraid, and wants to cling to the normality she knows. At the same time, she finds that unnameable courage and strength needed to face evil, to keep on living, and to choose the right thing, even when it all seems bleak. She’s no perfect heroine, and that, I think, is one of the reasons why readers will fall in love with her.

The thing that resonated most with me this re-read was the juxtaposition of Sunshine’s primal urge to make food and feed it to people (a metaphor for creation and nurture), and her mission/calling to do what she can to destroy evil (killing, getting her hands dirty). Sunshine also grapples with the questions of how to be a good person while doing something that she fundamentally disagrees with, how to keep the balance of light and dark in her life, and if there is such a thing as a visible taint of evil.

I find that the best books will speak different messages to you at different points in time. I felt very adult this time ‘round, reading Sunshine. It was… interesting. In any case, it’s still a wonderful, immediate, funny, dark sort of pleasure, and I’m sure it’ll remain on the favorites shelf for years to come.

Recommended for: anyone interested in paranormal and urban fantasy, fans of Emma Bull, Neil Gaiman and Sharon Shinn, and those who appreciate the full immersion experience in a character and fantastical world.

Goodreads tells me the first time I read Sunshine was the 9th April 2012. I found this beat up, slightly warped copy in a street library at a time when I'm feeling burnt out with literature. I read a lot of fantasy when I was in high school but not a lot since. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Sunshine this time round, getting through its 400 pages in a few hours. I've forgotten the pleasure of reading a novel just for the story rather than rolling my eyes or relentlessly dissecting how it works as a piece of art.

The world building is so great it seems a shame this is a standalone. It reads like the beginning of a series. It reminds me a little of Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking books. I'm really intrigued by Sunshine's family history and Con. So much is teased but left alone. I would happily read Rae and Con's adventures fighting evil vampires. McKinley's prose is a bit clunky but I feel a strong editor would help. Anyway, this was an enjoyable blast from the past for me.

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!