Sunshine

By: Robin McKinley

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it's unwise to walk. Sunshine knew that. But there hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and she needed a place to be alone for a while. Unfortunately, she wasn't alone. She never heard them coming. Of course you don't, when they're vampires.

They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to the wall of an abandoned mansion -within easy reach of a figure stirring in the moonlight.

She knows that he is a vampire. She knows that she's to be his dinner and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet, as dawn breaks, she finds that he has not attempted to harm her. And now it is he who needs her to help him survive the day.

©2003 Robin McKinley (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A gripping, funny, page-turning, pretty much perfect work of magical literature." (Neil Gaiman, New York Times best-selling author of Anansi Boys)
"McKinley knows very well - and makes her [audience] believe - that 'the insides of our own minds are the scariest things there are.'" ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

This book is my happy place

Hero and the Crown is still my favorite book by McKinley, but this one is pretty special. It's dark and weird, and the main character is often overwhelmed and frightened, but she keeps getting back up. I highly recommend.

One of the best books I've ever read

I love this book. It is a fascinating, stream of consciousness look at the inner life of a young woman going through something incredibly challenging, that thing just happens to be vampires. Some folks seem to be annoyed it wasn't more romantic, but the thing is it is not a romance book. There is some incidental romance that is part of the protagonists life, but it is not really her focus, she's got bigger stuff going on. I think it's actually one of the books strengths.

This book also has all the usual Robin McKinley strengths: strong world building, sentences that never end but somehow you love it, and an actually interesting female protagonist.

My Favorite Book

I have read this book 4 times and listened to it 5 or 6 times. Sunshine is the sleeper female badass you want to route for and gets the job done. Robin makes her drag on about her cinnamon rolls over and over again she has depth. This world is like Harry Potter without the sequels. Everything Folklore has told you is here with her twist on vampires. You feel bad for Mel and route for Con. You wait for Sunshine to find all of herself. Con is such a gentlemen you can't help but be on his side even being undead. It's okay if you can't feed your guests. If you like any part of Twilight, Vampire Diaries, or LOVE Anne Rice, this is a read for you.

My FAVORITE BOOK

Truly. The one book I can listen to over and over and over and over again. It’s such a wonderful twist on how the world would be with magic in it. Every last bit has something so enjoyable about it. I love the way she explains the nuances of the world with just enough detail. Maneuvering so well around each area that you don’t really worry about the nuances so much, but are just fixed on this excellent story. Fixed on what is going to happen next.

From Practical to Fantasy...

Rae is a no-nonsense down to earth practical person who is the kind of dependable, practical girl you hope to have as a friend. She looks for nothing more exciting than discovering a new recipe or a good book.
But her bloodline and destiny collide. Rae never loses character - even when vampires are surrounding her, blood is dripping both on her and from her...she observes the practical details, retains the rye sense of humor, and gives us a clear picture of what would happen to the mind of a "normal" person forced into the un-natural world of deep magic and vampire duals. Wonderful book!

WOW a shocker

My best friends name is Sunshine, so of course I wanted to get this book and see how it was, I was blown away, I loved the main caracter Sunshine, her softness and need to be just a plain young woman in a big bad world is touching, the narration was a little hard to adjust to as Sunshine is a young girl and the narrators voice seemed to sound to old to be a young girl, but the story was fresh, different, and always keeping me on edge to see what was going to happen, this was a shocker buy, but so so glad I did...AAAA+++++

Something Old is New Again

If you are truly a fan of vampire fiction, as opposed to vampire romance novels, do NOT miss Robin McKinley's "Sunshine." I enjoyed this book from first line to last.
In this genre, most new vampire books - especially vampire series - are simply a version of Harlequin-style romances in which the word "vampire" has been substituted for the word "earl," or "pirate," or "plantation owner." They tend to be a set of more or less explicit sex scenes loosely connected by predictable plot line and sometimes rather ghastly attempts at humor.
"Sunshine" actually has something new to say about vampires and their relationship with the human race. The world of "Sunshine" is original and contains a consistent internal culture. Delightfully, it is not obvious in the first paragraphs, and the unfolding of it was a pleasure. There is a plot, there are characters and character development, there is conflict, and there is a marvelous amount of tension.
It is the best new vampire book I've read since Laurel Hamilton's first few novels.
I can only hope Ms. McKinley writes more!

Almost Good

The story line could have been interesting. Modern times with vamps and weres and "others" out of the closet but the digression and rambling made it very tedious and boring. I just wanted the story to get on. I liked the author's past books but I don't know whether I will continue on with this if it is a series. Just too much dithering for me to stay interested.

4.5

I'm not giving this audiobook a 5 star rating not because I didn't love it. The author is one of my all-time favourites and this book is her at her best. I've read it more than once and just adore it.

I'm giving it a 4.5 because I had issue with the reader. I hassen to add that there's nothing WRONG with her - but she just doesn't sound like Sunshine to me and often misses her 'voice' in a way that bugs me. I fully admit that this is largely because I HAD read the book so many times before buying the audiobook - I'm totally bias and had very definite ideas about how it should be done. Give a listen to the sample and if she sounds fine to you - she IS a very good reader - then you won't have any problems.

As for the book - I can't recommend it highly enough. This is NOT your grandmother's vampire story! ;-)

Great

I Loved it! It was very engaging and easy to listen to. With a great narrator!