Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
There hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts.
Vampires never entered her mind. Until they found her.
Synopsis
In her first novel for adults, the Newbery Medalist and bestselling author pens an exciting, beautifully written, erotic addition to the popular vampire genre.
Publishers Weekly
Buffyesque baker Rae "Sunshine" Seddon meets Count Dracula's hunky Byronic cousin in Newbery-Award-winner McKinley's first adult-and-then-some romp through the darkling streets of a spooky post-Voodoo Wars world. Now that human cities have been decimated, the vampiric elite holds one-fifth of the world's capital, threatening to control all the earth in less than 100 years, unless human SOFs (Special Other Forces) can hold them at bay by recruiting Sunshine, daughter of legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise. As breathlessly narrated by Sunshine herself, the Cinnamon Roll Queen of Charlie's Coffeehouse, in the inchoate idiom of Britney, J. Lo and the Spice Girls, Sunshine's coming-of-magical-age launches when she is swarmed by noiseless vampires one night and chained in a decrepit ballroom as an entr e for mysterious, magnetic, half-starved Constantine, a powerful vampire whose mortal enemy Bo (short for Beauregard) shackled him there to perish slowly from daylight and deprivation. Most of the charm of this long venture into magic maturation derives from McKinley's keen ear and sensitive atmospherics, deft characterizations and clever juxtapositions of reality and the supernatural that might, just might, be lurking out there in "bad spots" right around a creepy urban corner or next to a deserted lake cabin. McKinley knows very well-and makes her readers believe-that "the insides of our own minds are the scariest things there are." (Oct. 7) Forecast: The 21st-century girl chatter juxtaposed with the book's 19th-century brooding hero should help turn out the Buffy crowd in droves on the national author tour. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewFans of Laurell K. Hamilton's sexy vampire executioner, Anita Blake, are going to devour Robin McKinley's Sunshine, which revolves around the tenuous relationship between Rae "Sunshine" Seddon, a baker obsessed with the dark side, and a centuries-old vampire named Constantine.
Sunshine's mundane existence as the head baker at Charlie's Coffeehouse takes an unexpected turn when she drives to her grandmother's secluded summer camp. While she is taking in the scenic view of the starlit sky reflecting off the lake's calm surface, she is attacked by a gang of vampires and brought to an abandoned mansion on the far side of the lake. They strip her of her shoes, dress her in a blood-red gown, and shackle her to a wall. In the semi-darkness of the moonlit room, she realizes that a vampire is shackled next to her. After some tense moments, the two begin to talk and quickly conclude that if they don't help each other escape, they're both as good as dead…
Sunshine is a dramatic departure for McKinley, who is best known for revisionist folklore works like The Door in the Hedge and The Outlaws of Sherwood, as well as highly acclaimed young adult fantasy like The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, which won a Newbery Award in 1985. Sunshine, however, is definitely not a young adult novel: It's dark, edgy, sensual, humorous -- and a whole lot of fun. Paul Goat Allen
Publishers Weekly
Buffyesque baker Rae "Sunshine" Seddon meets Count Dracula's hunky Byronic cousin in Newbery-Award-winner McKinley's first adult-and-then-some romp through the darkling streets of a spooky post-Voodoo Wars world. Now that human cities have been decimated, the vampiric elite holds one-fifth of the world's capital, threatening to control all the earth in less than 100 years, unless human SOFs (Special Other Forces) can hold them at bay by recruiting Sunshine, daughter of legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise. As breathlessly narrated by Sunshine herself, the Cinnamon Roll Queen of Charlie's Coffeehouse, in the inchoate idiom of Britney, J. Lo and the Spice Girls, Sunshine's coming-of-magical-age launches when she is swarmed by noiseless vampires one night and chained in a decrepit ballroom as an entr e for mysterious, magnetic, half-starved Constantine, a powerful vampire whose mortal enemy Bo (short for Beauregard) shackled him there to perish slowly from daylight and deprivation. Most of the charm of this long venture into magic maturation derives from McKinley's keen ear and sensitive atmospherics, deft characterizations and clever juxtapositions of reality and the supernatural that might, just might, be lurking out there in "bad spots" right around a creepy urban corner or next to a deserted lake cabin. McKinley knows very well-and makes her readers believe-that "the insides of our own minds are the scariest things there are." (Oct. 7) Forecast: The 21st-century girl chatter juxtaposed with the book's 19th-century brooding hero should help turn out the Buffy crowd in droves on the national author tour. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.San Francisco Chronicle
A smart, funny tale of suspense and romance.Time Out
Sunshine takes everything we have always known about the menacing eroticism of pale men with sharp teeth, and throws it up into the air.Orlando Sentinel
McKinley [balances] the dark drama with light touches of humor. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will feel at home, but McKinley's novel has its own originality and depth.Kansas City Star
A good book with some nice little twists on the magic theme.Rocky Mountain News
Well-written and exciting.KLIATT
McKinley takes a giant step away from her usual fairy tale fantasy in this dark urban horror/fantasy novel. The eponymously nicknamed heroine lives in a world where vampires wage war on humans and the nice boy next door or cop on the beat just might have a little bit of demon or were-animal in him. Still, the vampires carry the greatest risk, as Sunshine learns when she visits her parents' old lakeside cabin in an attempt to have some time to herself. A vampire gang scoops her up and leaves her as an offering for Constantine, an imprisoned vampire. Rather than kill her, the vampire asks her to talk to him and to keep him sane. She calls up magic power from deep within her that not only allows her to free both of them but also shield Constantine from the sun. As she begins to understand her legacy as the daughter of the powerful sorcerer Oryx Blaise, she allies herself with Constantine in a partnership beyond the comprehension of everyone around her. Well, almost everyone. McKinley's first-person narrative is smooth, even when the action's most pell-mell, and for the most part the characters are well developed, although some leave the reader wanting more. In a few spots, usually where Sunshine and Constantine are making their way somewhere, the pace drags a bit, but otherwise the plot flows well with some nice twists along the way. Sunshine is dark enough for diehard vampire fans but with enough of a fairy tale flair to satisfy fantasy fans. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Penguin, Berkley, Jove, 405p., Ages 12 to 18.—Donna Scanlon