I think I came across this book when I was in Vancouver. As always, Olman was on the hunt for books and we were browsing
in the used section of Pulp Fiction Books on Main St.
I had read a few Robin McKinleys
when I was a teenager, the three I remember most being The Hero & the
Crown, The Blue Sword, and Beauty, her retelling of the well-known fairy tale.
So
when I saw that Sunshine was quite recently published (in 2004), a
contemporary fantasy about a young baker who gets kidnapped by a gang of vampires, and it was a used copy in great condition,
I couldn’t resist passing up on it.
Sunshine made for a light, charming read, but it was
not particularly memorable nor very exciting, especially if compared to her early
work. Perhaps it was due to me being a
teenager that made McKinley’s early books so captivating and full of adventure and magic.
I remember feeling somewhat disappointed in
Sunshine for its lack of depth and originality, since I was hoping McKinley
would give the tiresome girl + vampire relationship genre her own unique vision, like she did with her retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
One thing I did appreciate was how the protagonist, Rae
"Sunshine" Seddon, ends up being close allies with Constantine
the Vampire, instead of she & him going all Twilight goo-goo ga-ga. So
that was one small ray of sunshine. That, and it was a waaay more pleasant read than my last book. But since
I don’t see my copy of Sunshine next to The Blue Sword in my forever shelf, it was not enough to make
this worth keeping.
Now I want to seek out a copy of The Hero and the Crown for a revisit!
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