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uglypuppies's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I did not like this book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
toopunkrockforshul's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Probably one of the most unique vampire books I have read. The worldbuilding was so rich and layered, and really played with a lot of the expectations and typical lore I had from other books. Definitely a book I will be thinking about for a long while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Confinement, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: War and Animal death
kateceratops's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Rich worldbuilding - the vampires are very alien, and other forms of magic are explored. Compelling protagonist with an interesting perspective and very cool magic . Plot meanders a bit, especially in the middle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Gore
drasticpear's review
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I didn't know you could go on finding out you'd had stuff by losing it. This didn't seem like a very good method to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
meganpbell's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
On one hand, I can see the influence of this unique urban fantasy in books like Twilight or Legends & Lattes even. The unlikely combination of gory, sensual vampire horror, cozy community coffeeshop baking, and wry and funny narrator is a winning one in a lot of ways if a little tonally unexpected. On the other, it’s also so slowly and awkwardly paced, full of info dumps that make it harder to immerse yourself in the story, and feels incomplete narratively.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Kidnapping
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Body horror, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Animal death, Murder, Police brutality, and Fatphobia
mswarning's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is maybe the third time I've read this book. I don't think choosing it for a readathon near the end of the month when you're trying to read like 5 books in 5 days was the best decision on my part. I definitely needed a higher ratio of action/vampire interaction to worldbuilding, so the fault was mine.
The frustration I'm seeing from people reviewing this book stems from the fact that something traumatic happens near the beginning of the book. Sunshine acts like many people do, they avoid talking about it or making a big deal about it. And the avoidance informs the slow-pacing. The worldbuilding nicely sits in the spots between the bigger, weightier parts of the story. Each scene with Constantine leaves you wanting more. And you're kind of anxiously waiting for more to happen as pressure keeps building up.
If I had rated this book when I finished it, I think I'd have rated this readthrough a 3.5 or 3.75. Time has been kind, and I've been able to separate time management frustration from my opinion of the book. I think a sequel could be amazing, but I also think it would not live up to my expectations.I want Sunshine and Constantine to have a continued relationship. Not necessarily romantic, but maybe that could work somehow. More about her magic-handling abilities and more about vampires, master vampires, and how Constantine is different from other vampires. More about vampires being more dangerous and ruining civilization. And more Sunshine coming to terms with her abilities and turning into someone who can emotionally handle killing vampires. Or maybe about what happens with her combined bloodlines from both sides of her family since there's many different possibilities to explore there.
Read the content warnings.
The frustration I'm seeing from people reviewing this book stems from the fact that something traumatic happens near the beginning of the book. Sunshine acts like many people do, they avoid talking about it or making a big deal about it. And the avoidance informs the slow-pacing. The worldbuilding nicely sits in the spots between the bigger, weightier parts of the story. Each scene with Constantine leaves you wanting more. And you're kind of anxiously waiting for more to happen as pressure keeps building up.
If I had rated this book when I finished it, I think I'd have rated this readthrough a 3.5 or 3.75. Time has been kind, and I've been able to separate time management frustration from my opinion of the book. I think a sequel could be amazing, but I also think it would not live up to my expectations.
Read the content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Animal death
Minor: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Sexual content
msthomsen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual content
meraliss's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am a huge fan of Robin McKinley, and this is one of my favorite books by her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Gore
aliteraryprincess's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I was so excited when Forgotten YA Gems chose this as their October read. I adore Robin McKinley, especially her fairy tale retellings, and I’ve been interested in seeing her take on vampires for years. But let’s get a little general warning out of the way: this book is not YA. It is thoroughly adult, maybe New Adult if you really want to put a label on it. But definitely not YA. There are some explicit scenes that I was not expecting because I’m used to McKinley’s clean, fairy tale romances. So definitely be aware of that when picking up this book.
The inciting incident ended up being my favorite part of this book. It’s scary and kept me on the edge of my seat. Our protagonist, Sunshine, is kidnapped by a group of vampires and used to taunt their vampire captive, Con. I was so engaged during this part of the book. McKinley expertly creates an atmosphere of terror, and I wanted to learn more about the vampires, Con, and the magical powers Sunshine has. I actually think this section would have made an excellent short story. It packs enough of a punch to stand on it’s own, and it comes to what would be a satisfying though open-ended conclusion. That probably would have been a five star read for me. Unfortunately, I found everything after that this part boring.
McKinley has created a really interesting world. I’m used to seeing her work with high fantasy worlds, so seeing her create an urban fantasy world was a lot of fun and quite unexpected. It’s an alternate universe; there are cars, coffee shops, and computers, but there is magic and the Others, such as vampires, werewolves, and demons. The book is set after the Voodoo Wars, which was a major conflict between the humans and the Others. We see a lot of the Special Other Forces, or SOF, who are a law enforcement branch focused specifically dealing with the Others. There is so much promise in this world. However, almost all of the worldbuilding was done through info-dumping, which leads to my biggest problem with the book.
We all know the good, old “show don’t tell” rule, and this book breaks it 99% of the time. I’m not sure what happened here because I know McKinley is a good writer. I know from her other books that she is able to show me a character’s feelings and the world they live in. But that just didn’t happen here. After the first section, the whole book is just Sunshine telling us what’s happening. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters emotionally, and I couldn’t visualize what was happening. Instead of seeing the world unfold as the story progresses, we get massive sections of Sunshine just telling us information about it. I ended up being bored through most of the book, and I had a hard time caring about the characters.
Overall, Sunshine has a great premise and amazing concepts, but the execution just didn’t work for me. But despite it’s flaws, it’s still worth checking out if you’re a fan of McKinley or looking for a new vampire story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
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