Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

4 reviews

toopunkrockforshul's review

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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. 
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meganpbell's review

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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. 
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vickybuka's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The world building is fractured and hard to follow. Characters are constantly being given surprise backgrounds that should have been mentioned earlier in the story.
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mswarning's review against another edition

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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.


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