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A review by battykat08
A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones
3.0
I received a free ARC of this book, which hasn't influenced my review.
This is my first Darynda Jones experience, and I was a bit underwhelmed, sadly. I wanted to like it more than I did. I prefer stories that I can get lost in, the kind that stay in your head for days afterward, and for me, this didn't come close. It wasn't a badly written book, but there were several elements that made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the story and occasionally induced actual, physical eye rolls. Despite that, I was still willing to suspend my disbelief and warmed up to the characters and story. My gripes with the book weren't total deal breakers and I do plan to check out her Charley Davidson series—I feel her writing is likely better suited to paranormal and fantastical subjects than real-life drama.
Pros: A fast-paced, entertaining read; quirky humor; endearingly likable characters; the "villain" wasn't one dimensional, despite appearing that way at first; it kept me engaged and curious, cons notwithstanding
Cons: Several "that's just not how that works in real life" situations, one of which was a major plot premise; a couple of stock phrases that made me grit my teeth on their second and all subsequent mentions; a few simplistic or sitcom-ish plot elements—the kind where something is blindingly obvious to the reader but somehow a character armed with the same knowledge just doesn't get it; sometimes it felt more like a romance novel than anything else, which is *definitely* a turnoff for me (I can only handle so many adjective-laden descriptions of a dude's abs, c'mon now)
Things that were both pros & cons: Serious, normally disturbing subject matter was treated with a fairly light-hearted hand; wacky and witty dialogue that was laugh-out-loud funny at times, but sometimes felt artificial and when laid on too thick, definitely detracted from the story
Overall, I'd recommend to a friend, with caveats.
This is my first Darynda Jones experience, and I was a bit underwhelmed, sadly. I wanted to like it more than I did. I prefer stories that I can get lost in, the kind that stay in your head for days afterward, and for me, this didn't come close. It wasn't a badly written book, but there were several elements that made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the story and occasionally induced actual, physical eye rolls. Despite that, I was still willing to suspend my disbelief and warmed up to the characters and story. My gripes with the book weren't total deal breakers and I do plan to check out her Charley Davidson series—I feel her writing is likely better suited to paranormal and fantastical subjects than real-life drama.
Pros: A fast-paced, entertaining read; quirky humor; endearingly likable characters; the "villain" wasn't one dimensional, despite appearing that way at first; it kept me engaged and curious, cons notwithstanding
Cons: Several "that's just not how that works in real life" situations, one of which was a major plot premise; a couple of stock phrases that made me grit my teeth on their second and all subsequent mentions; a few simplistic or sitcom-ish plot elements—the kind where something is blindingly obvious to the reader but somehow a character armed with the same knowledge just doesn't get it; sometimes it felt more like a romance novel than anything else, which is *definitely* a turnoff for me (I can only handle so many adjective-laden descriptions of a dude's abs, c'mon now)
Things that were both pros & cons: Serious, normally disturbing subject matter was treated with a fairly light-hearted hand; wacky and witty dialogue that was laugh-out-loud funny at times, but sometimes felt artificial and when laid on too thick, definitely detracted from the story
Overall, I'd recommend to a friend, with caveats.