Take a photo of a barcode or cover
devanbooks 's review for:
Sunshine
by Robin McKinley
This novel was first published as an adult novel and then re-released as YA. I wasn't sure if I was going to do a review on this book at first because it is categorized in that really weird realm of between YA and adult. Therefore, I would suggest the reading level for an older crowd. Yet, I don't know if I would suggest it at all.
Don't get me wrong the story line was fantastic and what kept me going. The vampires are real, ugly, scary, and alluring all at the same time. These aspects are what made me love this book.
I just couldn't get over the writing. I was surprised by how much I disliked it since I had loved McKinley's Rose Daughter back when I read it in high school (quite awhile ago). I don't remember if the writing was similar or not. I guess I need to do a re-read. Anyways back to the writing. I had what I call the textbook syndrome where you read a little bit and completely forget what you read, which really isn't reading it's just saying the words in your head. I could feel my eyes glaze over and I would have to try and talk myself into paying attention to the main plot line. Sometimes I'd go back and try to re-read it and soak it in, but other times I'd just be like ehhh it's not important and skip over it. The reason why this happened so much is that Sunshine's mind skipped around a lot and was like her mind was going off on a tangent, which made me feel like I was reading run on sentence after run on sentence, but it was more like run on thoughts.
Another element that bored me was the SOF (paranormal police) stuff. It was supposed to be exciting and a threat to Sunshine and Constantine, but really I could have cared less. Also, there were so many minor characters that I had a hard time keeping track of them, and some of the main characters like Mel and Sunshine's mom didn't feel fleshed out enough. I was always expecting more to come to surface about them and it never did. The ending was such a let down. I felt there was so much left open ended, it felt really rushed, and I just felt like something was missing (sequel maybe?). The scene with Bo was just not what I expected. I guess I expected more drama. The biggest pitfall of all though was that there needed to be more Constantine. Hands down he was my favorite character and I would like to have more background story on him.
Don't get me wrong the story line was fantastic and what kept me going. The vampires are real, ugly, scary, and alluring all at the same time. These aspects are what made me love this book.
I just couldn't get over the writing. I was surprised by how much I disliked it since I had loved McKinley's Rose Daughter back when I read it in high school (quite awhile ago). I don't remember if the writing was similar or not. I guess I need to do a re-read. Anyways back to the writing. I had what I call the textbook syndrome where you read a little bit and completely forget what you read, which really isn't reading it's just saying the words in your head. I could feel my eyes glaze over and I would have to try and talk myself into paying attention to the main plot line. Sometimes I'd go back and try to re-read it and soak it in, but other times I'd just be like ehhh it's not important and skip over it. The reason why this happened so much is that Sunshine's mind skipped around a lot and was like her mind was going off on a tangent, which made me feel like I was reading run on sentence after run on sentence, but it was more like run on thoughts.
Another element that bored me was the SOF (paranormal police) stuff. It was supposed to be exciting and a threat to Sunshine and Constantine, but really I could have cared less. Also, there were so many minor characters that I had a hard time keeping track of them, and some of the main characters like Mel and Sunshine's mom didn't feel fleshed out enough. I was always expecting more to come to surface about them and it never did. The ending was such a let down. I felt there was so much left open ended, it felt really rushed, and I just felt like something was missing (sequel maybe?). The scene with Bo was just not what I expected. I guess I expected more drama. The biggest pitfall of all though was that there needed to be more Constantine. Hands down he was my favorite character and I would like to have more background story on him.