A small-town baker uses her magic to confront a post–vampire apocalypse world in this award-winning fantasy Neil Gaiman called “pretty much perfect.” Although it had been mostly deserted since the Voodoo Wars, there hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years. Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, head baker at her family’s busy and popular café in downtown New Arcadia, needed a place to get away … place to get away from all the noise and confusion—of the clientele and her family. Just for a few hours. Just to be able to hear herself think.
She knew about the Others, of course. Everyone did. And several of her family’s best regular customers were from SOF—Special Other Forces—which had been created to deal with the threat and the danger of the Others.
She drove out to her family’s old lakeside cabin and sat on the porch, swinging her feet and enjoying the silence and the silver moonlight on the water.
She never heard them coming. Of course, you don’t when they’re vampires.
Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sookie Stackhouse will cheer for this tough and quirky heroine. In Sunshine, which won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, McKinley has a vampire novel that is “a smart, funny tale of suspense and romance” (San Francisco Chronicle).
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I enjoyed the world constructed for this book, and wish the author would write a sequel.
I rarely give 5 stars. This book was worth it
One of my favorites, though I realize it’s kind of a love-it-or-hate-it story. Yes, baking and baking-related thoughts occupy a surprising amount of page time for an urban (semi-post-apocalyptic) fantasy adventure, but that’s who Sunshine is, and I enjoy spending time with her. The depiction of vampires is unusual and very un-sparkling, the action is exciting, there’s humor, and emotion, and… Well, I’ll just repeat that *I* love it. It’s very different from my other McKinley faves like The Blue Sword and Beauty, but range is a praiseworthy quality in an author, and it does have a satisfying conclusion. (I may *wish* she’d do more in this world, but it’s not *necessary*, unlike with the lamented Pegasus.)
A vampire romance for grown-ups. No sparkling vampires here!
Funny sad in a way.love the way the vampire is introduced. Would like more of this. She never made a sequel. I wish she would have.
Personally, there’s a great deal I want to say about this book. What I’ll say now is just a cursory review, but I’ll probably write something more, and better, for my blog later. . . and then update this review here too. Let me say that this book has been sitting on my TBR pile for far too long, it was gifted to me by a friend and as much as I wanted to read it I just never felt the time was proper to pick it up, but now that I have I wish I’d done so sooner. It’s an amazing, creative take on a setting and the characters are fascinating as is the plot of the story itself. I found myself floored many times while reading it, often having to pick my jaw up off the floor — so to speak — many times. The closer I got to the end, the more I found myself wanting more and now that it’s done I almost want to re-read it again just to have more of this setting and these characters while also not wanting more cause the way it ended also feels so *perfect*.
Anyways, I strongly recommend this book. It’s beautiful and hits you in the feels, and I love it a lot.
good read slow at first then could not put it down, on my read again list
This book is so much fun to read.
It’s so good it needs a sequel.
About a scenario I would never have envisioned. Interesting and entertaining.
This is one of the few vampire stories I actually like.
The best vampire story I have ever read, without question.
A truly great fantasy. With fascinating characters in a slightly skewed reality, I couldn’t put it down.
A unique view of vampires. But the stream of consciousness style of writing made it tedious to read.
Excellent book. Has a different take on a world where vampires and magic exist. The lives of the characters are consistent, no sudden turning into a completely different person. Enough action to keep you interested but mostly concerned with character building. Best of any of the Robin McKinley books I’ve read.
If you like Urban Fantasy…you must read this book..It is a stand alone. If you like a good story and not an urban fantasy fan..read it. The story is great.
To call Sunshine a vampire romance is to give it far too little credit. Fantastic twist that leaves a familiar trope almost unrecognizable, and beautifully improved. Filled with action that still unfolds at a pace that leaves room for tons of character development of a narrator that is thoughtful, vulnerable and a defiant badass. You can’t help but get wrapped up in her story and long to know more.
I already owned this book in paper, but liked it so much that I also wanted to have it available on my Kindle so I could reread it when traveling.
I enjoyed this book greatly. I’d really like this to turn into a series. I keep wondering “what’s next?”.
After having read tons if books about vampires I never thought I would be surprised or moved beyond my comfortable but predictable journey when reading another book in this genre. As I synced with the rhythm of the writing, which wasn’t easy, I began to understand how special this book is. Don’t overlook this book, it is one of the best.