Sunshine Kindle Edition

The typical hero quest story goes like this: the community is in crisis, threatened by a powerful villain, and then hurray! the right hero for the time comes into their powers and fixes the problem. In "Sunshine," Robin McKinley takes that plot into new territory. Her heroine was not prophesied, has no idea what her powers are or how to use them, and also suffers, as does the entire community - as you might expect after decades of living in a post-apocalyptic world - from PTSD. Also, she's not the only hero to appear at the right moment; the Other side, as the humans call them, have also managed to generate a hero to fix the problem. But they won't be going up against each other; instead, it's going to take both of them working together.Some reviewers have criticized how much time we spend in Sunshine's head. It worked for me: McKinley uses this method to bring out just how lonely the hero is and how hard it is to carry the burden of being the one everyone else needs to be their savior. Sunshine is a hero in the mold of Frodo Baggins: reluctant, overwhelmed and terrified most of the time, and scarred and damaged in the end. Using her powers is no joyful experience, for after all, they are for killing, while vegetarian Sunshine won't even kill an insect if she can avoid it. But she can't avoid her obligation to the rest of her community, and so she walks into her own worst nightmare.Being in Sunshine's head also allows McKinley to tell us about her world without a lot of exposition. Sunshine thinks in the idioms of the time and refers to various entities and organizations without explaining them to the reader (thank you McKinley, I DETEST authors who interrupt the flow of a scene to turn to the audience and explain something, and yes, I just did that deliberately), so it's up to us to pick up on the clues and come to our own conclusions. I love, for one, how she refers to various gods from different religions as metaphors for certain qualities - the Greeks would be in complete agreement - like something being "thor" if it's forceful, or "odin" if it's masterful, or "durga" if it's more powerful than anything, in a way that tells us this is common parlance. Through her eyes we see a society that's nearly been brought to its knees, but is coping as best it can.The Other hero is a vampire, but he's no Edward Cullen. He's terrifying, his skin is not shiny but resembles that of a mushroom, and he's ugly. This is no hero to fangirl over. And yet McKinley makes him appealing and heroic. He has walked a different path from most vampires, and been outcast and hunted because of it. He is the Outlaw Hero that the community has shunned, and yet is their best hope in the end.I hope McKinley gives us a sequel. I want to know what these two do next.

Take my advice and don't pay too much attention to this book review listed at the top of the page!"Buffyesque baker Rae "Sunshine" Seddon meets Count Dracula's hunky Byronic cousin in Newbery-Award-winner McKinley's first adult-and-then-some romp through the darkling streets of a spooky post-Voodoo Wars world"Robin McKinley is my FAVORITE author and since I have (like Sunshine) a certain "affinity" for vampires, I looked at this book with anticipation and trepidation. See, I only like a certain brand of vampires and I was worried to see a darker, sicker side of my favorite author. All my fears were banished by the end!I never cared much for the Buffy series, Angel was more my speed. Ok, yes, in this novel there is a good vampire among a world teeming with bad ones. And yes, Sunshine was born with a unique gift. BUT her personality, lifestyle and vampire experiences are COMPLETELY different! WARNING: Spoiler Alert!!! (at least for the beginning of the novel)Synopsis: Rae (Sunshine) is a completely ordinary twenty-something baker in a city called New Arcadia. She comes from an ordinary family, has a tatooed, motorcycle-riding boyfriend who loves to cook just as much as she loves to bake. They have a "need" to feed people so Sunshine, along with all her friends and family, work at her stepdad's bakery, restaurant and coffeeshop called Charlie's. Then one night, at her family's old cabin by the lake, Sunshine is abducted by yep, you guessed it, vampires. The lake has been abandoned since after the Voodoo Wars, fought between humans, magical beings, Wizards and Vampires. The war greatly reduced the human population, the cities, and made what are called "bad spots" where no human can bear to go.Sunshine, rather than being sucked dry, is chained to a wall in an abandoned house (wearing a stunning gown) with what she assumes is another prisoner - until she sees his liquid-quick movements. "Speak. Remind me you are a rational creature." he says. Turns out the vampire ("names have power") is imprisoned for a reason and he doesn't want his enemy to win (giving into hunger means he loses). They strike a wary alliance, Sunshine telling him stories through the day "Scheherezade had it easy!" to stave off his madness as he scoots around on the floor to avoid contact with the sun.The next night, she has a dream in which she recalls visits to the lake and her grandmother who taught her magic - transmutation. Not having practiced her forgotten gift for 15 years, Sunshine is able to transform her pocketknife (hidden in her bra) into a key that unlocks her shackle. With a deeply-ingrained belief that vampires are evil, she unlocks his shackle also, telling the vampire "I don't like bullies". Knowing he would be unable to escape when all other vampires are awake, Sunshine takes his hand and pulls him out into the sun.So, I'll omit the details here, but suffice it to say Sunshine winds up back at her apartment: tired, wounded and nearly delerious but alive. Sounds like the end right? Except, there's a cut on her chest that won't heal and the uncomfortable sense that something, or somethings, are still looking for her.You'll have to read the book to learn the rest. Just believe me, you'll be surprised at what happens to Sunshine's life, her past, and her relationship with vampires! And, given the vampire stereotypes set out in this book, Sunshine's new acquaintance will take you to a whole new view of vampires as we know them!This book is a constant treat for me, saved for special occasions and relished with much satisfaction when read. When I finish it, I'm reluctant to face the end and have to pick up another book in it's place. Sunshine fills a vampire space in my persona I didn't know I possessed. And if the whole dead-sexy (no pun intended), vampire romance books don't quite do it for you, read this book! Ok, there's the usual touch of romance and some kinda hot scenes (won't say whether they're human or vampire) that Ms. McKinley normally inserts into her books but this does NOT fit into ANY vampire-novel stereotype hanging around out there. Deeper, more intellectual, lots of confusion, coping and coming to terms with a new reality. Robin McKinley truly does the BEST job of writing about women coming into their own as newly-discovered special people. The struggle, confusion, denial and thought-processes are definitely worth the read!Sunshine has become one of my top most favorite books of all time. Along with The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, Spindle's End, Beauty, the Harry Potter series, the Chronicles of Narnia, L.M. Montgomery books (Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series and The Blue Castle), Jane Eyre, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy, Patricia McKillip's Alphabet of Thorn, Caroline B. Cooney's Time Quartet, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Dark Tower series and a few others!Trust my book sense on this one, don't pass up Sunshine! It's great vampire material and another absolute masterpiece from Robin McKinley!

Regalo per mia figlia che ha gradito molto.

O livro brilha! Haha . Não é versão pocket, foi do jeito que eu esperava. Acho essa edição melhor que aquela com a moça algemada.

The author tends to deviate away from the storylline frequently and lot of gibberish is also used.Rather than keeping you glued to the storyline it may add a booster to your sleeping pills(Ofcourse if u atall need some).Recommended only for people who have trouble sleeping and require a sleeping pill called "SUNSHINE".

-"Sunshine" est l'archétype du livre qu'on adore ou que l'on déteste. Sa forme est si audacieuse, si personnelle qu'elle ne pourra manquer d'irriter les lecteurs qui ne tomberont pas sous son charme...Le récit est écrit comme un journal intime, avec un abandon et un manque de complexe flagrants. L'auteur (et donc le personnage principal, Sunshine - le roman est écrit à la première personne du singulier) parle de ce qu'elle veut, de ce qu'elle aime, de qui elle aime et de tout ce qui lui passe par la tête à tout moment. Le récit est ainsi nourri d'invraisemblables, sempiternelles, très longues ET (à mes yeux) passionnantes digressions.Le lecteur est ainsi longuement entretenu de la passion de la jeune fille pour son métier de pâtissière dans un petit restaurant familial, et apprend les choses nécessaires à la compréhension du monde à la louche, sans ordre particulier - mais sans aucune frustration non plus.Curieusement "Sunshine", qui est une histoire intime, douce, personnelle, malicieuse, lente, fascinante et quotidienne, est aussi une histoire de vampires. Ou plutôt l'histoire d'un vampire et d'une humaine, ou plutôt d'un vampire et d'une jeune femme pas tout à fait humaine - quoiqu'elle en ait décidé, dans un monde décalé très travaillé et cohérent.Par bonheur l'auteur ne sombre jamais dans aucun des clichés de la bitlit ou de la romance, conservant une authenticité parfaite.Les pages se suivent avec leur rythme étonnant en "vagues", toujours passionnantes et émouvantes. Je crois que j'aurais pu continuer à lire encore des pages, des pages et des pages...

吸血鬼というジャンルではアン・ライスより萩尾望都だよねえ、という方へ。全面的に賛成ですが、ここにちょっと変種が現れました。この吸血鬼ヒーローは「醜くて」「やることがいちいち不気味」。なのにステキ。寡黙にして理知的、誇り高く騎士的、そして強い。しぶとくて、かつ破壊王。しかも純なところがあって奇妙にスレてない。だって人間じゃないんだもんね。ヒロインも変り種。少々怪しい地区のカフェで朝の４時から菓子パンをこねている職人です。これがまた、おいしそうなパンを焼くのよ･･･　とにかくレディでも学者でもありません。背景設定はホラーＳＦっぽく、大戦争後の地球に怪しげな生き物や人間との混血がウロウロ。事件はいろいろあるんですが、丸く収まるというよりずっと妖しくしぶとく続いていきそうな世界と、その住人が魅力的です。