Title: Sunshine

Author: Robin McKinley

Series: Stand-alone

Genre: Urban Fantasy Horror (YA)

Pages: 416 Pages (Paperback)

Original Publication Date: September 30, 2003

Overall Rating:
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Summary from Shelfari

There hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake in years. Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts for a minute. But then the vampires found her…. Now, chained and imprisoned in a once-beautiful decaying mansion, alone but for the vampire, Constantine, shackled next to her, Sunshine realizes that she must call on her own hidden strength if she is to survive. But Constantine is not what she expected of a vampire, and soon Sunshine discovers that it is he who needs her, more than either of them know.

My Thoughts

Rae “Sunshine” Seddon knows what kind of family she comes from on her father’s side, but because of her mother’s influence, she has ignored it until she is abducted by a gang of vampires. She must tap into her magical abilities in order to save herself and Constantine, another vampire held against his will.

Sunshine is very surprised with her magical abilities, her desire to rescue another vampire, and her actual escape from the vampires that abducted her. As far as she knows, she’s the only one in the world to have ever escaped from vampires.

Once she gets home, she tries to forget what happened, but finds this to be easier said than done as she begins to realize her abductors are still after her and Constantine. Both Sunshine and Constantine realize they can’t defeat the vampire gang alone, so they form an unlikely partnership to get through their peril together.

As I said, I enjoyed reading Sunshine. I enjoyed the story very much, but I’ve always been fascinated by vampires, so enjoying the story was no surprise to me. At times, I was very frustrated with Sunshine’s unwillingness to explore different aspects of the story. And, because the book was solely in her point of view, I didn’t feel like all my questions were answered by the time the story ended. I also enjoyed the tension between Sunshine and Constantine and kept hoping their relationship would develop past its “symbiotic” nature.

This book is classified as young adult. However, as a content warning for parents, there is a very explicit scene, quite graphic really, between Sunshine and Constantine. There’s also some language. Also, In my opinion, Sunshine isn’t scary, but it’s rather suspenseful and is classified as horror.

Other than the content warning, my only other gripe with this book is that it feels like it’s the middle of a trilogy. There isn’t enough back story and the ending leaves you hanging big time.