Sunshine

I’ve read this book three times, which is rare for me. I have such a daunting TBR pile that I rarely reread books. But as one of the first urban fantasy stories I ever read, it holds a special place in my heart, and every time I read it, I wish there were more.

The amount of world-building Mckinley achieves in a single, stand-alone book is phenomenal. Within the first few pages, I fell in love with the world’s history, the characters, and the social conflicts present in this book. The depiction of vampires and other magical races was so… show more.

I love this, first and foremost, for the main character, i.e. Sunshine. It's a character-driven book, and Rae/Sunshine reached out and grabbed me from the first with her determination to share all about her love of baking (Cinnamon rolls as big as your head!) and her humor in the face of vampires and other icky squicky darkness.

I appreciate how she thinks through situations, leading me in circles and squiggly lines to her conclusions. I love how much she loves her family, mother, stepfather, annoying brothers, and, of course, her grandmother. I also love the layers and how Sunshine sees… show more.

Neil Gaiman says this book is "pretty much perfect" and I don’t disagree.

McKinley has created a world still reeling from a nearly-apocalyptic war against the Others (vampires, demons, etc.). Nearly everyone has PTSD from the war, and the Others are still a constant threat. The heroine has powers, but they bring her no sense of security because they mean she must confront evil when all she wants to do is run and hide.

Many intriguing secondary characters, and the heroine’s day job is baking for a coffeehouse that I wish was real and I could go sit in. Another… show more.