OVERALL: THE best vampire book ever written. Ever. I love this book so much, I own copies for lending. I also have a few paperback copies and a hardback copy for my collection.

POINTS: OMG. The whole darn thing is amazing. First our heroine is a working class coffee barista – excellent! You don’t read about that kind of character every day. This book takes place in a world that has been changed due to a huge war between humans and the Others, the supernatural beings that go bump in the night and live in our dreams and cultural stories. This book has the best portrayal of a vampire as being “the other” and really NOT human of any book I have read.

PITFALLS: Well there are two: 1.) Robin McKinley has not been inspired to write a sequel; and 2.) This book is not yet available as an ebook. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  McKinley has had plenty of requests for a sequel and she says if she doesn’t have the idea, she can’t write it. I totally understand. May I suggest a prequel? As for the ebook business I have asked  the publisher. Got a stock email back from them saying they were working on it. I think I shall write them again. I want this book on my Nook. That way I will have Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Discworld, and Sunshine on my Nook to take with me everywhere.

FEMALE CHARACTER(S): The heroine Sunshine is perfect. I love that. I love her voice. The book is written in first person from her point of view. You discover so much about her and her world, you simply cannot stop reading. There are so many levels to this book, so many levels to the characters and the situations, that you can read this book many, many times and not get them all. Trust me, I’ve done it. Sunshine feels like a real person, a person who can look at herself too and make honest criticisms. It is just a great read and she is a great character.

CULTURAL PITFALL(S): Hmmm….. This book is pretty much perfect. The characters are not assigned any color or ethnicity so you can imagine them any color you like. 🙂 Plus there are a lot varying ages and even “demon” types to enjoy.

HIGH POINT(S): Oh where to begin!! {*SPOILER ALERT*} 1.) The heroine, Sunshine, is a normal behaving person. She isn’t a superhero, she isn’t rich, she isn’t described as beautiful. She’s just a normal person in her world. She admits to being afraid and admits to her bad behavior when it happens. She is a normal person dealing with an abnormal situation and it is believable how she behaves and thinks. 2.) Sunshine has a elderly women who help her. This is very nice because usually the older wise person is a man, a wizard. It is nice that in Sunshine the older, wiser helpers are women. Hooray! 3.) The vampire Con. Oh what a treat to read a vampire novel where the vamp is so different from human you can feel it. Con and Sunshine form a partnership out of the need to survive. They help each other as equals. Their partnership forms realistically – it is great. {END *SPOILER ALERT*}

BECHDEL TEST (Website): 3 of 3. Granted this isn’t on the Bechdel Test Website but trust me, this book more than earns a 3 of 3.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:  Robin McKinley Sunshine | Barnes & Noble | Amazon.com

 LION PAW PRINTS:  5 of 5. I love this book.