Book Review – Sunshine by Robin McKinley

22 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I read Sunshine by Robin McKinley a few months ago after it was a pick for one of my book clubs. I had previously read and loved a couple of books by this author (The Blue Sword, The Outlaws of Sherwood) a few decades ago, so I was happy to get back to this stand-alone vampire novel (paid links). Read on to see what I thought.

I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it’s unwise to walk. Sunshine knew that. But there hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years, and she needed a place to be alone for a while.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. She never heard them coming. Of course you don’t, when they’re vampires.

They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to the wall of an abandoned mansion – within easy reach of a figure stirring in the moonlight.

She knows that he is a vampire. She knows that she’s to be his dinner, and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet, as dawn breaks, she finds that he has not attempted to harm her. And now it is he who needs her to help him survive the day…

This was a good read, although it wasn’t what I expected. Sunshine is set in an alternate semi-post-apocalyptic fantasy world, after humans have engaged in a war against vampires and other supernatural beings. It features just enough other magic to know that you cannot make any assumptions about how things work here.

Sunshine, the protagonist, is content in her role as a baker at the local shop. She rents a room in a house nearby and has a long-term boyfriend. But her comfortable place in the world is shaken when she takes up the unlikely acquaintance of a vampire, Constantine, imprisoned alongside her by his rivals. Sunshine has her own power and helps Constantine, sparking a forbidden relationship between them.

As Sunshine tries to hide her obsession with the vampire, his enemies stalk the town. One of my favorite characters was Sunshine’s landlady, since she turned out to be a lot more than she seemed. The final outcome was left a bit too vague for me, but I suppose that leaves it up to my interpretation. The world that the author sets up in this book was so interesting that I wish she’d write more in this setting, even if it doesn’t follow Sunshine and Constantine.

What other vampire fiction have you read? Let me know in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – All These Bodies

02 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake is a stand-alone novel that I read in 2023 (paid links). This is the first novel that I’ve read by this author. I listened to the audiobook edition, narrated by Matt Godfrey. Read on below to see what I thought.

I listened to the audiobook edition.

Here is the blurb:

Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation.

Summer 1958—a string of murders plagues the Midwest. The victims are found in their cars and in their homes—even in their beds—their bodies drained, but with no blood anywhere.

September 19- the Carlson family is slaughtered in their Minnesota farmhouse, and the case gets its first lead: 15-year-old Marie Catherine Hale is found at the scene. She is covered in blood from head to toe, and at first she’s mistaken for a survivor. But not a drop of the blood is hers.

Michael Jensen, son of the local sheriff, yearns to become a journalist and escape his small-town. He never imagined that the biggest story in the country would fall into his lap, or that he would be pulled into the investigation, when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to.

As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?

This isn’t the type of book I’d normally pick up, since I don’t read much horror, but it was a selection for one of my book clubs. I’m always willing to give something new a chance and found All These Bodies to be a captivating story that fit somewhere between a psychological thriller and vampire story.

One of the most compelling aspects of this book was the voice of the narrator, Michael. As a teenager and aspiring journalist, he brought the perfect mixture of innocence and passion to his investigation of the case.

This book also straddled the boundary between the speculative and the mundane. While the murder scene is strange, nothing about it requires a fantastical explanation at the outset of the story. Yet the narrative hints at a sinister presence that might be a vampire. I would have like to find more of a resolution to the story in that respect, but this was the story of Marie Catherine Hale and not what else might have occurred.

Despite this being a little off genre for my usual taste, I did enjoy the book. I’d consider picking up one of this author’s other books.

Have you read anything by Kendare Blake? Which book is your favorite? Let me know in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires

16 Oct 2023 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , ,

I wasn’t aware of this book until it was chosen by one of my book clubs. And once I heard the title, I had to make sure I picked it up. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was the first book by Grady Hendrix that I’ve read.

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Here is the blurb:

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia’s life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they’re more likely to discuss the FBI’s recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club’s meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he’s a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she–and her book club–are the only people standing between the monster they’ve invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.

I really liked this book and enjoyed how the southern women managed to harness their homemaking skills to take on a vampire. At the same time, the societal pressures upon them also make for some internal strife between the different women.

This vampire was slightly different than others that I’d read about in other fiction, but I like that in vampire fiction. It keeps me guessing about what the vampire can actually do and what his weaknesses are. Ultimately, this novel didn’t add anything revolutionary to the vampire fiction out there, but it was still an entertaining story. I’d consider picking up another book by this author sometime soon.

Have you read any books by Grady Hendrix? Which do you recommend? Let me know in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.

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