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I read the book Sunshine by Robin McKinley this weekend. It was recommended to me and I have to say, and as much as I adore the trashiness of True Blood as well as the nastiness of some vampire genres, I really enjoyed it because it was different with an easy elegance of simplicity.

The vampire is not handsome and the author describes him as having the skin the color of old mushrooms. The antagonist, who is named Sunshine, is a magic holder who has the power of transmutation, and is a baker. The beauty and simplicity as she talks in first-person about needing the dough each morning as she makes cinnamon rolls for her stepfather’s coffee shop is exquisite. I could read about the smells of her baking over and over.

It’s that good. I read it before I read the reviews. When Neil Gaiman says it pretty much perfect, well he’s right, it is. I didn’t know that before I picked it up to read. I don’t mind being spoiled, but I’m glad I wasn’t for this book.

The vampire, named Con,  is not human, nor does he pretend to have human emotions, which I found to be quite refreshing. She writes that vampires move “like vampires” although that is left somewhat to your imagination regarding their fluidity while moving and that there is really nothing human about him, including his eyes that appear to be an “alien” green. He is not the Eric the Viking of the Sookie Stackhouse books, and that was more than okay.  Con doesn’t pretend to be anything more than he is, and although there are remnants of humanity, his main goal is survival. He only shows attention to Sunshine because he is bound to her and because he owes her. She has found noncommittal love with a man where there is little communication in the character Mel, but she is comfortable with the arrangement. This may sound non-romantic, and it is quite frankly, but it was also a testament that she is her own woman. It’s not a traditional love triangle, yet it is.

It’s all about her. Her power and her strength despite fear is the main focus of the book.

I liked it. I like nice clean writing full of everyday life where there is strength and fear combined and where there is another outerworld that I had not thought about it.

I recommend it.