Sunshine: A Novel

Product Information

I was planning on writing another review tonight, about a serial killer thriller I finished a week ago, but then I watched ‘Sunshine’ [1973] and I cannot think of anything else.

Sunshine.co.uk is a trading name of On the Beach Limited. On the Beach Limited is an Accredited Body Member of On the Beach Travel Ltd (ATOL number 11549).

Read the first chapter

There was really just the problem that there was too much useless narrative in ratio to the action and suspense. Sunshine would start babbling about some inane facet of life that had NOTHING to do with the story and doesn't really add anything to it. Now, if this was world building for a future novel I could have forgiven it, but I have heard, rather mournfully, that there will be no more to this series and that makes me very annoyed. Like when I lost interest in my mint choc chip ice cream at one interval and my evil parents had it whisked away by an annoyed waitress (I'll have my revenge one day!) When writing a devotional, or book geared towards helping a Christian grow in their faith, the focus should always be God. When Jarrett J. Krosoczka was in high school, he was part of a program that sent students to be counselors at a camp for seriously ill kids and their families. Going into it, Jarrett was worried: Wouldn’t it be depressing, to be around kids facing such a serious struggle? Wouldn’t it be grim? In this first Sunshine Simpson story, we have a heart-warming, inclusive, delight of a book that will be a great addition to any primary school library. I truly hope there are more to come! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Surprisingly, many things that annoyed readers of this book, didn't bother me. The cinnamon rolls - the bakery business was interesting to me, I thought it added a nice dimension to Sunshine's personality. I wish the author well. She now has everything she ever wanted. 36D breasts, an ultra-dark tan, straight white-blonde hair and a boyfriend named Orion. 3.5 stars rounded up because it would be churlish not to after all the author went through, if she did. Apart from Sunny, her grandfather is also an inspiring character. His words of wisdom are great and really heart touching. I alongside Sunny also enjoyed his tales about his own youth🤭 Sunshine is based on the real life story of Jacquelyn Helton who kept a diary for her daughter Jennifer. It’s the true story angle, the love of nature ( Let’s go to the mountains ), their power to soothe the wounded soul and recharge your drained batteries. It’s the strength of the emotion on display, the appeal to honesty in relationships, even when they are going through some rough patches. It’s the request for respect of personal choices and the right to hold on to your dignity as you are about to exit the scene.And this one has kind of the same problem that the rest of the books had - there are a lot of words here and not a whole lot of anything much storywise. Beautifully written and full of rich, thoughtful vocabulary, Sunshine’s story takes you on a journey that fills the mind with great imagery along the way. Every classroom deserves a copy to enable readers to see themselves alongside their teenage trials and tribulations.

Sunshine needs to find her voice, but can she break through the clouds to stand tall, stand proud, and show the world she can shine? The story begins with our first person protagonist describing her pleasant but claustrophobic life as the baker for a roadside diner that is very popular in her small town. We gain the impression of ordinary folk of the type we recognize in our own lives, an ordinary diner, an ordinary small town. Exactly when the reader feels as closed in by all these cheery, well-intentioned ordinariness as does the protagonist, she takes off to be by herself to the lakeside, which, we are told, is not popular any more since the Voodoo Wars. The narrator sounds like a boomer with the constant references to lateral whorephobia, classist remarks, misogynistic, homophobic and ableist “jokes”. I make a point to consume as much material written by sex workers (something this author desperately seeks to seperate herself from, making some truly ugly remarks about FSSW that can only stem from a place of deeply internalised whorephobia), and I was on a good streak with Rita Therese’s “Come”, Tilly Lawless’ “Nothing But My Body” and Bella Green’s “Happy Endings”, all INCREDIBLE pieces of work.. until I borrowed this trashy pile of BS. Oh, I hate that!’ Row cried. ‘Isn’t it just the worst? When you go home with a really good-looking guy and he has a big toe between his legs?’ Constantine: A vampire held in captivity by the same vampires that captured Sunshine. He is somehow different than the other vampires (exactly how is never revealed in the book, although it is clear it has something to do with his eating habits, as the setup with Sunshine is clearly meant to make him drink from and kill her), but he is able to go out in moonlight which most vampires his age cannot.

I liked the interchanged of characters driving and revealing the story as each chapter is written from a difference person’s perspective. The author also maintains a degree of uncertainty as the mystery unfolds. She holds in tension many of the secrets some of the main protagonists have and despite the solving of the crime we have the prospect of future books where more truth needs to be revealed. Thank you to bookish and the publisher for sending me this free copy of The Sunshine Mind. I was pleasantly surprised to get a hardcover, The book is so beautiful.