Journal Entry 1 by vi0let from Espoo, Uusimaa Finland on Monday, April 19, 2004

After hating Robin McKinley´s Deerskin, I had no intention of trying her other books, but reading a review of Sunshine changed my mind. A vampire novel praised by Neil Gaiman -who called it a mix of Chocolat, Interview With the Vampire, Misery and the tale of Beauty and the Beast- seemed too good to be missed.
I started reading Sunshine on a Friday evening; at first, with the intention of only seeing if it was any better than Deerskin.
And well, it was.
For three days I was practically glued to Sunshine. After that I was horrified to find out there might not be a sequel. The characters, stuck in my head, wanted more!

Neil Gaiman´s description of Sunshine is quite correct (I haven´t read Misery, though), I´d just add Buffy to it.
The book is set in a world where Others -vampires, werewolves and demons- are very much true, but also very detested. After wars between humans and Others, SOF, a kind of FBI, deals with crimes concerning the Others with no mercy.
Sunshine has always had a slight obsession with Others, especially vampires. When she is captured by a group of them and shackled to a wall of an adandoned mansion, she knows that she is to be a dinner.
But the vampire she is left with seems to be a prisoner too. They can only escape if they co-operate; something a human and a vampire have never done.

 

Journal Entry 2 by vi0let from Espoo, Uusimaa Finland on Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Participants (in mailing order):

-princessaurora in Pennsylvania, USA (US preferred)
-MollyGrue in WA, USA (US preferred)
-AnnaKY in Kentucky, USA (US/CAN preferred)
-Jaguar in Canada (international)
-Zarylia in Poland/Minnesota, USA <- remember to ask correct address (international)
-Mytilusgirl in the UK (international)
-miss-muffet in the UK (UK preferred)
-spiderchic in the UK (international)
-katayoun in Iran (international)
-Myntti in Finland (prefers not to be first)

This ring is now CLOSED

General Rules:
Please try to be done with the book in about a month. Ask for the address of the person after you; If you after a week have not heard from them, tell me and the person will be skipped. 

Journal Entry 3 by vi0let from Espoo, Uusimaa Finland on Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Finally mailed this. Sorry for the delay!

This ring is now CLOSED. I will, however, do a Finland-only ring with this book once it reaches myntti. 

Journal Entry 4 by princessaurora from Sellersville, Pennsylvania USA on Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Just received. I have a couple of bookrings ahead of this one, but I don't think I'll be too long. 

Journal Entry 5 by princessaurora from Sellersville, Pennsylvania USA on Monday, June 21, 2004

This was o.k. It didn't take me long to read it once I finally started, but I never really got into it.

Mailed to MollyGrue today--6/23. 

Journal Entry 6 by MollyGrue from Tacoma, Washington USA on Saturday, June 26, 2004

I am really looking forward to this one! Will get read as soon as I can. 

Journal Entry 7 by MollyGrue from Tacoma, Washington USA on Monday, June 28, 2004

Read this on Sunday. Great story. I'd almost say that Robin McKinley has been reading Laurell K. Hamilton....but I wouldn't really go that far. It reads more like Beauty did and is a great departure in style than her other books. I liked it, but it will probably not be one my favorites by her.

Will by mailing on Saturday if I get the address! 

Journal Entry 8 by MollyGrue at in the mail in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, July 03, 2004

Released on Saturday, July 03, 2004 at in the mail in Bookring, A Bookring Controlled Releases.

Mailed today to AnnaKY! Happy reading!

DC# 03033430000095867047 

Journal Entry 9 by AnnaLibrarian from Richmond, Virginia USA on Sunday, July 18, 2004

I was out of town for most of this past week (in Washington, ironically), but this book was waiting for me when I returned. Whee! I have another bookray/ring that arrived just before I left, so I'll get to this one after I finished the other. Don't worry -- I'm a fast reader. :) 

Journal Entry 10 by AnnaLibrarian from Richmond, Virginia USA on Friday, August 06, 2004

I started this one last weekend, intending to finish it then and send it on Monday. It took me longer than I expected! It didn't seem like a lot happened in the book, but it sure took a long time to read it. The Blue Sword is still my favorite McKinley book. This one left me with to many questions unanswered, and the ending was a bit anti-climactic. 

Journal Entry 11 by AnnaLibrarian at Bookring in n/a, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Friday, August 06, 2004

Released on Friday, August 06, 2004 at Bookring in n/a, Bookring Controlled Releases.

The book is on its way to Canada, eh. 

Journal Entry 12 by Jaguar on Thursday, August 19, 2004

I just picked this up at the post office. I'll be reading it right away! 

Journal Entry 13 by Jaguar on Saturday, August 21, 2004

Thank goodness for fiction! I was definitely in one of those Get-out-of-my-own-mind-or-collapse states, and this book was the perfect escape. Like vi0let, I found it a book that reached in deep and held on until you were done.

From the book's synopsis, I expected something a lot lighter, perhaps like Rosemary Edghill's The Warmaster. Instead, I found a post-Apocalyptic, dark, alternate universe that worked really, really well. I found the characters, major and minor, to be well-written, engaging and memorable; the magic system, coherent and believable; and the plot, well-paced and gripping. In short, I loved it! Thanks, vi0let! 

Journal Entry 14 by Jaguar at postal release in mail, given to a fellow BCer -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Released 7 yrs ago (8/25/2004 UTC) at postal release in mail, given to a fellow BCer -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to Zarylia in Poland. 

Journal Entry 15 by Zarylia from Saint Paul, Minnesota USA on Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Warsaw/Poland - The book is here and it looks lovely! I hope to have this read in the next two weeks but we'll see how that goes seeing as I've got two enormous bookrings here as well. *fingers crossed* Thanks everyone! 

Journal Entry 16 by Zarylia from Saint Paul, Minnesota USA on Thursday, November 11, 2004

Warsaw/Poland - I would definitely agree with Jaguar that this is the perfect book to escape into... However, I felt like it didn't live up to it's potential. Don't you hate it when a book has the potential to be a completely wonderful fluff book......but it's not? It drives me crazy. This book was like that for me; I just felt that it was lacking a bit.

*SPOILERS (KINDA...)* (highlight if you want to read them)
I felt the ending was especially lacking, I could have used AT LEAST another paragraph.....at least. Everything was left so open...Sunshine and Con's relationship, Sunshine and Mel's relationship, what goddess of pain was planning and what was so weird about her, the green and black in her hands.... I don't know, I just felt like there was so much that was left unexplained...and I like explanations. Also, the other characters in the book were great, but I felt like a lot could have been done to develope the relationships, or even just explain a bit more. In particular about Sunshine's mom and Mel, I finished the book wanting to know more about them. The sentence structure in the book was a bit weird as well, I often found myself rereading something that just hadn't made sense. And speaking of things that didn't make sense let's talk about the '10 seconds when nothing happened' at Con's house. It just seemed so out of place; I guess we were just being toyed with again in respect to their relationship. But still, it didn't seem realistic to me that something like that would happen and then everyone would just forget about it and never mention it again. I don't know...

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I know it sounds like I didn't, but that's just my English class analytical side coming out. As a reader, I enjoyed it and was left desperately hoping there was a sequel. :-D

I'll be sending this on as soon as I get an address. Thanks everyone for getting the book to me! 

Journal Entry 17 by Zarylia from Saint Paul, Minnesota USA on Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Warsaw/Poland - First I want to apologize for taking so long with the book. Second, the book is currently on it's way to Mytilusgirl in the UK and will hopefully arrive soon. :-D Thanks again! 

Journal Entry 18 by Mytilus from Plymouth, Devon United Kingdom on Saturday, December 11, 2004

This arrived yesterday and, thanks to a bought of insomnia last night, I'm already halfway through and *thoroughly* enjoying the book.

Thank you vi0let! 

Journal Entry 19 by Mytilus from Plymouth, Devon United Kingdom on Tuesday, December 14, 2004

What a superb book. *Please* tell me there’s sequel.

I'm just waiting on miss-muffet's address.

Thank you! 

Journal Entry 20 by miss-muffet from Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom on Monday, December 20, 2004

Thanks for this book, will get onto it a.s.a.p!

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This seemed to be a very different subject and style for Robin McKinley so despite reading and enjoying some of her other books I was not sure what to expect.
Well I certainly wasn't disappointed. This is excellent and I would highly recommend it.
It took me a while to read only because of christmas, uni coursework and exams. I hated putting it down and will definately try and return to this book in the future when I have plenty of time to read it properly in case I missed anything. I really hope Robin McKinley writes more books like this one!

Am waiting for an address so I can pass the book on.