Title: A Bad Day for Sunshine
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Sunshine Vicram #1
Don’t repeat your mistakes, Jones
I would like to effusively thank Darynda Jones, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for letting Christmas come early by allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
When a new Darynda Jones book drops out of the wild blue yonder directly into my lap more than six months before its due to be released, there’s only one thing to do—hunker the fuck down because I’m not functioning like a human until every word has been imprinted on my eyeballs.
I tried to be as vague as I could, to the point of cryptic, but a few minor spoilers might have slipped through. If you’re super sensitive to spoilers and consider the tiniest, most irrelevant details to be heinous—well, first, why are you reading reviews at all? Second, you probably shouldn’t read this, just to be extra safe.
I have two chief complaints. The first is something Jones always tread close to in Charley’s later books, too—there was too much going on. At least in Charley’s books I had the benefit of already knowing the main cast and the overarching plot; I knew the history. It was a matter of keeping track of the new developments and subplots. Here, though, I went in blind, and through the first third I felt bombarded with new people, places, and information.
Aside from the main mystery, there was the rooster thread, the newscaster thread, the Daughter thread, the Bo thread, the mayor thread (though you might count that with the Daughter thread), the mafia thread, the convict thread, and of course the Sunshine thread. Oh, and the itty-bitty eyeliner thread. And perhaps others I’m not recalling. And all the characters… Except for Quincy, I still don’t have Sun’s posse sorted out. Nor the Ravinders apart from Levi, Hailey, and Jimmy. The rooster thread, the Bo thread, and the eyeliner thread and their related characters could have been cut completely. They were superfluous; either Jones indulging herself or filling pages. I would much rather those words been spent on Sunshine uncovering her past—but naturally that’s the cliffhanger (which isn’t a spoiler—this is Jones we’re talking about. Of course she was going to leave us with the juiciest morsel hanging just out of reach. I was preparing myself for it from the start.)
I get if Jones wanted to make sure to show that there was more on Sunshine’s plate as sheriff than just one case, and I respect that, but still, some of it was simply unnecessary.
I can’t really talk about my second complaint too much because it could be a huge spoiler—but the thing is, is it really? I thought it was obvious from the start, and I grew more and more frustrated with Sunshine as the evidence piled up—we’re talking skyscraper high, blind-man-could-see obvious—and she refused to see what it was pointing to. Which is ironic, because that’s her thing—she kept repeating how it was her job to find and follow evidence, not to merely indulge her instincts. If they told her two different things, she had a responsibility to go with the evidence. But I think both the abundance of evidence and her instincts were screaming the same thing at her, and she kept ignoring it and ignoring it and ignoring it, even though I believe deep in her subconscious she knew the truth and just didn’t have the balls to confront it yet. (I mean, those dreams. That promise. She totally knows, just doesn’t understand.) I was also surprised it didn’t occur to anyone who knew the situation and also saw some of the evidence. I thought for sure the cliffhanger would be a confrontation, ending on a specific question or statement, but we didn’t even get that far. That really disappointed me. Seriously, the hints were as subtle as an atom bomb. (Yes, Jones, I saw you sneak that thematic full name in there. French and Hindu. I follow. *taps side of nose*)
But other than that, I loved this book and totally look forward to further installments. The mystery was intriguing and I didn’t figure out whodunit until about 80%. (In my defense, I was stumbling over the mountain of story debri she threw in because reasons.) Even when I knew who, I didn’t know why until it was confessed.
The characters were just as wacky and entertaining as Jones’s other characters. Sunshine was a more down-to-earth version of Charley, lacking some of the crazy and most of the ADHD. Which makes her sound boring, but she’s not. She’s just as fun and funny and charming as any Jones protag, even if she isn’t a god of time or a celestial being. That we know of.
Levi will obviously be Sunshine’s love interest. I don’t understand him; all I know is that he has a hero complex and gives out mixed messages like a malfunctioning traffic light. So in short, he’s Reyes. He’s even got the tragic life history and the family from hell. And the explosive temper. I don’t like him much yet. Actually, I dislike him. Acting sullen and moody and enigmatic and violent is not romantic, Jones. I don’t care how secretly heroic he is or how he’s trying to be a legitimate businessman; he behaves like an anus. And please don’t make superficial sex the first priority of his and Sunshine’s relationship, not until things are sorted out and they actually like each other. I don’t want to watch them hate-fuck each other. Don’t let them be as distrustful and emotionally abusive as Charley and Reyes were. I already hate him a little bit for getting mad at Sunshine and acting like the victim; as far as I know at this point, he has no right to feel that way, and he’s blaming her for something that isn’t her fault. And what did he do about it in all that time? Nothing, except perhaps wallow in self-pity and make assumptions. Yes, very attractive.
Anyway. Sunshine’s parents are endearing. And a little terrifying, in the best way. Auri is pretty much Amber but I don’t care because I love them both. Quincy’s awesome; Cookie in role, not necessarily in personality. And I have no idea what was going on with that twin thing between him and…Zee, I think? I don’t know where it came from or what the point of it was. It was an inside joke to even the reader. Cruz is a mix of Quentin and Reyes, which isn’t as odd as you might imagine. Could not get enough of that kid. His dad was cool, too.
The Book Babes were…I’m not sure yet. Good, though. Ricky and Richard—just, why? What was the point? They screamed tokenism. The rooster couple—cute, but again why? The mayor and former sheriff deserve each other. The former former former sheriff was instantly lovable, though his banter with Sunshine was a little…weird. I very much look forward to more Jimmy and his mom. The principal was interesting; the overzealous security guard a fiasco waiting to happen. I’m not sure how I feel about the kids at school. Lynette and Liam went to a lot more work than realistic, I think, and the display at the end was corny as hell. No way would those kids have been that synchronized and demonstrative. It did make me tear up and warmed my heart, though, so mission accomplished.
And there were the deputies, and the other Ravinders—*pauses, cocks head* Did we ever get a name for that one cousin?—and the marshalls, and the FBI dude. Not to mention the perp and the victim. And the victim’s parents and cousin. And more. So many people.
Couple last random things:
Were there no consequences to Mrs. St. Aubin’s…um…accident? Does she at least have to pay for the repairs? It happened, then no more was said about it.
Also, there’s no way that kid got treated at the ER in 2003/4 without hospital staff and the police investigating him. No way a kid with stab wounds—to all appearances a minor who’d been attacked—just walked in, gave a false name, went into surgery, woke up, and walked out. How insulting to nurses and hospital admin.
Overall, I’m so game for this series. The only true downside to reading a new Darynda Jones book…is starting the wait for the next one once again.
*squints* I’m still holding you to Beep’s spin-off, Jones. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.
2/15/20 Update:
So I get Darynda’s newsletter, and yesterday I received one which announced a new book of hers, the first of a new series, coming out in just a few days! I was like, “Where the fuck did this come from?” and began to scour the Internet for more information. And I hit the motherfucking jackpot—on Jones’s facebook page is a video she recorded (live, originally) about three weeks ago. In it she describes all the projects she’s got lined up for the next, like, five years or more. You can watch it HERE if you like, to hear all this straight from the horse’s mouth, and I encourage you to. She seems like a really wonderful person. But for those who don’t want to watch the video, and because I usually try to mention what’s next for an author at the end of my reviews, here’s a list of what she’s got coming up:
Betwixted, out on February 18th, is the first in new trilogy of novels, full-length, I believe. They’re about a middle-aged woman who learns she’s inherited a house in Salem, MA, from someone she’s never heard of before. I assume she’ll learn she has witch ancestry. The other two installments will be titled Bewitched and Beguiled, release dates undetermined. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bewitched is released late this summer or this fall, and Beguiled around this time next year, but that’s pure guesswork.
A Bad Day for Sunshine comes out this April, obviously, but she already has titles for the next two: A Good Day for Chardonnay and A Hard Day for a Hangover. I don’t know if she only has those two titles because it will be a trilogy or if that’s just as far as she’s got planned out. Again, release dates undetermined, but I wouldn’t be surprised if those are released a year apart, especially with everything else she’ll be publishing.
In June she’ll release a novella titled The Graveyard Shift in which Garrett has to team up with his baby mama to find a missing 5-year-old Beep. She also plans to write a novella starring Amber and Quentin as they do something that involves Beep—as well as their detective agency, I assume—set a few or several years after Graveyard Shift. She also mentioned writing a Cookie and Uncle Bob novella, though it was unclear if she intends it to be like these other two, but I would assume it will be, meaning it’ll involve a teenage or young adult Beep.
Then she made it very clear that she fully intends to write Beep and Osh’s story and is extremely excited to do so. She plans on it being a trilogy, but mentioned no working titles or ballpark release dates. I would assume it’s at least 2 or 3 years out, if not more.
She’s also working with someone to make a Charley Davidson cookbook, tentatively titled New Mexico Recipes to Die For. Apparently fans have asked for years if she would put together the recipes for all the food she’s mentioned in the Charley books, and she thought it would be fun to do. Not gonna lie, I’m super curious about that.
Finally, she mentioned Sunshine’s live action rights have been bought—I can’t remember if she said television or film—and she also said that the rights to Charley’s series were sold before the first book was even out and has passed from studio to studio over the years as time limits lapsed.
And she’s always got short stories being released online. How she can do all of this at the same time, keep track of it all, is completely unfathomable to me.
