Official Review: Sunshine in the Shadows: Book 2 of the S...

Allyseria · Post by **Allyseria** » 31 Aug 2018, 17:30

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sunshine in the Shadows: Book 2 of the Sunshine Series" by MF Blake.]

1 out of 4 stars

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Sunshine in the Shadows is the second book in the Sunshine Series, written by M.F. Blake. It is a young adult fantasy novel that follows Sunny, a second year academy student in a four-year program that trains students to become future Ambassadors. These students will then go on to ensure the peace of the Unified Universe.

The book follows Sunny on her holiday where she visits her friend’s home planet, rides a Clopthristwith for the first time and falls even deeper in love with a certain blue-eyed warrior. But when the Universe faces their greatest threat, Sunny has to decide whether or not to go against her culture and use her natural instincts to help in the upcoming war.

I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars.

When I read the blurb, my first thought was that it was going to be a young-adult version of Star Trek. The blurb intrigued me and I was excited to read about Sunny and her ultimatum. The book promised a fast-paced read filled with action and big decisions.

Instead, we were treated with chapters and chapters of Sunny’s light-hearted holiday adventures as a tourist. We were forced to follow her on her visit to her friend’s home planet, witness her reactions to all the different sights, watch her ride on a Clopthristwith and see her attend balls. I know that these adventures were mentioned in the blurb, but I did not expect them to take up almost the entire book. I expected the book to quickly introduce the Universe’s threat, but only in the last chapters did the book really touch upon the actual plot. In my opinion, Sunny’s holiday adventures could have easily been omitted because they did nothing to add to the story.

The characters in the book were also shallow. There was Sunny, the main protagonist who was your cliched, beautiful and petite, blonde female who happened to be an impossibly perfect fighter; Gideon, the next in line to the throne royalty who seemed to exist purely to be Sunny’s love interest; the friends, who again, were just there to be the protagonists’ friends; and finally, there were the cliched baddies who were bad because they were from a particular race.

Overall, the book had a good concept. Unfortunately, it did not translate into the book, thus making the book feel like a filler. If you had read the first book, you could have easily skipped this book and move straight onto the next in the series without having missed much at all.

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Sunshine in the Shadows: Book 2 of the Sunshine Series
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crediblereading2 · Post by **crediblereading2** » 08 Sep 2018, 09:57

Based on your descriptions of the book, I can understand your frustrations in having to wait so long to see the plot unfolds. It is a beautiful plot but the flow is not built up properly. Thank you for your honest review of this book.

peterhead · Post by **peterhead** » 08 Sep 2018, 15:24

the book should have featured more on kids and teen according to it's cover but i think the writer got his message and some grab the needed.

mr_creative · Post by **mr_creative** » 08 Sep 2018, 21:16

When I read the blurb, my first thought was that it was going to be a young-adult version of Star Trek. The blurb intrigued me and I was excited to read about Sunny and her ultimatum. The book promised a fast-paced read filled with action and big decisions.

Jordan David · Post by **Chelsy Scherba** » 09 Sep 2018, 00:23

It’s really a shame this book wasn’t developed more and had so much filler. Hopefully if there are sequels the author will mature and perfect the writing to correct this issue.

Onyinye Excel · Post by **Onyinye Excel** » 09 Sep 2018, 06:16

Looks like Sunny had to make some tough decisions. I appreciate your review.I look forward to learning more about Sunny when I read the book.

Bianka Walter · Post by **Bianka Walter** » 09 Sep 2018, 09:21

What a pity this book fell so flat!
I would expect the author to at least build up to some sort of climax from the start.
Well done on persevering!

Connie Otwani · Post by **Connie Otwani** » 10 Sep 2018, 16:50

Overall, the book had a good concept. Unfortunately, it did not translate into the book, thus making the book feel like a filler.

How unfortunate. It's like the author got carried away with Sunny, and the plot was an afterthought! The premise seems quite promising.

Rosemary Khathibe · Post by **Rosemary Khathibe** » 12 Sep 2018, 13:37

Imagine reading the book expecting to discover the Universe's threat and the characters embarking on the journey to ensure peace, only to find almost the entire story talking about the main protagonist's adventure. It must have been difficult for you to finish the book. Thanks for your helpful review.

Allyseria · Post by **Allyseria** » 13 Sep 2018, 15:03

crediblereading2 wrote: ↑08 Sep 2018, 09:57 Based on your descriptions of the book, I can understand your frustrations in having to wait so long to see the plot unfolds. It is a beautiful plot but the flow is not built up properly. Thank you for your honest review of this book.

Thank you for leaving a comment!

Allyseria · Post by **Allyseria** » 13 Sep 2018, 15:04

peterhead wrote: ↑08 Sep 2018, 15:24 the book should have featured more on kids and teen according to it's cover but i think the writer got his message and some grab the needed.

Thank you for your comment! The book is targeted at young adults and the main characters are 17 year olds

Allyseria · Post by **Allyseria** » 13 Sep 2018, 15:05

Momiji1987 wrote: ↑09 Sep 2018, 00:23 It’s really a shame this book wasn’t developed more and had so much filler. Hopefully if there are sequels the author will mature and perfect the writing to correct this issue.

Thank you for leaving a comment. I have hope for the author's next book in this series

Allyseria · Post by **Allyseria** » 13 Sep 2018, 15:06

Onyinye Excel wrote: ↑09 Sep 2018, 06:16 Looks like Sunny had to make some tough decisions. I appreciate your review.I look forward to learning more about Sunny when I read the book.

Thank you for leaving a comment

Yes, Sunny has some tough decisions to make. Unfortunately, none of the tough decisions happens in this book. That's what deducted the stars from the review.

Allyseria · Post by **Allyseria** » 13 Sep 2018, 15:07

Bianka Walter wrote: ↑09 Sep 2018, 09:21 What a pity this book fell so flat!
I would expect the author to at least build up to some sort of climax from the start.
Well done on persevering!

Thank you for leaving a comment

I do believe that engaging books usually dive straight in from the start. Hopefully the next book in the series will do exactly that!

Allyseria · Post by **Allyseria** » 13 Sep 2018, 15:08

Cotwani wrote: ↑10 Sep 2018, 16:50
Overall, the book had a good concept. Unfortunately, it did not translate into the book, thus making the book feel like a filler.
How unfortunate. It's like the author got carried away with Sunny, and the plot was an afterthought! The premise seems quite promising.

Thank you for leaving a comment! Yes, it sounds exactly like what the author did. Because of the promising premise, I have hope for the next book in the series