melissakuzma's review
3.0
I didn't really get this book. I expected to like it more than I did. I did come to love the character of Maxon, but not as much his wife Sunny. There were a few good surprises in the story, but it still just didn't quite do it for me. And of course I hated the ambiguous ending!
kinseylove's review
3.5
Could it have used some editing to help the flow? Sure. The ending was a bit too neat. Was it an honest, nuanced love story that pulled on my heartstrings? You bet.
ourladyofcats's review
3.0
This book was odd. I honestly can't figure out how I feel about it. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great.
Despite having finished it just yesterday, I can't even remember how it ended. It was interesting, I'd probably read other works by the author, but maybe not the most memorable thing I've ever read.
Despite having finished it just yesterday, I can't even remember how it ended. It was interesting, I'd probably read other works by the author, but maybe not the most memorable thing I've ever read.
poachedeggs's review against another edition
4.0
A strange story with some glaring gaps, but captivating despite all that.
A genius with a troubled childhood, Maxon Mann is headed to the Moon in a rocket, leaving his bald, pregnant wife Sunny Butcher behind on Earth together with their autistic son.
As family histories are excavated and relived, Maxon and Sunny find themselves reaffirming their love for each other through a series of both hyper-logical and deliberately non-logical acts. And what a funny, impersonal kind of love it is - kind of like when you step out of your own skin and find that your chosen other half is an alien, but you can't help but be moved by him anyway.
A genius with a troubled childhood, Maxon Mann is headed to the Moon in a rocket, leaving his bald, pregnant wife Sunny Butcher behind on Earth together with their autistic son.
As family histories are excavated and relived, Maxon and Sunny find themselves reaffirming their love for each other through a series of both hyper-logical and deliberately non-logical acts. And what a funny, impersonal kind of love it is - kind of like when you step out of your own skin and find that your chosen other half is an alien, but you can't help but be moved by him anyway.
addypap's review
4.0
Audiobook. Enjoyed the story and the writing. Wished for more from Maxon's perspective. I don't think I was the target audience, but did enjoy the book. Narration was good, Maxon, Sunny and Bubber's voices were done very well, the others (though less important) seemed to all sound about the same.
cher_n_books's review
3.0
3 stars - It was good.
So what do you get when you combine a girl that has hypotrichosis (no hair growth) in love with a boy that is a savant with Asperger's? Well, you get a very strange and original novel.
I can't even begin to give you a synopsis for or describe this novel as it is about everything all at once. At times I was very engaged and saw glimmers of brilliance, but other times it felt too repetitive and in need of an aggressive editing or simply over the top with the bizarreness. A mixed bag, but a good one to choose if you want an unique plot that you have not read before.
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Favorite Quote: There are three things that robots cannot do," wrote Maxon. Then beneath that on the page he wrote three dots, indented. Beside the first dot he wrote "Show preference without reason (LOVE)" and then "Doubt rational decisions (REGRET)" and finally "Trust data from a previously unreliable source (FORGIVE).
First Sentence: Deep in darkness, there was a tiny light.
So what do you get when you combine a girl that has hypotrichosis (no hair growth) in love with a boy that is a savant with Asperger's? Well, you get a very strange and original novel.
I can't even begin to give you a synopsis for or describe this novel as it is about everything all at once. At times I was very engaged and saw glimmers of brilliance, but other times it felt too repetitive and in need of an aggressive editing or simply over the top with the bizarreness. A mixed bag, but a good one to choose if you want an unique plot that you have not read before.
-------------------------------------------
Favorite Quote: There are three things that robots cannot do," wrote Maxon. Then beneath that on the page he wrote three dots, indented. Beside the first dot he wrote "Show preference without reason (LOVE)" and then "Doubt rational decisions (REGRET)" and finally "Trust data from a previously unreliable source (FORGIVE).
First Sentence: Deep in darkness, there was a tiny light.
the_lady_reads's review
As seen on Ed and Em's Reviews!
Shine, Shine, Shine is the strangest book that I've ever read. Not in a bad way, not at all, but I don't think I'll ever be able to rate it. It's so out of the norm that I can't rate it by the standards of my usual usual rating system.
To be honest, the cover is what drew me into this book. It's gorgeous, a bit immature for the plot and writing style, but gorgeous nonetheless. I saw it on Netgalley and didn't read about the book or even check the genre, I just saw the cover and immediately requested the book. I'll learn my lesson about not judging books by their covers one day, but in this case, my instinct was spot-on.
Shine, Shine, Shine was not what I was expecting. I couldn't decide if, by the summary, it would be about aliens or it would be contemporary. Even though Maxon, one of the main characters, acted like an alien and Sunny, the other main character, looked like an alien, this was definitely a contemporary novel.
I loved Maxon. He is awkward and definitely not social creature, but he loves Sunny with all of his heart. That fact grows clearer as the book progresses. Even though he's not with her in person, as he is in space, Sunny and their children are what he thinks of most. I had trouble reading from Sunny's perspective sometimes. She isn't the easiest character to like. She's self-centered, sometimes cruel, emotionally stunted, but her intentions were honest and relatable. So while I didn't always like her, I rooted for her and Maxon to get the happily-ever-after that they deserved.
The secondary characters were interesting. There weren't many that played a big role in the story, but the ones that were closest to Sunny - her mother and two best friends, helped her learn lessons about being who you are and not who you think you should be. I was surprised to gain a lesson myself from this story, but I did. This is a great book for people who need help being themselves. I think the main thing to take from this book is that everyone has crazy within them so no one should be afraid to be themselves because those who care about them will continue to do so even if they are odd.
The end… I didn't like the end. I am a very cliche ending person. I love to know what happens to the characters. That means I'm not a fan of open-ended endings. There isn't anything wrong with them, but I need to know that the characters I've come to care about get their happily-ever-afters. So while the way the book leaves off left me wanting, I think it fits the novel better than the ending I wished for.
Shine, Shine, Shine was captivating. The writing was absolutely phenomenal. I am not ashamed to say I was brought to tears more than once by the prose and plot that the author weaves. I put this book down once and that was to sleep. Besides sleeping, I couldn't put the book down long enough to do something else. All of the elements of this book made it perfect. I think many adults will enjoy this. I think that this is a book that people will love or hate. It's not the easiest book to connect with, but if you give it a chance, I think many adults will like it.
Shine, Shine, Shine is the strangest book that I've ever read. Not in a bad way, not at all, but I don't think I'll ever be able to rate it. It's so out of the norm that I can't rate it by the standards of my usual usual rating system.
To be honest, the cover is what drew me into this book. It's gorgeous, a bit immature for the plot and writing style, but gorgeous nonetheless. I saw it on Netgalley and didn't read about the book or even check the genre, I just saw the cover and immediately requested the book. I'll learn my lesson about not judging books by their covers one day, but in this case, my instinct was spot-on.
Shine, Shine, Shine was not what I was expecting. I couldn't decide if, by the summary, it would be about aliens or it would be contemporary. Even though Maxon, one of the main characters, acted like an alien and Sunny, the other main character, looked like an alien, this was definitely a contemporary novel.
I loved Maxon. He is awkward and definitely not social creature, but he loves Sunny with all of his heart. That fact grows clearer as the book progresses. Even though he's not with her in person, as he is in space, Sunny and their children are what he thinks of most. I had trouble reading from Sunny's perspective sometimes. She isn't the easiest character to like. She's self-centered, sometimes cruel, emotionally stunted, but her intentions were honest and relatable. So while I didn't always like her, I rooted for her and Maxon to get the happily-ever-after that they deserved.
The secondary characters were interesting. There weren't many that played a big role in the story, but the ones that were closest to Sunny - her mother and two best friends, helped her learn lessons about being who you are and not who you think you should be. I was surprised to gain a lesson myself from this story, but I did. This is a great book for people who need help being themselves. I think the main thing to take from this book is that everyone has crazy within them so no one should be afraid to be themselves because those who care about them will continue to do so even if they are odd.
The end… I didn't like the end. I am a very cliche ending person. I love to know what happens to the characters. That means I'm not a fan of open-ended endings. There isn't anything wrong with them, but I need to know that the characters I've come to care about get their happily-ever-afters. So while the way the book leaves off left me wanting, I think it fits the novel better than the ending I wished for.
Shine, Shine, Shine was captivating. The writing was absolutely phenomenal. I am not ashamed to say I was brought to tears more than once by the prose and plot that the author weaves. I put this book down once and that was to sleep. Besides sleeping, I couldn't put the book down long enough to do something else. All of the elements of this book made it perfect. I think many adults will enjoy this. I think that this is a book that people will love or hate. It's not the easiest book to connect with, but if you give it a chance, I think many adults will like it.
meganmreads's review against another edition
2.0
What?
What did I just read?
Everything about this story is weird. I can do weird and I love quirky and magical realism and strangeness, but I just couldn’t seem to connect with anyone.
I feel like I like the overall theme of what it means to be normal, but the execution and characters were just out of whack for me and I didn’t enjoy it. I would have needed to be able to connect with the characters in order for the message to really hit home, but they were so over the top strange that they felt unreal to me.
Definitely missed the mark with this one, but I’m rating it 2 stars because I could appreciate the overall message and the representation of the autism spectrum, but it just wasn’t quite as gripping as I’d hoped.
What did I just read?
Everything about this story is weird. I can do weird and I love quirky and magical realism and strangeness, but I just couldn’t seem to connect with anyone.
I feel like I like the overall theme of what it means to be normal, but the execution and characters were just out of whack for me and I didn’t enjoy it. I would have needed to be able to connect with the characters in order for the message to really hit home, but they were so over the top strange that they felt unreal to me.
Definitely missed the mark with this one, but I’m rating it 2 stars because I could appreciate the overall message and the representation of the autism spectrum, but it just wasn’t quite as gripping as I’d hoped.
amandadelbrocco's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book that makes me wish you could rate using half a star. It’s really a 2.5 for me, but I rounded up because it has a really interesting premise but it just wasn’t for me in the end. It skipped around to different points of view and over a 30 year timeline which wasn’t the easiest to follow. Also, they call the kid Bubber?