This is the story of an astronaut who was lost in space,
and the wife he left behind. p. 164
Title: Shine Shine Shine
Author: Lydia Netzer
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 320
Year: 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Source: Review copy via Netgalley
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
Sunny acts like she has it all together. But her unconventional husband, Maxon, a genius robot-builder, is on his way to the moon; her 4-year-old son, Bubber, is autistic; and her mother is dying. And she’s pregnant. And bald. When she gets in a car accident and loses her wig, everything starts to unravel along with it.
My Thoughts:
Netzer is a very talented writer. There were some beautiful sentences in Shine Shine Shine and the emotion she managed to give these characters despite their social awkwardness is pretty impressive.
I liked the nonlinear nature of the story. We get snippets of Sunny and Maxon’s life weaved in between the present day story. Maxon and Sunny have an unusual relationship but it is really very charming. They express things as equations and revert to scripts for Maxon’s sake.
However, I’m not sure I totally understand how the book ended. And I read the last few pages twice. I think I need to discuss it with someone.
Bottom line: Shine Shine Shine is a unique debut and Netzer is an author to watch.
Ours is one of the epic loves of our generation. Possibly of all time.
Who cares if no one sees it, walking by? This story is a love song.
Who cares if history won’t remember? p.205
my books. my life. 
It sounds like a very different type of book. Thank you for the review.
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I really like the sound of this one, and especially because the characters are so strange. I love books that are different, and this one strikes me as something that I could probably get invested in easily. Fantastic review today. It seems like this might be a summer read to reach for sooner rather than later!
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I want to read this one since Joshilyn Jackson has been raving about it. I’m really glad to hear that you liked it!
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I have this one but haven’t started it yet. A lot of other authors are raving about it, but it concerns me that the ending was not clear for you. I wonder if I will be able to make any sense of it.
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I love this cover!
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