I remember the moment I realized some men like it when a woman is mean to them. Zoe, the sunshine in Jackie Lau’s Revenge of the Sunshine, is a little bit mean. Bennett Chung secretly likes it that Zoe bullies him into whimsey. He doesn’t admit that he likes it. You have to pay attention to what he does, not what he says (or thinks). Zoe could have been meaner to Bennett’s younger brother, her ex-boyfriend, and her former best friend after she caught them having sex in the kitchen.
It’s been a minute since Jackie Lau released a book, so I was delighted to get an email from her with a link for an advance reader copy. I was so happy to put my feat up and dive into a new Jackie Lau. Revenge of the Sunshine is very much in keeping with her oeuvre. I looked back at some of my first reviews and came across this observation from a review of Ice Cream Lover, which I think is still true:
This is only the second book of Lau’s that I have read, but there are some common elements.
- Her characters have fully formed lives outside of their romance.
- Lau writes beautifully about the long term reverberations of a death in the family. Grief changes her characters and their relationships without becoming a plot device impediment to the romantic relationship.
- Characters must rethink their own ideas about themselves in order to move into the future as a couple.
After seven years of reading Lau’s books I would add that we spend a lot of time in her character’s heads.
I’m happy she’s writing again and I’m looking forward to her next book. This isn’t her strongest book. I don’t think the sunshiney woman is her strongest character type. I liked Zoe, but she lacked some of the depth of other women Lau has written.
I received this as an advance reader copy from the author. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
