Latest news with #Sunstruck
The Guardian
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter review – a Saltburn-style story of identity
The unnamed narrator of William Rayfet Hunter's debut novel, a mixed-race aspiring musician from Manchester, is plunged into an unfamiliar milieu when his posh university friend, Lily, invites him to spend a summer at her parents' chateau in the French countryside. There's an undercurrent of unease – at one point he is mistaken for staff – but the family are welcoming. Lily's bisexual brother, Felix, a handsome actor and enfant terrible who has just emerged from a stint in the Priory, is especially friendly. A relationship develops, which brings perks for the narrator: Felix's father gives him a cushy job at his property firm, and his mother promises to pull strings and get him an audition with the Royal Academy. It all seems too good to last – and so it proves. Sunstruck is a story about identity and belonging. The protagonist had hung out with goth kids at school; his black best friend, Jasmine, teasingly nicknames him 'WhiteBoy' because he is so out of touch with black pop culture. But when the action moves to London in the second half of the novel, and particularly after a black friend of Jasmine's is badly beaten up by police at the Notting Hill carnival, a racial consciousness gradually awakens within him. He suspects that he'll never be truly accepted in Felix's world, and their relationship is troublingly imbalanced. Yet he can't quite tear himself away: 'The intoxicating sense of belonging, of moving through a space I didn't know existed … this is something I cannot give up.' Psychological damage from a traumatic childhood makes the narrator particularly susceptible to Felix's charms. We learn, through a series of poignant flashbacks, that his mother suffered from severe mental health problems, and they have been estranged for many years. However, we get little sense of what makes him tick in the here and now; he's something of a passenger in his own story, defined more by disconnectedness than any personality of his own. His outstanding traits are physical attractiveness and an agreeable manner, but these are not much good to the reader. The first-person voice is underwhelming company on the page, at one point musing tritely on the melancholia of birthdays. Lily's siblings call her Magpie, 'Because she collects beautiful things' – perhaps he is simply a himbo? Luckily, there's plenty of plot; the novel's brisk pacing, together with its shrewd blend of emotional sincerity, brooding intrigue and political overtones, make for a lively beach read. The prose reads like a cross between an airport romance and a screenplay for a Saltburn-style television drama. Heightened emotions manifest, time and again, in intense sensations in the narrator's chest. The characters in Lily and Felix's milieu feel like stock types, alternating between blithe, jolly-hockey-sticks esprit and sociopathic coldness, and the descriptions of upper-class opulence have a similarly generic quality: a great many people and things 'glitter' and 'glow'; clothes, drinks and lovers are 'expensive' or 'expensive-looking'. At times, the narrator himself seems to have half an eye on screen adaptation: 'The shaft of light slides from my face to his' while the lovers cuddle; after an embrace, 'our reflections blur inside the window'. Some moments are downright schlocky: 'an instant, a flash of something like fury in Felix's eyes … it flares and bursts like the filament in a camera bulb.' Early on in Sunstruck, the narrator happens across the headless torso of an alabaster statue of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Felix's mother had made it, and Felix had decapitated it in a fit of rage – 'A warning not to get in my son's way,' she quips. Here is the novel in microcosm: the on-the-nose metaphor; the sinister, hiding-in-plain-sight menace; and our dozy, hapless hero, too mesmerised to heed the signs. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter is published by Merky (£16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
Daily Mirror
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
5 new books you need to read in May 2025 - including Love Island thriller and ‘incredible' romantasy
May is shaping up to be a big month for new releases, whatever genre you prefer reading Between Abby Jimenez and Emily Henry's latest romances and new releases from Suzanne Collins and Lauren Roberts, April was a big month for readers. And May is shaping up to be just as big, with lots more exciting releases on the way, including a thriller that's been described as Love Island meets White Lotus, and a debut that's perfect for fans of Emerald Fennell's viral 2023 hit, Saltburn. Without further ado, here are five books being released in May 2025 you need to read this year, whether you're a fan of romance, literary fiction, thrillers or fantasy. For more book recommendations, reviews and news, you can also click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, The Bookish Drop, on Substack. The Tenant by Freida McFadden The Tenant is bestselling author Freida McFadden's latest thriller - and it looks to be just as twisty as all her others. The Housemaid author's new novel follows Blake, who has just been fired from his job and is left struggling to make the mortgage payments on the new townhouse he shares with his fiancée. The synopsis continues: 'Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she?' Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter The debut novel from the winner of #Merky Books' 2022 New Writers' Prize, Sunstruck follows a working-class Black man as he attempts to navigate the opulent world of his university friend Lily's wealthy family. He finds himself captivated by Lily's charismatic brother Felix as they holiday in the south of France. But when they return to London, the cracks in the Blake family's careful facade begin to show, with their secrets and choices affecting all those around them. The book explores race, status and the parts of ourselves we risk losing when we fall in love. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig If you've ever spent even just a couple of minutes scrolling through BookTok, you'll have heard of Rachel Gillig. The bestselling author of the One Dark Window duology is back with a brand new novel, The Knight and the Moth, which will be the first in a new gothic duology called The Stonewater Kingdom. The Knight and the Moth follows Sybil, a diviner forced to leave her life behind and venture out on an impossible quest with Rodrick, the one knight whose future she cannot see. This is one of Goodreads' most anticipated books of the month, with early reviews describing The Knight and the Moth as 'absolutely incredible' and 'even better than One Dark Window'. People Pleaser by Catriona Stewart People Pleaser is Catriona Stewart's debut novel and follows Maggie Lathrop, a struggling actress whose life is transformed overnight when she wins LoveShack, America's most popular reality dating show. But when she is found murdered in a Los Angeles warehouse and the police fail to come up with any answers as to what happened to her, her sister Emma steps in to investigate herself. Described as Love Island meets White Lotus, this pacy thriller is full of memorable characters and unpredictable twists. It's the perfect holiday read for anyone fascinated by the world of reality TV. Ride with Me by Simone Soltani Romance fans, this one is for you. Ride with Me tells the story of Stella, who was left at the altar before having to show up to her cousin's hen party just two weeks later, and Thomas, a Formula 1 driver with a new reputation as the most hated man on the grid. When the two singles wake up married in Las Vegas, they decide staying together may just be the answer to all of their problems. Perfect for the summer, even readers who aren't used to the sports romance genre will find it hard not to immediately fall in love with Stella and Thomas.
