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Shine Shine Shine

by Lydia Netzer (Goodreads Author)

3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 2,581 ratings · 684 reviews

Sunny Mann has masterminded a life for herself and her family in a quiet Virginia town. Her house and her friends are picture-perfect. Even her husband has been trained to pass for normal. But when a fender bender on an average day sends her coiffed blonde wig sailing out the window, her secret is exposed. Not only is she bald, Sunny is nothing like the Stepford wife she's...more

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published July 17th 2012 by St. Martin's Press

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Jul 07, 2012 Rose Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, netgalley, read-in-2012

Won a copy from Shelf Awareness on NetGalley.

Cannot decide between 3 and 4 stars. 3.5

Such a creative and unique storyline. Different than anything else I've ever read.
I kept asking myself, as I was reading...is this romance? sci-fi? general fiction?
It was a little taste of each.

I admired Sunny's strength.
Coming out with her baldness, after the accident,
doing her best for Bubby, her son, who is autistic,
her dying mother,
being very pregnant and
having her husband's rocket have an accident while...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Lindsay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wasn't sure about this in the beginning, but I ended up really enjoying this book.

Born totally hairless in Burma, Sunny spends her married life in wigs, false eyelashes, and eyebrows. Her husband, Maxon, a genius working for NASA with few natural social skills, is the only person in Sunny's life besides her mother, Emma, and son, Bubber, who know. Through a series of flashbacks, we see how Sunny lost her father, fled Burma to come to Pennsylvania, grew up, and fell in love.

Now pregnant for t...more

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May 30, 2012 Alison Law rated it 5 of 5 stars

This novel is reminiscent of one of my favorite books of all time, John Irving's World According to Garp. I fell in love with the flawed and vibrant characters of Sonny, Maxon, Emma and Bubber, whose everyday lives are tinged with heartache and whimsy. I read once that we are our most beautiful selves when we are most who we are. That is one of the big takeaways from this book for me. However, I think each person will discover something poignant and resonant in Shine Shine Shine.

18 likes · like · see review

Aug 30, 2012 Debbie Shoulders rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-life

This is a quirky piece that makes one wonder is the world just a series of electronic impulses or do humans have something else? Sunny was born hairless but raised to believe she was destined for great things. Maxon was born an Asperger savant to an illiterate family in rural Pennsylvania. The two meet as children and despite warnings to the contrary marry and have an autistic son.

Maxon is on his way to the moon to colonize it with his robots. Again pregnant, Sunny is left to tend to their child...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Tyler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-in-books, sci-fi-y-fantasy-y-stuff

What a great surprise. The first 50 pages in I really wasn't feeling this book. I was confused to why there were robots in it and why everything was in the 3rd person. 150 pages in I was hooked and didn't want to put it down. This book is a love story, a bizarre, twisted love story about how to love others but most importantly yourself. While that may sound ridiculously cheesy in execution it really wasn't.

The mechanical husband Maxom is going to the moon with robots to help prepare for human co...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Slee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-again

In a tale of fragility and strength, isolation and interconnectedness, Shine,Shine,Shine identifies a thousand little fissures in the human heart with vivid clarity, all the while encouraging them to heal and scar over into something stronger and more beautiful.
If you have ever felt inadequate, read this book. Isolated, read this book. If you've been in love with a human, read this book. If you gaze at the stars and wonder what it would be like to drift among them, read this book. If your feet a...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Christian Kiefer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A beautiful story of love, loss, space, the mind, childhood, marriage, birth, and the American dream. A pre-utopia that ends on a beautiful note, thrusting us all at once far into the future. Is it all in the mind or is it what really happens? Lydia Netzer is too good a writer to let us know. Instead, the whole thing hovers like a constellation. Gorgeous. All of it.

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Aug 01, 2012 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shine, Shine, Shine started off good... got really good... had me tweeting the author to ask if Maxom lives GREAT! Loved the whole book! The ending was a little weird for me... I wanted less of the neighbors and more of the husband. But I'm ultimately happy to have discovered Lydia Netzer (Thanks to Joshlyn Jackson)! I can't wait to see what Ms Netzer comes up with next!

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May 28, 2012 Melissa Rochelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, read-2012, marriage, robots

What a GREAT READ! The characters are unique, the writing is fantastic, and the story is beautiful. I laughed, I cried, I related (I mean, we all have those moments where we just want to FIT IN!). I loved the structure of the story, the author kept it moving forward, but also went back to fill in the gaps. Not only that, I would wonder about a piece of Maxon and Sunny's story and the next segment would answer the question beautifully. I just loved it!

And for some reason, I keep thinking of The T ...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-discussion, netgalley, contemporary, favorites, marriage-relationships, family-issues

Wonderfully unusual characters. Contemporary fiction. Autism. Love. Acceptance of self and others. Family issues. Astronauts. One of my favorites this year.

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Mar 24, 2013 Rebecca Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shine Shine Shine is not a book that can be easily tucked into a neat category. In fact, when my husband asked, "What's it about?", I told him that my description would fall short and also sound slightly crazy. But that is exactly what makes this book remarkable, and unforgettable.
It is a story of marriage, of motherhood, of self-image and selfishness, but also a tale of humor, family and loss. I'm not even going to bother to write the plot synopsis, other to say again that it fails mere works...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer follows the love story of Sunny and Maxon, but it is so much more than just a love story. Sunny was born completely hairless during an eclipse while her family was in Burma. Her missionary father was executed by the Communists and her mother moved back to the States. Sunny and Maxon met as children and knew one thing: that they belonged together. Now married, Maxon is a very successful Nobel-winning autistic NASA scientist who is on a mission to colonize the moo...more Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer follows the love story of Sunny and Maxon, but it is so much more than just a love story. Sunny was born completely hairless during an eclipse while her family was in Burma. Her missionary father was executed by the Communists and her mother moved back to the States. Sunny and Maxon met as children and knew one thing: that they belonged together. Now married, Maxon is a very successful Nobel-winning autistic NASA scientist who is on a mission to colonize the moon with self-replicating robots. Sunny is his very pregnant wife, left behind on earth with their autistic 4 year-old son, Bubber. In their current suburban life, Maxon's success has afforded them a model house. Sunny wears a variety of blond wigs to hide her baldness and keeps an expensively furnished, immaculate house. It soon becomes clear that Sunny has tried very hard to reinvent herself as the perfect suburban mother, which has put a great deal of self-induced stress on them.

But after Maxon leaves for the moon, Sunny has a car accident that sends her wig flying off in her neighborhood. This exposure of her secret causes Sonny to re-examine her life and the choices she has made in order to fit in and seem "normal." Then a meteorite hits the space ship Maxon is on, placing the mission and his life in jeopardy. To complicate matters further, Sonny is now feeling contractions, her mother is dying in the hospital, and she's re-examining Bubber's need for medication. Sunny's on-going crisis situation causes her to question if she needs to embrace the idiosyncrasies of her and her family. She soon begins to wonder what makes us human and if such a thing as normal exits.

In Shine Shine Shine, Lydia Netzer has penned a clever, imaginative novel full of great descriptive language and unique, quirky characters. The language flowed beautifully, as read by Joshilyn Jackson on my audio version. It has a strong message about accepting the peculiarities and faults of others rather than everyone striving for a Stepford-like conformity. Netzer alternates between the points of view of Maxon and Sunny. She also gives us backstory along with current events to help us better understand these characters and their motives. Sunny is not a perfect character, but that was the point. She tried to put on the facade and be perfect for others. Once her cover was blown, Sunny realizes that she has to accept who she is and who Maxon is and who Bubber is - and that each of them is special and unique.

Very Highly Recommended - one of the best

This was my first audio book. I have to admit that I missed seeing the words in a physical copy of the book. I loved listening to Jackson read the story, however, and I'd like to get an audio CD of one of her books just to hear her read it.
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Feb 08, 2013 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This is my new favorite love story. I dog-eared so many pages my grandmother would go to her grave if I lent her the book. As someone recently awakening from the "slumber of motherhood," I treasured this story of the transformation that becoming a mother can pull down over us, a caul that settles over our skin, confining us and becoming our new skin at the same time. I love how the narrator of this story rips through the imaginary demands of motherhood to discover its true ones, and her own true...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Josephine Merkle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Amazon review:
When Maxon met Sunny, he was seven years, four months, and eighteen-days old. Or, he was 2693 rotations of the earth old. Maxon was different. Sunny was different. They were different together.

Now, twenty years later, they are married, and Sunny wants, more than anything, to be “normal.” She’s got the housewife thing down perfectly, but Maxon, a genius engineer, is on a NASA mission to the moon, programming robots for a new colony. Once they were two outcasts who found unlikely lov...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Florinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’m not really sure how to sum this one up in my own words. Let me try this: Shine Shine Shine is Lydia Netzer’s ambitious, strange, genre-blending debut novel, and while it seems to reflect a wide range of influences, the whole of it is strikingly original.

Shine Shine Shine ’s primary narrative thread is propelled by two collisions occurring within days of each other and over a hundred thousand miles apart. Nine-months-pregnant Sunny Mann’s minivan is broadsided while she is driving home with...more I’m not really sure how to sum this one up in my own words. Let me try this: Shine Shine Shine is Lydia Netzer’s ambitious, strange, genre-blending debut novel, and while it seems to reflect a wide range of influences, the whole of it is strikingly original.

Shine Shine Shine ’s primary narrative thread is propelled by two collisions occurring within days of each other and over a hundred thousand miles apart. Nine-months-pregnant Sunny Mann’s minivan is broadsided while she is driving home with her autistic son, Bubber, after visiting her dying mother in the hospital. The only casualties are the van and one of Sunny’s wigs--its flight into a puddle exposes her to the neighbors as completely bald. The accident occurs on the day her astronaut husband Maxon has left on a mission; he’s with the team charged with delivering the robots he developed to prepare the moon for a human colony. But when their ship is hit by an asteroid and they lose communication with NASA, their mission--and lives--depend on Maxon’s ability to put those robots to work a little earlier than expected.

The parallel threads of accidents and aftermath are intercut with flashbacks to Sunny and Maxon and their near-lifelong history together, as seen from both of their perspectives and by Sunny’s mother, Emma Butcher. Maxon and Sunny are an odd couple, but not in the sense of being a strange match; it’s because that they’re both odd. Sunny’s not just bald-headed, she’s a completely hairless, fatherless girl who craves normalcy, and Maxon is a misfit genius with some resemblance to the robots he’ll eventually create. These people could have been portrayed as not much more than off-putting collections of quirks, but for the most part, Netzer dodges that potential hazard. Although I found the storytelling in Shine Shine Shine a little overworked in spots, I was won over by the richness and humanity of her characters. I could identify with them, but I didn’t feel like I’d met them before, and I appreciated that.

This novel first came to my attention last spring in a Shelf Awareness “Maximum Shelf” feature, and while it seems to have fallen short on the book-blogger buzz-o-meter since then, it lodged in a corner of my brain as “the one about the bald wife and the astronaut” (although at times I did confuse it with the also starry-covered The Age of Miracles). But when I learned that the audiobook was narrated by Joshilyn Jackson, I quickly and easily decided that I wouldn’t delay in reading Shine Shine Shine by ear. Jackson beautifully differentiates the three narrative voices, and her performance seems to convey a real affection for the material--the narrator and the author are long-time friends. If you also choose to read this as an audio, stick around for the conversation between Netzer and Jackson about the book and two songs from Netzer’s “folk-punk” band, The Virginia Janes, that close the recording.

I’ve seen mixed blogger responses to Shine Shine Shine which really isn’t that surprising--in its way, it’s as odd as its protagonists, and that won’t work for every reader. I loved it for the fact it wasn’t afraid to be odd, but I’m still trying to decide how much I loved it for itself. In any case, it captivated me, and I’ll be interested in seeing how Lydia Netzer follows it up.

Ratings: Book 3.75/5, Audio 4/5(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Tsilla Shamir rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Netzer has a strange clipped style which lures you into assuming it's very precise and terse, yet the more I read the more disappointing it is: it actually hardly ever hits the mark, always just a bit off till you're not really sure what she's saying. Her imagery is similarly often more weird than clear; more often than not you're not at all sure what that imagery is supposed to mean. To my mind there is enough ambiguity in the world without the author adding to it .
More importantly,I can stoma...more Netzer has a strange clipped style which lures you into assuming it's very precise and terse, yet the more I read the more disappointing it is: it actually hardly ever hits the mark, always just a bit off till you're not really sure what she's saying. Her imagery is similarly often more weird than clear; more often than not you're not at all sure what that imagery is supposed to mean. To my mind there is enough ambiguity in the world without the author adding to it .
More importantly,I can stomach the love of 2 outcast oddballs, even identify,but when all this gets mixed up with the utterly offbeat Burmese story it becomes too subjective and irrelevant to the average reader. On top, when we find out who gave the father away to the Communists it makes no sense; there is no explanation for it so why insert it at all?
The author has a very annoying habit of constantly stopping the story to go back with memories, which actually end up making the bulk of the book. Oft times I just skipped these in order to proceed with the story. And sometimes there are gross mistakes, such as in one of those lengthy reminiscence Sunny is riding her pony as a child and the breeze flutters through her hair, when it was made amply clear she did not have a single hair and did not wear a wig until she became pregnant at adulthood. I also assume she took great liberty in her descriptions of NASA and its missions, as for instance doesn't make sense they wouldn't take into account a meteor hit-perhaps the author wouldn't ,but top world scientists you would assume would. Also it's putative that the moon is uninhabitable so what's this nutty idea of creating a colony of robots there?I also didn't care for Bubber suddenly appearing in Maxon's imagination on the moon and telling him what to do.Then there is the terrible exaggeration of what Sunny finds underneath the shiny facade of Les Weathers; everyone has dark secrets underneath the smooth veneer but these are mainly less than kind thoughts and feelings; she didn't have to go to such extremes of a trashed house of a successful TV anchor-simply not believable.(less)

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Nov 12, 2012 Bridgett Birmingham rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is such an unusual love story. Nerd love, if you will. I thought that the writing was beautiful and the people felt like people I know. Although granted at least one of my close friends is a NASA scientist. Anywho, Sunny and Maxon are having problems with their relationship and their communication. He communicates in math and she communicates in English. He seems to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum and their son Bubbers is a diagnosed autistic.

(view spoiler)...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There's a lot to like about Lydia Netzer's first novel: a pair of unique protagonists, a nuanced treatment of the autism spectrum, imaginative ruminations on robots and the minds that make them, and the revelation of a truly dark family secret or two. But, as with many first novels, there's that "something missing." It's hard to pinpoint exactly what. Maybe it's that the juxtaposition of the light and dark elements of the story didn't quite feel right. And making that work isn't an easy feat. Ma...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Melissa Crytzer Fry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’m not sure, but I think serendipitous forces were at work as I read Lydia Netzer’s debut. It’s no secret that robots play a huge role in this novel – and it just so happened that as I was wrapping up SHINE SHINE SHINE, I also was wrapping up the last story in a freelance writing project that involved an interview with an engineer who … yes … is researching human-robot teaming.

Which leads me to one of the most outstanding things about this book: the mathematical metaphors. Netzer convinces the...more I’m not sure, but I think serendipitous forces were at work as I read Lydia Netzer’s debut. It’s no secret that robots play a huge role in this novel – and it just so happened that as I was wrapping up SHINE SHINE SHINE, I also was wrapping up the last story in a freelance writing project that involved an interview with an engineer who … yes … is researching human-robot teaming.

Which leads me to one of the most outstanding things about this book: the mathematical metaphors. Netzer convinces the reader that the world is, indeed, made up of a series of electrical properties, propelled by science, numbers, vectors. [Examples of the perfect fusion of math and words: "He had a bulky torso, heavy on top like a trapezoid, with big arms" or "Every house was a perfect rectangle. It was an exercise in mathematics." or "The city was a love letter to planar geometry."] Everything can be explained by science – except, of course, one thing led by the heart. The book even includes hand-drawn equations and formulas from the husband, Maxon (a great personal touch).

DON’T STOP READING MY REVIEW IF YOU HATE MATH/SCIENCE …. I love words more than numbers as well, but the layer of science laid upon this book is completely engrossing and enriching. The science, the math, the focus on Maxon’s robot research with NASA, the son Bubber’s struggles with Austism – they all serve as metaphors for the mechanical lives lived by so many in today’s society. I would even say the book is an examination of the increasingly homogenized communities we see in the U.S., wrought with materialism and one-upmanship, cookie-cutter facades and lack of character.

But the final message – from the bald protagonist, Sunny – is ultimately one about truth: about embracing individuality, ‘owning’ our differences and ‘being’ present. It’s a love story, a tribute to the trials and rewards of motherhood, and a glimpse into the future. It’s the story of Sunny - born during an eclipse - a hairless 'oddity', and her adult life spinning out of orbit while her husband’s moon mission mimics the same path.
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Oct 02, 2012 McGuffy Morris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an extremely unusual debut novel. While not my usual genre, I am glad I was given the opportunity to read and review it.

Maxon and Sunny are a young couple, raising a family in the suburbs. However, they are not your typical couple. He is a genius, on a space mission. His goal is to colonize the moon with robots. Back at home on Earth, pregnant Sunny is raising their autistic son. She is also caring for her terminally ill mother. She wants Maxon home, where he is needed. Stress is pushing...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Ashley Arthur rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got this book from the library because Joshilyn Jackson (author of “A Grown Up Kind of Pretty”) recommended it highly on her website. After hearing so many good things about it, I really wanted to like this book. In the end, I thought it was ok, but I’m glad I borrowed a copy instead of shelling out my money for the hardback version.

The main character of the book is Sunny. At the start of the story, Sunny is pregnant with her second child, and her big secret is that she was born with a conditi...more I got this book from the library because Joshilyn Jackson (author of “A Grown Up Kind of Pretty”) recommended it highly on her website. After hearing so many good things about it, I really wanted to like this book. In the end, I thought it was ok, but I’m glad I borrowed a copy instead of shelling out my money for the hardback version.

The main character of the book is Sunny. At the start of the story, Sunny is pregnant with her second child, and her big secret is that she was born with a condition that made her completely hairless – she is bald, but she also has no eyelashes, eyebrows, or hair anywhere else on her body. When Sunny had her first baby, she began wearing wigs, because she decided she could not be bald and be a mother. Wearing the wig became part of her “Mom” persona, but Sunny realizes that the Mom wearing a wig is not who she really is. Sunny spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out if she can be her true self, Mom, and Maxon’s wife all at the same time.

Maxon, Sunny’s husband, either has autism or Asperger’s (it’s never stated clearly) and he is a mathematical and engineering genius. NASA has chosen him to go on a mission to the moon. I liked Maxon’s character, and I thought Netzer’s way of describing his thinking in code (If Teacher = Nagging, then Head = Nodding. Loop until Teacher = Quiet) was interesting. Maxon is on the rocket for the mission for the entire story – we only see him interact with Sunny through flashbacks.

The main theme that Netzer emphasized throughout the story is that no one is really “normal.” We all have our secrets. The problem I had with this message isn’t that I don’t agree with her; the problem was that the secrets Sunny finds out about other people (her mother, Maxon’s parents, a neighbor) were so bizarre that I just didn’t buy it. I know that lots of people live with extraordinary circumstances, but I don’t believe that everyone I know is sitting on a bombshell like these characters were. Another issue I had was how this book jumped around in time. In flashbacks, the characters are newly-weds, toddlers, new parents, high school kids, etc. I’ve read books where authors used this technique to gradually bring you into an awesome conclusion. In this book, it felt disjointed and clunky, and half the time I wasn’t sure what Netzer was trying to tell me or prepare me for. Maybe I’ll reread this in a few years and see something in it that I didn’t this time around, but for now, this book was not my favorite.(less)

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Sep 20, 2012 Everyday eBook rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Everyday by: Andrew Agudo

Sunny's life is about to change. In a matter of days, she sends off her astronaut husband, Maxon; she gets into a car accident that exposes her baldness; she takes her son, Bubber, off his medicine, which is meant to curb his autism; her mother lies in a coma about to die; and she is pregnant and about to deliver. Yet the whole time, and for much of her life, Sunny just wants to be normal. But as Lydia Netzer's debut novel, Shine Shine Shine, makes most clear: Normalcy, of all things in the univ...more Sunny's life is about to change. In a matter of days, she sends off her astronaut husband, Maxon; she gets into a car accident that exposes her baldness; she takes her son, Bubber, off his medicine, which is meant to curb his autism; her mother lies in a coma about to die; and she is pregnant and about to deliver. Yet the whole time, and for much of her life, Sunny just wants to be normal. But as Lydia Netzer's debut novel, Shine Shine Shine, makes most clear: Normalcy, of all things in the universe, is virtually nonexistent.

The world Netzer has created is one of seemingly contradictory peculiarities. Like a charming, quirky indie movie, these peculiarities aren't ever explained. Rather they're washed over us, and it's expected that we simply accept them. For example: Maxon -- whose mission is to help create a robot colony on the moon -- is very mechanical. Like a child, he must be instructed on how to act, how to respond in certain social situations. He works out equations to help understand human emotions. Yet, he is capable of feeling an intense love and attachment for Sunny, and Sunny for him. Speaking of Sunny, her baldness is the epitome of peculiarities in the novel. It is a mystery to even her -- just a medical anomaly. But Sunny hadn't always worn a wig to hide it. At one time, she was happily and proudly bald. But when she grows up, gets married, and starts a family, this changes. Suddenly, she is never without one of her blonde wigs, so much so that almost no one, not even her best friends, know about her baldness. And it is when this security blanket, her wig, is thrown off in a car accident for all to see, and her universe is turned upside down, that the bulk of the story begins and a series of life-changing events -- the biggest being an accident that threatens to strand Maxon in space -- tests her patience, her will, and her humanity.

Shine Shine Shine is simultaneously compressed and full, as it chronicles the few days after Maxon's launch, as well as Sunny and Maxon's respective pasts apart -- Sunny's childhood in Burma and the disappearance of her father; Maxon's wild-child loneliness and abusive father -- and together, so that by the time the rocket is damaged, we're fully invested, and through these out-of-this-world experiences we're able to gain insight not into what it means to be normal or abnormal, but instead what it means to be human.

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Sep 20, 2012 Jaylia3 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maxon’s autistic mind parses the world through formula infused thoughts. He’s married to Sunny, his lifelong love, a born hairless free spirit whose artistic acumen has allowed her to construct the facade of suburban normality she thinks is best for their young son. But as the novel opens, things aren’t going so well. Maxon is flying to the moon on a NASA mission with robots he designed to build a lunar colony, but his now meteor damaged rocket is drifting, lost in space and cut off from all Ear...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Loretta rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, I must be showing my age. I just don't see this as a 4-5 star book. Since I finished it, I gave it 2 stars. But it was close. It is full of the most quirky, not to say damaged, characters I have ever read. No one in the book - mother(s), fathers, daughters, sons, babies, neighbors, you name it are just average people. It is one thing to read a book with a few characters that stand out as unique and captivating. But for every single person to be their own soap opera?? Come on. The baldness...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Ginny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I grappled somewhat with what rating to give this book, but I have to go with my gut and stick to three stars; it just didn't feel complete enough to get four.
I was immediately endeared to this novel because it's set in a neighborhood I used to live in (and loved), but unfortunately that was the only thing that truly felt real to me. The story was very interesting, but not enthralling -- I didn't have the compulsion to keep reading, keep reading, turn another page -- but it was there when I had...more I grappled somewhat with what rating to give this book, but I have to go with my gut and stick to three stars; it just didn't feel complete enough to get four.
I was immediately endeared to this novel because it's set in a neighborhood I used to live in (and loved), but unfortunately that was the only thing that truly felt real to me. The story was very interesting, but not enthralling -- I didn't have the compulsion to keep reading, keep reading, turn another page -- but it was there when I had the time and kept me entertained.
The main problem I had is that the protagonist, Sunny, just didn't make sense to me. The girl in her and Maxon's memories didn't mesh at all with the wig-wearing woman in the present. While I got why she felt the need to change everything in order to be a mother, it just never seemed true to the character that was actually written; there was a complete disconnect for me. She wasn't likeable, which is okay, but there just wasn't enough there to redeem her. By becoming this other person so she could be a fit mother, she actually turned into a completely self-centered liar, and when she suddenly decided no more wig, there wasn't enough depth to really make me care about her journey. She was just flat.
The climax of the story was so rushed and the Les Weathers revelation felt so odd in ways, and then Sunny was back home on a rug, and it just didn't work for me. The ending left something to be desired; I don't need everything to be tied up neatly, but it was too abrupt. Maxon was incredibly interesting to me, but his absence was the most present thing about him, so it was hard to care for him, either. Emma, the Mother, gave me one of the few emotional responses I had during the entire novel when she died, when she was caught in a memory and just didn't finish. The hello/goodbye at Langley made me tear up, but it still lacked the depth of emotion that should've been present.
Reading through other reviews of this story, I feel like I missed something, but I'm not sure that I did. It was a good effort, a unique story and writing style, but it just fell short for me.(less)

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Sep 03, 2012 Shirlee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book. The characters are fascinating, and they are unlike any collection I have met in other literature. Sunny is a hairless woman, hiding under wigs, married to a Nobel prized winning scientist, Maxon, who was her best friend through most of her life and was rehabilitated from a horrible and abusive family by Sunny's mother. Their son, Bubber, has an undefined illness--or maybe not. As the plot moves along, it seems he is very much like his father. Maxon rockets off towards the moo...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Nicola rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reason for Reading: I was attracted to this book because of the autistic son. Both my own son and myself are autistic (me: Asperger's) so I am often drawn to books that depict these characters. The book also sounded like it would be "quirky", something I really enjoy.

All I can really say about this book is "WOW"! What a beautiful story. Sunny and Maxon share the ultimate love story. This book is about love, the pure and simple kind and how complicated we can make it out to be. What is experience...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Michele Weiner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An interesting premise: the hero of our story is Maxon, a young millionaire genius robot-builder who has (minimally) Aspberger's Syndrome, but who may fairly be placed on the autism spectrum, and who is, as the book opens, in a spacecraft trying to land his latest generation of robots on the moon where they will build themselves a home. His bald and pregnant wife, Sunny, is having a chat and a glass of wine with her two closest girlfriends while Max approaches the Moon. Sunny and Maxon's young s...more An interesting premise: the hero of our story is Maxon, a young millionaire genius robot-builder who has (minimally) Aspberger's Syndrome, but who may fairly be placed on the autism spectrum, and who is, as the book opens, in a spacecraft trying to land his latest generation of robots on the moon where they will build themselves a home. His bald and pregnant wife, Sunny, is having a chat and a glass of wine with her two closest girlfriends while Max approaches the Moon. Sunny and Maxon's young son, Bubber, is autistic. He is in special school, wears a helmet, and takes lots of medication as part of Sunny's desperate program to make him "normal." Sunny starts to wear a wig and dictate social goings on in her expensive neighborhood. She and Maxon begin to grow apart, and before he leaves for space, Sunny berates him for not being normal and preventing their family from being normal.

In flashbacks, we follow Sunny in Burma with her mother, Emma, and her missionary/scientist father. When Sunny's father is rounded up and killed by the despotic regime, his widow, Emma, returns to magical western Pennsylvania to raise Sunny. There she first meets Maxon, and decides to rescue him from his depraved family. In the process, the hairless but otherwise intact Sunny becomes permanently attached to Maxon. Emma belatedly realizes that they are a couple, and wants better for Sunny, so she makes sure that they attend colleges as far apart as possible. Maxon at MIT becomes a Nobel prize winner and Sunny in California a very successful artist making wigs that are not intended to be worn. Of course, they reconnect and marry.

As the book opens, it's years later and Sunny, Maxon and their son, Bubber live in a perfect home in a perfect neighborhood in Virginia. Emma is dying in a nearby hospital, and Maxon has left her to go to the moon so that his robots can build a colony for themselves and for humans there. And as Sunny worries about her last angry words to Maxon, endures her mother's final days, and prepares for a new baby, she reevaluates what her life has become.

Although the plot is threadbare when you remove the setting and special circumstances of the characters, the book is fresh and funny. The dialogue between Sunny and Maxon is worth the price of admission, and then there's the deadly description of the local news anchorman. There are lots of larger issues raised for book club discussion, and interesting asides about, say, western Pennsylvania! I loved it, but I'm a sucker for books about people who march to a different drummer, as it were.(less)

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Aug 17, 2012 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shine Shine Shine
By
Lydia Netzer

My " in a nutshell" summary...

Sunny and her husband Maxon and son Bubber live in Virginia. Maxon is in space, Bubber is autistic, Sunny is pregnant, and her mother is dying.

My thoughts after reading this book...

Whew...my thoughts are all over the place! While I am quite certain that this book is probably close to brilliant...it was not a book I enjoyed reading. Sunny is bald and no one knows it until her wig flies off...Bubber is sad...Maxon is lost in space. Ther...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Amy Rutten rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a fast reader the way other people are fast eaters: if it’s good, I read it as fast as possible. Thankfully, I found myself slowing down and savoring Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer. I not only didn’t want to finish it, I wanted to hold it in my mouth for as long as I could – every word, every sentence. And when I was finished, I felt full. Satisfied.

Shine Shine Shine is the story of a husband and wife, Maxon and Sunny, who are both notably ‘different’; Sunny because she is (and always h...more I am a fast reader the way other people are fast eaters: if it’s good, I read it as fast as possible. Thankfully, I found myself slowing down and savoring Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer. I not only didn’t want to finish it, I wanted to hold it in my mouth for as long as I could – every word, every sentence. And when I was finished, I felt full. Satisfied.

Shine Shine Shine is the story of a husband and wife, Maxon and Sunny, who are both notably ‘different’; Sunny because she is (and always has been) completely hairless, and Maxon because he likely has some form of Asperger’s. They have modified themselves as best they can for each other and the world at large in order to fit in. The story explores what happens after Maxon leaves on a rocket to colonize the moon with robots that he has invented, while Sunny remains on earth with their four-year-old son and another baby on the way.

This is Lydia Netzer’s first novel, and she totally commits to it. She nails the tone, the characters, the pace, and the story. She doesn’t shy away from the awkward or unusual. Besides space exploration and baldness, the book is littered with unexpected moments that are as bizarre as life itself. What might seem like a manipulated plot twist in the hands of a less gifted author just become another oddity in the small, odd little world she has created in Shine Shine Shine. The story is told in a series of reveals, each one a little jewel set in a beautifully written box. I especially loved the moments when the book seemed to veer off in a completely new direction, forcing me to let go of any sort of cause-and-effect expectations and just let the story happen. Reading Shine Shine Shine is a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the top of the box to guide you. It takes a lot of trust in an author to go along with this type of writing, but Netzer never falters, and the portrait of Maxon and Sunny that is revealed by the end of the work is exquisite. By then, Netzer’s characters are no longer flawed and different, they are intensely and perfectly human. But be careful - while you are busy falling in love with Maxon and Sunny, you might also inadvertently fall in love with your own inner geek.

So pull up a seat at Netzer’s table and savor this fine novel. You won’t go away hungry. Bon appetite!
(less)

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About Lydia Netzer

Hi! I am a novelist, a homeschooler, a guitar player, and chief of the watermelon police. I live in Virginia with my left-brained husband and red-headed children, and I'm currently trying to knit with a broken finger.

My first novel, Shine Shine Shine, was published by St. Martin's Press on July 17. It's an IndieNext Pick for August, a SIBA Okra Pick, Amazon's Spotlight Book in Best Books of July,...more

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Quotes from Shine Shine Shine

“When you are sitting on a three-legged stool and you've kicked out all three legs, but you're still sitting upright, must you assume that you're so good, you levitate? Or must you assume that you were sitting on the ground all along?” — 6 people liked it

“The tragedy of her father's absence had never actually been an acutely tragic event for her. As she grew up and came to understand the world, he was a part of it. An already dead part. His absence was the landscape of her family. Increasingly, as the years went on, she didn't really know what she was missing, but that didn't stop her from missing it. She fixated on him. She prayed to him. She attempted to research him, found obscure publications of his in scientific journals. The language was so formal, she could barely understand it. But she told herself, This is familiar. This is mine, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. She thought, There was a feeling he had, when he wrote this, when he was alive. He communicated it to me, even though everyone who reads this article only gets a lot of information about this scientific test subject, and his reaction to all these oils. She dreamed her father was still out there [ . . . though] her belief that her father was still living did not stop her from telling stories about his death.” — 4 people liked it

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