Sunburn takes a close look at what it means to begin recognizing compulsory heterosexuality at the same time as you realize you’re a giant people pleaser. Lucy is not a perfect main character and for some readers she won’t even be lovable, but by god I related to her. Howarth impeccably portrays self-sabotage via a commitment to making everyone around you happy and the toll that comes with it.

The characters in this book are all nuanced and realistic from Lucy herself being a committed people pleaser to Susannah and her Chappell Roan-esque desire to escape to the side characters who are all much more than they seem. In particular, I really liked the way that Howarth wrote Martin. There were a lot of ways Martin’s character could have turned into a caricature, but he was sweet and human in the best way. Even the villain characters such as Lucy’s and Susannah’s respective mothers were more than just their villainy. All of these characters read like people I might actually have met before—they’re just so real.

On top of the individual characters being well-written, I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamics between them. We see each character through the lens of what Lucy wants from them and how she intends to please them in order to get it. As the plot moves forward, some prove that Lucy was right all along and some prove to be kinder or more exacting. This gave each relationship a unique color and depth and kept me guessing about whether we were really perceiving them correctly through Lucy.

The primary relationship between Susannah and Lucy was particularly delightful. As tremendously painful as this book is, their romance was sweet and tender in all the most wonderful ways. Their love is youthful but soulful, going beyond just infatuation to being exactly what each other need. Lucy needs to see that everything she ties herself to is only a small part of the world and Susannah needs to feel what it’s like to be loved and respected by someone with no sense of obligation. They are imperfect and not always good to each other, but they love each other in a very special way.

As others have pointed out, this book also has a remarkably religious tone, despite the main characters not being particularly religious. Lucy’s path from people pleaser in general to dedicated worshipper in the church of Susannah is like the romantic version of an agnostic person becoming a religious fanatic; she found her goddess and learns to eschew all other idols. In view of that, I loved the ending.

This is not the book for people who prefer books with intense and dramatic plots. Sunburn is more the feverish daydream you have when you take a nap in the too-hot sun than the daydream you have after walking out of a movie theater. For me, though, this was an incredible book made even greater by the fact that it’s a debut. Debuts as strong as this are a rare jewel.

We're back baby! I am glad we came back to the Patternists instead of staying with the Clay Arks - I'm much more interested in their storyline and developing society than any other part of this universe.

There are a lot of parallels between Wild Seed and Patternmaster, and that makes sense both in terms of Patternmaster being written first and Butler having to work backwards, and in making a cohesive story that closes the threads opened in the beginning.

I enjoyed Amber as a main character and could have spent much more time with her. I do wish we had gotten a little more about the world at large; I'm so curious how things have developed beyond the immediate scope of this book, but over all I think this might be my favorite in the series.