Sunstruck is a captivating exploration of race, class, privilege, and the complexities of love set against the stunning backdrop of the French Riviera. The story follows a young man who enters the luxurious world of the Blakes, a wealthy family that includes the matriarch Annie, a world-renowned singer, her reserved husband David, and their children – the aloof and rebellious Dot, carefree Lily, and the enigmatic Felix. The summer, with its sun-soaked days and extravagant nights, becomes a stage for a budding, yet fraught, relationship between Felix and the man. What begins as a flirtation soon evolves into a deeper connection, presenting the man with the tantalising possibility of being part of a world where he doesn’t belong.

Hunter paints a world of privilege and excess, where the distance between the reality of life in London and the fantasy of the Blakes’ summer villa in the south of France is palpable. But as the season wanes and the characters return to their lives in the city, the allure of this gilded existence begins to crumble. The man, a black working-class individual, is faced with the realities of navigating Felix’s world, a world that has been built on status and power. Meanwhile, Felix, despite his wealth and position, is wrestling with his own inner turmoil, creating a tension that threatens to pull their relationship apart.

What makes Sunstruck particularly compelling is its nuanced examination of the moral grey areas each character inhabits. Hunter masterfully delves into the selfish yet understandable choices made by the characters, especially as they navigate complex emotions and their evolving dynamics. The characters are rich with layers, and their struggles feel real, grounded in both personal and societal challenges. The relationship between the man and Felix is fraught with tension, not just due to their different backgrounds, but because of the emotional and psychological burdens each carries.

The book is a striking commentary on race, status, and the ways people are shaped by the systems they inhabit. Hunter’s portrayal of power dynamics, especially within the context of privilege and oppression, is both thought-provoking and timely. The representation of people of colour (POC) and queer characters is not only diverse but also deeply layered, adding richness to the narrative and ensuring the characters are both real and relatable.

Sunstruck is a dazzling and poignant story that deftly handles difficult topics such as identity, love, and self-worth. It is a book that invites reflection on the parts of ourselves we risk losing when we fall in love or strive to belong to worlds that aren’t our own. The novel’s exploration of emotional complexity and moral ambiguity makes it an unforgettable read, and Hunter’s sharp observations about societal structures ensure it stays with you long after the final page.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

An unnamed young, handsome, mixed race man joins the wealthy family of his university friend Lily on their summer holiday and becomes part of their circle, but not quite of it. The Blakes are privileged, artistic, eccentric, charismatic and challenging.
The narrator's home life and social circle are completely different, and find his friendship with the Blake family difficult to understand, and his black friend Jazz calls him White Boy.
It felt like there was more focus on the Blakes, who become more unattractive and unpleasant as the book progesses. I preferred the narrator's other friends who are more caring and supportive.
The book is beautifully written, the characters are interesting, there is a constant tension that feels like bad things are going to happen to the narrator who seems quite passive and naive.
Excellent book, Recommended.

I don't think many words can actually describe how I felt about this book, but in short - I absolutely loved it. The character development and relationship narration is beyond anything I've read in a long time. I can certainly see why fans of CMBYN would love this, but the incorporation of racism and classism took this novel to a new level.

Each chapter had me engrossed and many times throughout the book I was laughing, gasping, and feeling so much for the main character.

I would 100% recommend this book and want to say thank you to William Rayfet Hunter for writing such a masterpiece.

I struggled with this book for many reasons. The nature of what it talks about feels deeply uncomfortable. A young man enters the luxurious world of class, privilege, and wealth, which is controlled by the mother Annie. The young man falls for her son, Felix, his life is then connected with the family—his job and chances for a musical scholarship. Felix, in turn, is becoming a well-known actor and seems ashamed to show the world about his relationship.

Without providing a spoiler, and this is perhaps where I struggled, this shows the power that class, wealth and privilege can have over people and how people can be used as toys to be discarded when finished.

It's hard to read what it explores, but I recommend it.

Stunning book, I read it in one sitting and stayed up late to finish it. It’s an amazing read that felt like a punch in the stomach throughout. It felt like 2 different books with such complex and intricate interweaving stories, which was ambitious and could have gone so wrong but the author pulled it off flawlessly. It depicted class, race, toxic relationships, family, sexuality seamlessly. I highly recommend this book.

Oh this was insanely good.
Starting off in the rush of a pseudo-bacchanalia during the height of a french summer, where our narrator is staying with a university friends family, followed by the starkly sobering conclusion set back in the UK.
I couldn’t put it down, clinging to the pages in the same gripped, disgusted way I watched Saltburn, which Sunstruck is definitely reminiscent of. Take Saltburn, Brideshead and the atmosphere of CMBYN and this is it. The only difference is Sunstruck takes on it’s topics unflinchingly, regardless of the severity. Our narrator is unnamed, of fairly ambiguous race and lower class, finding himself in a world of rich, powerful white people. But the author does not shy away from the moments of microaggressions, and full on aggressions, letting them flow naturally and horrifyingly between the intoxicating romance (if you can really call it that), never once underwriting the serious aspects of the novel.
A truly stunning, aching read and I look forward to reading anything else William Rayfet Hunter publishes in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Cornerstone for the ARC!

Okay so this was absurdly good. The pseudo-bacchanalia of the French opening and the sobering yet no less sober London/Manchester conclusion. This book felt like it delivered on all of the promises of Saltburn and Call Me By Your Name without deciding to flinch away at the last moment, or to shift from addressing any of the more serious topic they come so close to breaching. The attempts of the narrator to shrink himself down, before trying to reestablish himself in protest and joy and dance, before ending, finally, in lonely obscurity (which we know, now, at least, is actually where he finds himself surrounded by those he has been guilty of neglecting, but are still waiting to catch him anyway.) There were so many moments where I was afraid microaggressions, and full on aggressions for that matter, would be brushed over to make way for the continuation and success of the driving-force of the romance (which is written with stunning and intoxicating precision.) It was both a relief and a shock to see that the author refused to shy away from the tensions they spent the entire novel establishing and underwriting. Rather, they executed a complex and messy but oh so real series of events, which made each family member and each side character, even those who barely feature, burst from the page with life. Each and every subplot with their subtleties and pains never fell into the trap of distracting from the core of the novel, and rather bolstered it, imbuing it with more purpose and depth. The whole novel felt like a stunningly vulnerable rumination on the permeability and mutability of boundaries, including but not limited to temporal, racial, economic, and interpersonal. I look forward to having a physical copy of this book on my shelf, and reading anything else William Rayfet Hunter publishes in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Cornerstone for the eARC of Sunstruck!

This is a sweeping, intricate story about a who is student is invited to stay with a friend at her family's lavish French holiday home. He's a working class, Northern, queer, black man, but despite feeling out of his depth, he soon becomes embroiled with them all, especially her charismatic brother.
Think 21st century Brideshead or a more political Saltburn mixed with Natasha Brown's 'Assembly'. This is exquisite. Tense pacing, a compulsive storyline, and well-drawn characters. I felt a constant sense of discomfort and disconnection from being in this protagonist's skin. He couldn't have felt more real to me.

It's a tightly plotted story that's hard to put down. It's also a superb depiction of an entitled, dysfunctional family and a thought-provoking examination of race, class, sexuality and identity. It's beautifully done and never feels heavy-handed.