Alllllllllllrighty then, so at the request of some people I read the newest EQG book, Rainbow Rocks. It also counts as the Sunset Shimmer chapter book for those of you who follow those(I know I do, so it was a good buy imo) And SPOILERS I'm going to review the book in this post. Things in quote boxes are what happen in the story thing not in boxes are my thoughts.

The Overview and the Bad

Alright, still here, cool. The story basically revolves around Sunset going Twilight over the magic that the group accesses during their performances. The reason that she wants so desperately to figure it out (besides basic scholarly interest) is because she feels that she has nothing else to contribute to the group dynamic. To her, Rainbow is the athletic and charismatic tomboy, Fluttershy animal-centred naturalist, Rarity is the dramatic dressmaker, Applejack is the honest hometown cook, and Pinkie is the hyperactive balloon of positivity. While she used to be the best at magic, Sunset finds that, as a normal girl, she doesn't really have anything special or unique about her. So, she falls back on what she knows the first chance she gets, which is the aforementioned magic knowledge.

Alright, so at first I thought that this could be an interesting premise since, while Equestrians have what makes them special on their butt cheeks, Sunset's talent doesn't exist in this world. Take away the magic and what is she? A multi-intellectual, problem solving prodegy. That's what she is. It says as much in the first chapter!! Sunset is literally the smartest kid in the school, she solves pretty much every problem presented in the book, and throughout the story, she creates three different phone apps without any trouble at all. Unlike Twilight, she's a whiz with technology (once again says as much so in the story) The only problem she can't solve is the one she doesn't realize has already been answered. She's looking for something that makes her special, but doesn't realize that she doesn't need to, and by extension, the story is leading up to a conclusion that really isn't much of one.

Aside from this character plot, there's the story plot of Rainbow's soccer team needing new uniforms and a moral boost to win an important match. That problem is solved instantly by Sunset suggesting a fundraising festival and Fashion Show, with Rarity designing new uniforms, Rainbow gathering her teams support, Pinkie setting the party up, and AJ cooking for the thing. I have no idea what Fluttershy's roll was supposed to be. Apparently, Fluttershy was supposed to hold some sort of pet parade with pets from the shelter. Sunset, not really knowing what her role is going to be, accepts Pinkie's suggestion that she write a new song from the band and help with preparations.

WELL SCREW THAT!! Almost immediately, Sunset disregards that idea and decides to fall back on magic and attempts to find the "formula" for the magic occurrence and declares herself the "Magic Inspector". She figures that if she does then she can enhance the groups performance when they sing. In my opinion, that's an alright idea, keeps the story interesting anyway. In the process, Sunset heavily modifies a wireless wrist worn step counter to detect blood sugar, breath rate, blood pressure, heart beats, and number of kicks per minute for Rainbow Dash. As well as an app/program that's linked to it and records all of the data. She did all that because she was wondering if Rainbow's athletic talent contributed to the magic output. Still don't feel special, Sunny?

Anyway, Sunset pulls more stuff like this through out the rest of the story in her attempts to research other's talents. Unfortunately, this messes with the girls processes and things are thrown out of whack in variously predictable, and some actually surprising, ways. In the end, Sunset messes up once more in a big way and in the basic of expressions, cleans up her own mess. The star of this part is that she never once loses hope or tries to make excuses, she immediately takes responsibility for her mistakes and doesn't waste a second in trying clean up. Learning a lesson from each of the girls Sunset fixes everything and the show goes off without a problem.

Well... there was a small problem, but it gets solved so easily it has absolutely no real importance to the overall story. Like, that scene really didn't need to be included unless it's going to play a big part in the next book. I'm not going to spoil what it was, but you'll know it when it happens because It comes out of almost nowhere. If you honestly want to know, then PM me and i'll tell you.

Another interesting point in the story was when Sunset was asked whether she misses Equestria or, exactly "What do you miss most?" While Sunset thinks about it, they ask if she misses her pony friends, to which Sunset answers that she never had any. This annoyed me since I wanted the first question answered. It wasn't and they move on.

The only other bad thing that I could pick out were the odd pacing choices. The story starts off with a nice speed, and it stays the same throughout the majority of the first half. However, nearing the second half things that to pick up and it's done in a very odd way. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it doesn't ruin the story, it honestly doesn't. It's just odd. Perhaps it's a style choice.

The Good and The Verdict.

I guess that's the bad stuff, let's get to the good and the interesting. Some of the good that came from this story is that we get to see the sharp differences between Sunset pre and post RR. During the movie, she was unsure, quiet, and content with observing to learn. In this story, which is at an indeterminate point after the movie, she's confident, direct, and persistent. She was curious, so she asked questions. She wanted to know, so she researched. She had opened up after the movie and is acting more natural than ever before. This is the Sunset that everyone loves and this is the one I would love my Sunset to grow into during the course of Sunset Helpers.

Another good part of this story was that it's told mostly from Sunset's POV. Through this is something special that all books have over the movies, it's especially used well in this one because we get to see into Sunset's thought process, which puts everything she does into perspective. She felt lost and she couldn't see anything special about herself. Her knowledge and skill with technology weren't anything that she felt stood out. But true to her new character, she pushes through those feelings in order to find an answer. Unfortunately, her frantic search for purpose blinds her to her mistakes. However, points to her because she does find a new purpose in the end of the story. I won't spoil what it is though.

Overview/Verdict

The story is so-so sssoSSSSSOOO so-so. It's alright. The main point of the thing however, is Sunset's self discovery. She wants to believe that she's only good at magic and nothing else, so she's stuck on that. This story's main, if subtle, point is her breaking out of that mindset and finding out what else the girls need her for. It all comes back her trying to figure out the nuances of friendship, because she feels that she needs that something special to be of use to them. This is basically said aloud in the section where the group plans the fundraiser. AJ cooks, Dash gathers support, Pinkie plans and organizes, Rarity makes the costumes, and Fluttershy trains unique forms of entertainment. Sunset's despairs at her lack of a normal girltalent until she begins to think that her old talent, magic, can be of use since they do have some form of it.

While the overall situation and premise is mundane Sunset's character story is what's really worth reading. I think my favorite character book so far is still Fluttershy's since it had both a great character story and premise. I would love to see it in an episode. But I digress. I give it a score of 6/10. Get it if you have some extra money but don't feel obliged. if you've got some cash feel free to pick up the book over at Amazon for about 7$ it's an alright story, nothing special.