Customer Reviews

Danielle (Sunfire)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Danielle Verlaine is the daughter of an army commander. Her mother wants her to marry Paul who will offer her a comfortable life. But, one day she meets Geoffery Lafiatte a notorious pirate who is dashingly handsome and full of adventure. Danielle is pulled between two worlds. On top of that Danielle is kidnapped and held for ransom by the pirates. Will she escape? Will she marry Paul or Geoffery?

Danielle is a wealthy girl living with her parents on a plantation near New Orleans. Danielle is engaged to quiet Paul, who offers her a comfortable life. But when she is captured by pirates, Danielle meets Geoffory Laffiete, and falls in love with him as well. Which man will win Danielle's heart?

Initially I really liked this book. The portrayal of Danielle and New Orleans is very light and good, but toward the end, I got extremely irritated with how immature she turned out to be. It's not until the very end that she finally settles the decision between Geoffrey and Paul and it turned out pretty exactly as I had predicted. In some ways, I suppose Schurfranz is pretty accurate in her portrayal of Danielle as a 15-year-old girl, but the spirit and intelligence she showed in the beginning were lessened by the bad decisions she makes, making it hard to admire her as a heroine.

This is one of the more "perfect" Sunfires out there, in that belief has to be suspended and cliches abound. Danielle Verlaine's father is a sugar cane plantation owner in 1814 New Orleans who refuses to have slaves, but instead pays free men a decent wage. Nice and tidy for our heroine to be entirely palatable for modern sensibilities, but realistically the family wouldn't be wealthy at all with that business arrangement. It's a pretty glaring thing to overlook, and since it was referred to several times, the reader wasn't allowed to forget it.

Likewise the struggle of Danielle to choose between Paul and...I forgot his name already. Jean Lefitte's nephew, whoever he was. I want to say "Geoffrey." The descriptions of him are standard Hollywood pirate fare with an unattractive, borderline rapist personality (meant to be "intense") and Paul was only made likable near the end of the story. Prior to that, he was unrelentingly uptight. Danielle's indecisiveness between them didn't make for many engaging scenes because there was no good decision she could have made IMO.

It's a shame, too, because the history contained in the book is well-done. The War of 1812 isn't given much airtime in novels, especially juvenile fiction, and Schurfranz didn't fall down in that department, unlike in her characterizations. Having read more of the series, I've now noticed that Schurfranz's style is more simplistic, and dull in its simplicity.

I'd recommend it if you want to read the entire series or if you have an interest in this particular war.

To begin with, we have a typical Schurfranz herione - "sassy", headstrong - and often immature and terribly anachronistic. Historical characters are changed to suit her needs, and the ending - again, one typical of Schurfranz (I shan't spoil it for those of you who have not read it yet). But it has a good dose of adventure and it's better than similiar Battle of New Orleans stories presented by the Dawn of Love and American Dreams series (well, for AD, "Reyana's Reward". The Rosie and the Raider series is superior.)

This was the first Sunfire I read. I got it in a book pack in the sixth grade. I was planning on reading the other books, but not Danielle, because I thought the cover looked so flaky. I figured Danielle was a cheap floozy without a brain and that it must be a boring book. After my best friend assured me it was good, I gave it a try and really enjoyed it. I have since read a few other sunfires and learned a lot about American history. I normally hate learning about the history of any country, but these books got me interested. I wish they would come back in print, especiallly Danielle, Laura, and Emily.

Danielle was a marvelous story. I was so surprised by the ending, I loved it, although I didn't really understand it. When she was hiding in the swamp, my gosh, I read that page again and again every time feeling overwhelmed with fear for Danielle. Sure she was kind of irritating, but she was a real girl. Even though all the other reviewer said it was predictable, I completely missed it!