Helpful Score: 2
This was the first Sunfire that had me flipping to the end before I finished to find out who the heroine ended up with. Usually the two boys the title character finds herself torn between are equally "whatever", but the farmboy David Wesley in this book was so creepily stalkerish like Edward Cullen from "Twilight" that I was keen to see her end up with the other guy, the acrobat and showboat performer, Stephen DuBois.
Because of Wesley's rather, um, psycho declarations and condescending attitude towards Gabrielle (definitely the YA 1980s Edward Cullen), it dampened the overall enjoyment of the book, but I did appreciate the attention Shura gave to the class divide between stage performers and "civilians." It was entirely in keeping with the history books I've read of the 19th century theater. Shura did miss some opportunities to give more knowledge of the profession and the description of the showboat felt generic and non-descriptive in parts, but for a 215 page book, she did an extremely good job of evoking the difference between riverboat life and small-town smugness. The "land folk" weren't complete caricatures, even though they might seem that way. The bias towards actresses was pretty strong back then, regarded as little better than prostitutes, and that attitude came across very vividly.
This was the first Sunfire I've read written by Shura and I enjoyed it far more than the Candice Ransom entries in the series.
Because of Wesley's rather, um, psycho declarations and condescending attitude towards Gabrielle (definitely the YA 1980s Edward Cullen), it dampened the overall enjoyment of the book, but I did appreciate the attention Shura gave to the class divide between stage performers and "civilians." It was entirely in keeping with the history books I've read of the 19th century theater. Shura did miss some opportunities to give more knowledge of the profession and the description of the showboat felt generic and non-descriptive in parts, but for a 215 page book, she did an extremely good job of evoking the difference between riverboat life and small-town smugness. The "land folk" weren't complete caricatures, even though they might seem that way. The bias towards actresses was pretty strong back then, regarded as little better than prostitutes, and that attitude came across very vividly.
This was the first Sunfire I've read written by Shura and I enjoyed it far more than the Candice Ransom entries in the series.
