For Darkness Shows the Stars
For Darkness Shows the Stars, Book #1
By Diana Peterfreund
ISBN#: 9780062006141
Author’s Website: http://www.dianapeterfreund.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Valerie
Synopsis:
It’s been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jump-starting the wheel of progress, and Elliot’s estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.
But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret—one that could change their society… or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she’s lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it. (Goodreads)
Review:
I’ve never read Persuasion, so I can’t compare this novel to it. However, I can say that I probably like this version better. Honestly, it has a beautiful romance, an amazing heroine and a great third-person writing style. Not only that, but the title is gorgeous. If you have to judge a book, judge it by its title. It’s so poetic and pretty and cool!
I hate science fiction in general. That kind of makes me feel like a hypocrite since I loved For Darkness Shows the Stars, but I really do dislike the genre. I’ve hated all the talk about the experiments and the genetic technology related stuff and the future. I really have no idea why I was okay with it reading this book. I guess the overall greatness got rid of my science fiction hatred. However, I will admit that this book has a little of a dystopian feel to it, so I guess that’s what made me feel better.
Elliot is honestly the most admirable teen heroine ever. She’s one of the girls that’s just naturally good. A lot of heroines have a certain fakeness to them when they do good deeds, but Elliot isn’t one of them. She is naturally a really caring person, even if it hurts her in the end. I sometimes wanted to shake her because she was so good. I wanted Elliot to be a little more selfish, but that never did happen. Elliot is just too good to do that.
As for the romance, one word to describe it is tense. Elliot’s too good of a girl to explain to Kai her reasons for staying behind, and Kai is still too hurt to ask. I was literally holding my breath through the whole story; that’s how tense it was. Some moments I was seething at Kai for being a total jerk to Elliot. Other moments I was egging on Elliot to explode at him. In other words, this romance is not boring! Elliot and Kai have such great chemistry. I can’t believe they didn’t chemically react! (That was just bad…)
I don’t know anything about the plot of Persuasion, so I can’t say anything about the plot. I will say that it probably is way techier, but that’s just a hunch…
I read For Darkness Shows the Stars in a day. Considering how long of a book it is, that’s saying something about how spectacular of a book it is! I love it to pieces! Honestly, I am not joking here. It is the best book out of all the books I read in October. Yes, I know it’s November now.
