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kmr16831's review against another edition
5.0
I have no words to describe how much I loved this book. Elliot and Kai have surely done their Austen predecessors proud!! Theirs is a love story that has no ending. Thank you Diana for sharing your gift!!
narcissia's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome retelling of Persuasion. Hits all of the major points from the original and pays it the proper homage, and without becoming a lackluster copy of it.
commedesenfants's review against another edition
5.0
Originally posted: here
The Cover
I don’t know why there is a supermodel-like girl on the cover. While she and the dress is pretty, it’s nothing like how I’d imagined Elliot and she definitely wouldn’t wear a dress like this. What I like though is how the dress kind of melts into/with the starry sky and the stars play a big part in the world Elliott lives in. All in all, the cover is very pretty and I like it.
The Story
“For Darkness Shows the Stars” is a retelling of Jane Austen’s novel “Persuasion” but it’s set in a dystopian future where society is divided in Reduced, Post-Reduced and Luddites. The Reduced are those descended from people who have used genetic science in order to play “god”, i.e. make the human body better, faster, stronger which had disastrous effects in the end for their off-spring. The Reduced lack the ability to speak and are mentally challenged in some way. They work for the Luddite as servants in order to atone for their ancestors’ sins. The Luddites are the ruling class in this world and have outlawed most technology and scientific experiments. Elliot North is the daughter of one Luddite Lord. Four years before the events in this book starts, she refused to run away with her childhodd friend and love of her life, a servant boy named Kai, because she felt that it’s her duty and responsibility to stay at her family’s estate in order to care and protect the workers and servants, as her father and sister don’t really care about them and live above their means. It is up to Elliot to save the farm and keep the workers from starving.
Four years later, Kai returns to the North estate as Malakai Wentforth, a wealthy sea captain and engineer, with a group of Post-Reduced (children of Reduced parents who have overcome the Reduced “virus”) shipbuilders who have rented part of the land in order to build a new ship. Elliot and Kai’s reunion is not a happy one for Kai still hasn’t forgiven Elliot for not running away with him.
The Protagonist
Elliot is the kind of person I’d love to be friends with. Most of the time I wanted to hug her, put a blanket around her and give her a cup of hot chocolate because that’s what she needs. She’s basically running her family’s estate and farm all by herself and her work isn’t even appreciated. On the contrary, her father is a cruel and mentally abusive jerk who doesn’t care for anything but his own pleasure, he’d rather see his workers die of hunger than give up his lifestyle. Anyway, Elliot spenfs her life trying to save the farm and finding a way to feed her people through the winter which is easier said than done as her father continuously sabotages her (ugh I get so angry just remembering). She’s strong, determined, smart and compassionate. She truly cares for the people on the estate and gave up her own happiness in order to protect them. Elliot is probably one of the most likable and relatable heroines I’ve read about this year. She’s not perfect, she’s not the most beautiful girl, in many ways she’s just an ordinary girl, but in others she’s extraordinary. There were many times where I wanted to kick those who treated her badly. Like I mentioned before, her asshole of a father or her proud and shallow older sister who wants to be Lady of the house but is more interested in her appearance than actually take any responsibility. And even Kai because he was such an idiot when returning (but more about that in “The Heart Rate”).
The Heart Rate
Kai is the perfect imperfect love interest. He felt betrayed by Elliot when she ditched him. He didn’t understand that she had to stay on the estate or else her father would have ruined them all, basically leaving the Reduced to die. When he came back as Malakai, he pretended that he didn’t know are care about Elliot at all to punish her. He flirted with another girl and ignored Elliot for the most part. Now you’re probably wondering how in the world this man would make a good love interest. It’s simple, because despite his cold and haughty exterior, he couldn’t entirely hide the fact that he did still care about Elliot. It’s the little gestures and things he does that show his heart. He was hurt by what he perceived as her betrayal, thinking that she might have seen him as a mere servant, not worthy of her love or of sacrificing something for.
While my heart ached and broke for Elliot every time Kai tried (and succeeded) to hurt her with his words, I couldn’t help but feel all tingly and fluffy inside reading aboutthe small moments they interacted, where you can still see the mututal affection and love they shared. The funny thing is that they didn’t really kiss in the book, there was very little physical contact but it still made me swoon because their love was so strong and beautiful (sorry for sounding cheesy) that you could just feel it (strongly).
The Good
- Jane Austen: Jane Austen is my favourite author and “Persuasion” is one of my favourite novels of hers (next to Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Parl) and Diana Peterfreund has captured the heart and feeling of the original so perfectly.
- I know that this novel is set in the future but because technology and science is forbidden it had a slightly historical feel to it (horse carriages, clothes only in natural colours, no electricity etc.) and I kind of liked it. It was different from other dystopian novels.
- Great supporting characters: I just adore Ro, who is a Reduced girl who is Elliot and Kai’s friend. She was just adorable and sweet and innocent and pure. I love her friendship with Elliot and Kai. Then we have Dee who was like a second mother to Elliot since her own mother died. She also made the same sacrifice Elliot made, i.e. refusing to leave the estate with her husband in order to stay and be there for Elliot. And those are just some examples of characters who helped and supported Elliot and Kai.
- Letters: Each chappter starts with letters that Elliot and Kai wrote to eachother since they were 7. The earliest were innocent and cute (including spelling errors) and you can see their strong friendship and eventually love across the years through these letters.
The Bad
N/A
The Rating
★★★★★
As I said, I love Persuasion and this book captured the feeling of the original perfectly. It wasn’t just a copy of the original but it had surprising elements in it (like Kai’s secret). It wasn’t predictable like other retellings but was unique and kept the reader wondering (hoping) until the very end if Elliot and Kai could make it work. I can’t wait for the next book in this series (I wonder if it’s going to be inspired by another Jane Austen novel or another classic or if it’s going to be entirely original?).
The Cover
I don’t know why there is a supermodel-like girl on the cover. While she and the dress is pretty, it’s nothing like how I’d imagined Elliot and she definitely wouldn’t wear a dress like this. What I like though is how the dress kind of melts into/with the starry sky and the stars play a big part in the world Elliott lives in. All in all, the cover is very pretty and I like it.
The Story
“For Darkness Shows the Stars” is a retelling of Jane Austen’s novel “Persuasion” but it’s set in a dystopian future where society is divided in Reduced, Post-Reduced and Luddites. The Reduced are those descended from people who have used genetic science in order to play “god”, i.e. make the human body better, faster, stronger which had disastrous effects in the end for their off-spring. The Reduced lack the ability to speak and are mentally challenged in some way. They work for the Luddite as servants in order to atone for their ancestors’ sins. The Luddites are the ruling class in this world and have outlawed most technology and scientific experiments. Elliot North is the daughter of one Luddite Lord. Four years before the events in this book starts, she refused to run away with her childhodd friend and love of her life, a servant boy named Kai, because she felt that it’s her duty and responsibility to stay at her family’s estate in order to care and protect the workers and servants, as her father and sister don’t really care about them and live above their means. It is up to Elliot to save the farm and keep the workers from starving.
Four years later, Kai returns to the North estate as Malakai Wentforth, a wealthy sea captain and engineer, with a group of Post-Reduced (children of Reduced parents who have overcome the Reduced “virus”) shipbuilders who have rented part of the land in order to build a new ship. Elliot and Kai’s reunion is not a happy one for Kai still hasn’t forgiven Elliot for not running away with him.
The Protagonist
Elliot is the kind of person I’d love to be friends with. Most of the time I wanted to hug her, put a blanket around her and give her a cup of hot chocolate because that’s what she needs. She’s basically running her family’s estate and farm all by herself and her work isn’t even appreciated. On the contrary, her father is a cruel and mentally abusive jerk who doesn’t care for anything but his own pleasure, he’d rather see his workers die of hunger than give up his lifestyle. Anyway, Elliot spenfs her life trying to save the farm and finding a way to feed her people through the winter which is easier said than done as her father continuously sabotages her (ugh I get so angry just remembering). She’s strong, determined, smart and compassionate. She truly cares for the people on the estate and gave up her own happiness in order to protect them. Elliot is probably one of the most likable and relatable heroines I’ve read about this year. She’s not perfect, she’s not the most beautiful girl, in many ways she’s just an ordinary girl, but in others she’s extraordinary. There were many times where I wanted to kick those who treated her badly. Like I mentioned before, her asshole of a father or her proud and shallow older sister who wants to be Lady of the house but is more interested in her appearance than actually take any responsibility. And even Kai because he was such an idiot when returning (but more about that in “The Heart Rate”).
The Heart Rate
Kai is the perfect imperfect love interest. He felt betrayed by Elliot when she ditched him. He didn’t understand that she had to stay on the estate or else her father would have ruined them all, basically leaving the Reduced to die. When he came back as Malakai, he pretended that he didn’t know are care about Elliot at all to punish her. He flirted with another girl and ignored Elliot for the most part. Now you’re probably wondering how in the world this man would make a good love interest. It’s simple, because despite his cold and haughty exterior, he couldn’t entirely hide the fact that he did still care about Elliot. It’s the little gestures and things he does that show his heart. He was hurt by what he perceived as her betrayal, thinking that she might have seen him as a mere servant, not worthy of her love or of sacrificing something for.
While my heart ached and broke for Elliot every time Kai tried (and succeeded) to hurt her with his words, I couldn’t help but feel all tingly and fluffy inside reading aboutthe small moments they interacted, where you can still see the mututal affection and love they shared. The funny thing is that they didn’t really kiss in the book, there was very little physical contact but it still made me swoon because their love was so strong and beautiful (sorry for sounding cheesy) that you could just feel it (strongly).
The Good
- Jane Austen: Jane Austen is my favourite author and “Persuasion” is one of my favourite novels of hers (next to Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Parl) and Diana Peterfreund has captured the heart and feeling of the original so perfectly.
- I know that this novel is set in the future but because technology and science is forbidden it had a slightly historical feel to it (horse carriages, clothes only in natural colours, no electricity etc.) and I kind of liked it. It was different from other dystopian novels.
- Great supporting characters: I just adore Ro, who is a Reduced girl who is Elliot and Kai’s friend. She was just adorable and sweet and innocent and pure. I love her friendship with Elliot and Kai. Then we have Dee who was like a second mother to Elliot since her own mother died. She also made the same sacrifice Elliot made, i.e. refusing to leave the estate with her husband in order to stay and be there for Elliot. And those are just some examples of characters who helped and supported Elliot and Kai.
- Letters: Each chappter starts with letters that Elliot and Kai wrote to eachother since they were 7. The earliest were innocent and cute (including spelling errors) and you can see their strong friendship and eventually love across the years through these letters.
The Bad
N/A
The Rating
★★★★★
As I said, I love Persuasion and this book captured the feeling of the original perfectly. It wasn’t just a copy of the original but it had surprising elements in it (like Kai’s secret). It wasn’t predictable like other retellings but was unique and kept the reader wondering (hoping) until the very end if Elliot and Kai could make it work. I can’t wait for the next book in this series (I wonder if it’s going to be inspired by another Jane Austen novel or another classic or if it’s going to be entirely original?).
agnesgailx's review against another edition
5.0
Why did this have to end? I need more Kai and Elliot.
freadomlibrary's review
3.0
Actual rating 3.5 stars
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
It’s very regular, not too action packed or intense. It revolves around the relationship between the two main characters and their life in an estate. It’s very character driven but still lacks that thing that makes you addicted to a story.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
It’s very detailed and old fashioned. Very verbose, some paragraphs were a bit too long for my tastes. It was a medium pace and engaging as well as very descriptive. I enjoyed it but I wasn’t crazy over it and it didn’t make the story go faster.
Characters – 3.5 out of 5 stars
I did not like the characters as much as I was hoping to when I started this but considering this is character driven, that’s not good at all. Elliot, our main character and narrator, is smart and determined. She’s responsible and very protective of the people she loves. She’s really selfless and has given up a lot for the good of everyone else but I was still not completely convinced on her personality. I just didn’t connect with her that much. Kai, our male lead, was a bit better but not that much. Here’s really jaded, mysterious and misguided. As the story moves forward he’s curious and apologetic but he just rubbed me the wrong way most of the time. I wanted to connect with them and with their relationship more than I did considering that the whole story revolved around that.
Emotionally
The plot is more contemporary than dystopian. We follow two people who grew up together but come from two different social statuses. They were in love but they seperated and then years later, the man of the equation comes back new and improved and a bunch of angst happens. Tell me that doesn’t sound like a new adult contemporary and I won’t believe you. This was a lot more about the relationship that was than about their surroundings. The whole thing was contemporary with some dystopian decorations like the world building and a very specific plot point which were the only things remotely science fiction. The former was completely confusing (I still don’t really understand what happened in their world) and the latter was over exaggerated and was made into a bigger deal than it really needed to be. I don’t mind that it wasn’t what I expected but give me a warning. The cover made me think that it would be this epic dystopian science fiction love story and it was just a love story, one that I didn’t connect to that well. As for it being a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, I can’t really tell you if its good or not since I have not read it before.
Elliot was an okay character. She had really strong qualities. She was very determined to help out the people she was in charge of, she put their needs above her own and she was very smart and resourceful with how to do that. She had a lot of integrity but sometimes that would turn into stubbornness that would just not go away and it got incredibly annoying. It got old really fast.
Kai started off being rude, petulant and annoying and then kind of evolved into a mature man. But by that time, I just wanted to finish the story. I feel like I’m painting it off worse than it really was because I did enjoy it. It just wasn’t what I expected it to be.
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
It’s very regular, not too action packed or intense. It revolves around the relationship between the two main characters and their life in an estate. It’s very character driven but still lacks that thing that makes you addicted to a story.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
It’s very detailed and old fashioned. Very verbose, some paragraphs were a bit too long for my tastes. It was a medium pace and engaging as well as very descriptive. I enjoyed it but I wasn’t crazy over it and it didn’t make the story go faster.
Characters – 3.5 out of 5 stars
I did not like the characters as much as I was hoping to when I started this but considering this is character driven, that’s not good at all. Elliot, our main character and narrator, is smart and determined. She’s responsible and very protective of the people she loves. She’s really selfless and has given up a lot for the good of everyone else but I was still not completely convinced on her personality. I just didn’t connect with her that much. Kai, our male lead, was a bit better but not that much. Here’s really jaded, mysterious and misguided. As the story moves forward he’s curious and apologetic but he just rubbed me the wrong way most of the time. I wanted to connect with them and with their relationship more than I did considering that the whole story revolved around that.
Emotionally
Spoiler
I was expecting to be more emotionally involved in this book but it didn’t actually worked out that way.The plot is more contemporary than dystopian. We follow two people who grew up together but come from two different social statuses. They were in love but they seperated and then years later, the man of the equation comes back new and improved and a bunch of angst happens. Tell me that doesn’t sound like a new adult contemporary and I won’t believe you. This was a lot more about the relationship that was than about their surroundings. The whole thing was contemporary with some dystopian decorations like the world building and a very specific plot point which were the only things remotely science fiction. The former was completely confusing (I still don’t really understand what happened in their world) and the latter was over exaggerated and was made into a bigger deal than it really needed to be. I don’t mind that it wasn’t what I expected but give me a warning. The cover made me think that it would be this epic dystopian science fiction love story and it was just a love story, one that I didn’t connect to that well. As for it being a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, I can’t really tell you if its good or not since I have not read it before.
Elliot was an okay character. She had really strong qualities. She was very determined to help out the people she was in charge of, she put their needs above her own and she was very smart and resourceful with how to do that. She had a lot of integrity but sometimes that would turn into stubbornness that would just not go away and it got incredibly annoying. It got old really fast.
Kai started off being rude, petulant and annoying and then kind of evolved into a mature man. But by that time, I just wanted to finish the story. I feel like I’m painting it off worse than it really was because I did enjoy it. It just wasn’t what I expected it to be.
renuked's review against another edition
5.0
I love this book so much. I blew off all of my summer homework and finished it in hours. I'm a terrible person but I couldn't tear myself away from this book. I can't even express how much I loved the characters and well pretty much everything that happened.
mollywetta's review against another edition
4.0
you can also read the full review here: http://wrappedupinbooks.org
To be fair, this book seems to have been written with someone like me as it’s target audience. I didn’t read much young adult literature when I actually was a young adult, but I read all of Jane Austen during high school. Now that I read (and enjoy) YA, my taste tends to favor science fiction and fantasy, so this hit two of my sweet spots as a reader.
I loved it.
Maybe it has something to do with the protagonist’s name: Elliot. She’s named after her grandfather, and it’s deliberately meant to be a boy’s name. My favorite Nancy Drew character was her friend George. I like gender-neutral names, and love gender-defying names.
But no, it isn’t just her name. Elliot is everything Ann is in Persuasion: endearing, dedicated, true. She doesn’t deny her emotions, she just realizes their is more to the world than her own feelings. As the main character, she was certainly the most developed, and I genuinely liked her.
As far as science fiction goes, this is definitely what I’d call “sci-fi lite”. There’s not a lot of development of the “how” of the world—it’s clear that genetic manipulation is what contributed to the demise of a good portion of the population, but there’s no hard science. It’s not the details that the story relies on, however; the idea suffices. The slow way the past is revealed allowed it to serve as a background to the romance.
And the romance is what you read it for. Though the story is set in the future, the old-fashioned ideas of class and courtship play out in excruciatingly delightful way. Will the Elliot and Kai get together, like they most certainly would if it was truly a Jane Austen novel? I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out.
In young adult literature, the romance is often a tale of boy meets girl. There is instant attraction, then they battle their family/evil overlords/zombies/etc. together, so it was refreshing to read a story that starts years after the protagonists fell in love. Rather than sacrificing the tension, this configuration magnified it exponentially. Though we don’t get so much as a kiss between Malakai and Elliot, the tension and angst surely don’t suffer.
I recommend this book for those who like their YA romance with a side of dystopia and a sprinkling of sci-fi.
To be fair, this book seems to have been written with someone like me as it’s target audience. I didn’t read much young adult literature when I actually was a young adult, but I read all of Jane Austen during high school. Now that I read (and enjoy) YA, my taste tends to favor science fiction and fantasy, so this hit two of my sweet spots as a reader.
I loved it.
Maybe it has something to do with the protagonist’s name: Elliot. She’s named after her grandfather, and it’s deliberately meant to be a boy’s name. My favorite Nancy Drew character was her friend George. I like gender-neutral names, and love gender-defying names.
But no, it isn’t just her name. Elliot is everything Ann is in Persuasion: endearing, dedicated, true. She doesn’t deny her emotions, she just realizes their is more to the world than her own feelings. As the main character, she was certainly the most developed, and I genuinely liked her.
As far as science fiction goes, this is definitely what I’d call “sci-fi lite”. There’s not a lot of development of the “how” of the world—it’s clear that genetic manipulation is what contributed to the demise of a good portion of the population, but there’s no hard science. It’s not the details that the story relies on, however; the idea suffices. The slow way the past is revealed allowed it to serve as a background to the romance.
And the romance is what you read it for. Though the story is set in the future, the old-fashioned ideas of class and courtship play out in excruciatingly delightful way. Will the Elliot and Kai get together, like they most certainly would if it was truly a Jane Austen novel? I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out.
In young adult literature, the romance is often a tale of boy meets girl. There is instant attraction, then they battle their family/evil overlords/zombies/etc. together, so it was refreshing to read a story that starts years after the protagonists fell in love. Rather than sacrificing the tension, this configuration magnified it exponentially. Though we don’t get so much as a kiss between Malakai and Elliot, the tension and angst surely don’t suffer.
I recommend this book for those who like their YA romance with a side of dystopia and a sprinkling of sci-fi.
aradhnak's review against another edition
5.0
This was one of the best love stories I have read in a while, god, it’s got the magic of These Broken Stars and This Shattered World but also the old-school romance of Pride And Prejudice which makes sense since it’s based on Persuasion and just - guys this is perfection.
storiesandstardust's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0