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aradhnak's review
4.0
Oh, what wonderful world building. I am already fascinated by Kai. At fourteen, he’s so determined and intelligent, but also learning and growing as a person. His relationship with Elliot, as seen through his eyes, has all the shades of a first and naive love that has been lost.
I was originally trying to finish up The Forgotten Sister by Jennifer Paynter, but I could not get through it. I dropped it for this series, and I finished the first novella in just barely an hour or so.
I was originally trying to finish up The Forgotten Sister by Jennifer Paynter, but I could not get through it. I dropped it for this series, and I finished the first novella in just barely an hour or so.
books4susie's review
4.0
It was nice to see what happened to Kai from the time he left the North Estate to when he met the Innovations.
missbookiverse's review
4.0
A lovely prequel to [b:For Darkness Shows the Stars|8306761|For Darkness Shows the Stars|Diana Peterfreund|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1338529086s/8306761.jpg|13155802]. Diana Peterfreund managed to stay true to the writing style and create the same atmosphere she used for the actual novel. The story is about 60 pages long and rushes past way too fast. I wanted to know so much more about Kai's adventures. You get a better sense of why he starts feeling so much hate towards Elliot but I really wanted to hear about him meeting Andromeda and Donovan and making certain choices.
pewterwolf's review
4.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
Before Kai returned to the North Estate, before Kai left Elliot behind, before he joined the Cloud Fleet, Kai wandered, trying to make a better life for himself. But what he discovers isn't easy nor better...
Compare to the other eNovellas I have reviewed the last few weeks (but read in one week), this is quite a meaty read. It took around two days for me to read, whereas the others took just one day. I think it is, unlike the others that I have either read or I know the plot of the series ok, I knew NOTHING about For The Darkness Shows The Stars. All I know that it is a re-imagining of the Jane Austin novel, Persuasion, and as I haven't read or seen an adaption of this, I know NOTHING. So I just went with this prequel.
I enjoyed it. It was meaty and dark (and you guys know how I like my dark reads) and free (I love when authors write extra content then give it to their fans for free!). And it will give information to fans of the [b:For Darkness Shows the Stars|8306761|For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)|Diana Peterfreund|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338529086s/8306761.jpg|13155802] information about Kai. And there was chapters! I love eNovellas when they have chapters - makes it much easier to pause from reading and take a breath.
You didn't need to have read For Darkness Shows The Stars to enjoy this. So, you can read this to see if you liked the author's writing style. I quite enjoyed it, so will I get my hands on For Darkness Shows the Stars or its soon-to-be-released companion sequel, [b:Across a Star-Swept Sea|16102412|Across a Star-Swept Sea (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #2)|Diana Peterfreund|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360807066s/16102412.jpg|21913114]? I am tempted, though I'm not sure which. A re-imagining of Persuasion or a re-imagining of The Scarlet Pimpernal? We shall see... but I am going to keep my eye on this author...
Before Kai returned to the North Estate, before Kai left Elliot behind, before he joined the Cloud Fleet, Kai wandered, trying to make a better life for himself. But what he discovers isn't easy nor better...
Compare to the other eNovellas I have reviewed the last few weeks (but read in one week), this is quite a meaty read. It took around two days for me to read, whereas the others took just one day. I think it is, unlike the others that I have either read or I know the plot of the series ok, I knew NOTHING about For The Darkness Shows The Stars. All I know that it is a re-imagining of the Jane Austin novel, Persuasion, and as I haven't read or seen an adaption of this, I know NOTHING. So I just went with this prequel.
I enjoyed it. It was meaty and dark (and you guys know how I like my dark reads) and free (I love when authors write extra content then give it to their fans for free!). And it will give information to fans of the [b:For Darkness Shows the Stars|8306761|For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)|Diana Peterfreund|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338529086s/8306761.jpg|13155802] information about Kai. And there was chapters! I love eNovellas when they have chapters - makes it much easier to pause from reading and take a breath.
You didn't need to have read For Darkness Shows The Stars to enjoy this. So, you can read this to see if you liked the author's writing style. I quite enjoyed it, so will I get my hands on For Darkness Shows the Stars or its soon-to-be-released companion sequel, [b:Across a Star-Swept Sea|16102412|Across a Star-Swept Sea (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #2)|Diana Peterfreund|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360807066s/16102412.jpg|21913114]? I am tempted, though I'm not sure which. A re-imagining of Persuasion or a re-imagining of The Scarlet Pimpernal? We shall see... but I am going to keep my eye on this author...
carlacbarroso's review
4.0
I've been craving the book [b:For Darkness Shows the Stars|8306761|For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)|Diana Peterfreund|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1338529086s/8306761.jpg|13155802] since I've heard it was a [b:Persuasion|2156|Persuasion|Jane Austen|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1298411870s/2156.jpg|2534720] retelling but I was afraid of not matching my expectations. When I've learned there was a prequel, I decided to read it to get to know what I should expect. Now I really can't wait to put my hands on that book.
It basically tells the story of Kai, after escaping the North estate he grew up in. The world isn't that much developed, you don't really now what happened to get to that sort of dystopic world, but I guess the book will answer it. I liked the letters, even if only written in Kai's head, and I'm curious to know what the future will bring to him.
It basically tells the story of Kai, after escaping the North estate he grew up in. The world isn't that much developed, you don't really now what happened to get to that sort of dystopic world, but I guess the book will answer it. I liked the letters, even if only written in Kai's head, and I'm curious to know what the future will bring to him.
what_ella_reads's review
4.0
This novella prequel to For Darkness shows the stars was good. It showed some of Kai's back story.
lifeand100books's review
4.0
Definitely helped me learn more about Kai and the struggles he faced after leaving the North plantation. One of the issues I had with For Darkness Shows the Stars was Kai's characterization. Reading this gave me new insight into his character. While I still don't 100% agree with the depth of his anger, I can understand more of WHY it's so strong.
Highly recommend reading it AFTER you read For Darkness Shows the Stars.
Highly recommend reading it AFTER you read For Darkness Shows the Stars.
diaryofthebookdragon's review
4.0
While [b:For Darkness Shows the Stars|8306761|For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)|Diana Peterfreund|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1338529086s/8306761.jpg|13155802] talked about present and past relationship between Kai and Elliot, prequel novella Among the Nameless Stars is about the time period that very much intrigued me, but is not covered in main novel. It’s about the time Kai’s spent alone away from the estate as free Post.
Kai soon discovers that freedom has many forms and influences his life in more ways than he’s expected. Because Kai is now not only free from commands of Baron North but also from his protection. And unprotected posts do not have it easy… Prepare for some heartbreaking moments. But will Kai regret his decision? I do not think so, because as Kai poetically said:
"How did anyone see the stars and not wish for more than the confinement they were born to?"
Writing novellas that are set between main books in the series has become a trend lately but there are a lot of times when these short stories do not add nothing significant to the whole picture. This is not the case with Among the Nameless Stars, we learn a lot more about Kai’s feelings and life of free Posts in the big city. So, grab it while it’s free and enjoy a little bit more of Diana Peterfreund’s beautiful writing!
In The End…
Among the Nameless Stars is definitely worth to be read by all of those who liked [b:For Darkness Shows the Stars|8306761|For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)|Diana Peterfreund|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1338529086s/8306761.jpg|13155802], it will give you intriguing new glimpses into the society and Kai’s character. While it’s numbered as a prequel, my recommendation is to be read after the main novel, when you are already familiar with terms and world.
My rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: This text is also posted on my blog Bookworm Dreams in a little bit more styled edition.
Kai soon discovers that freedom has many forms and influences his life in more ways than he’s expected. Because Kai is now not only free from commands of Baron North but also from his protection. And unprotected posts do not have it easy… Prepare for some heartbreaking moments. But will Kai regret his decision? I do not think so, because as Kai poetically said:
"How did anyone see the stars and not wish for more than the confinement they were born to?"
Writing novellas that are set between main books in the series has become a trend lately but there are a lot of times when these short stories do not add nothing significant to the whole picture. This is not the case with Among the Nameless Stars, we learn a lot more about Kai’s feelings and life of free Posts in the big city. So, grab it while it’s free and enjoy a little bit more of Diana Peterfreund’s beautiful writing!
In The End…
Among the Nameless Stars is definitely worth to be read by all of those who liked [b:For Darkness Shows the Stars|8306761|For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)|Diana Peterfreund|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1338529086s/8306761.jpg|13155802], it will give you intriguing new glimpses into the society and Kai’s character. While it’s numbered as a prequel, my recommendation is to be read after the main novel, when you are already familiar with terms and world.
My rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: This text is also posted on my blog Bookworm Dreams in a little bit more styled edition.
casey_zi's review
4.0
Every once in a while, I come across a short story that actually carries a vital message. This is that story.
I pick up novellas or short stories like this to get a taste of a series and see if I want to read the first or next book in the lineup, so as I was reading this I was trying to piece together the details of the 'verse. It goes something like this: In the future, there are two main castes, the Luddites and the Reduced. The Reduced are the servants and slaves of the Luddites. One day, something called the Reduction occurred, and the children of the Reduced ("Posts") from then on began to change, began to stand up for themselves.
This story is about a boy named Kai, a Post, who's in a poor living situation and escapes his home to seek a better life; but as he explores the world, desperately trying to keep himself fed, he realizes that he was really privileged all along. I think that this kind of integral message is the best of all, especially when marketed to spoiled people in First World countries. It shows us that however little or much we have, there are always people out there who have less, and that once again, we take too much for granted.
Anyway, great short story, definitely recommended. The mental letters Kai writes to his friend are an interesting method of indirectly communicating Kai's thoughts and feelings. I'll probably be reading For Darkness Shows the Stars.
I pick up novellas or short stories like this to get a taste of a series and see if I want to read the first or next book in the lineup, so as I was reading this I was trying to piece together the details of the 'verse. It goes something like this: In the future, there are two main castes, the Luddites and the Reduced. The Reduced are the servants and slaves of the Luddites. One day, something called the Reduction occurred, and the children of the Reduced ("Posts") from then on began to change, began to stand up for themselves.
This story is about a boy named Kai, a Post, who's in a poor living situation and escapes his home to seek a better life; but as he explores the world, desperately trying to keep himself fed, he realizes that he was really privileged all along. I think that this kind of integral message is the best of all, especially when marketed to spoiled people in First World countries. It shows us that however little or much we have, there are always people out there who have less, and that once again, we take too much for granted.
Anyway, great short story, definitely recommended. The mental letters Kai writes to his friend are an interesting method of indirectly communicating Kai's thoughts and feelings. I'll probably be reading For Darkness Shows the Stars.
thebookmagpie's review
I somehow bought this without quite catching what the premise was and tbh now that I know I could not be less interested.