BOOK BLURB: For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars #1)

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

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 jumpstarting 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.

***

Date Read: July 29, 2012

I do not know if I'm going to feel sad or happy that I haven't read Persuasion by Jane Austen yet. All I know, as of the moment, is that I extremely love this dystopian book inspired by an Austen classic. My thoughts and feelings shall be poured out after our exam later.

** frustrating exam over, UPDATE **


For me, there are three major types of reading experiences. First, you start to read the book and at some point, you just lose the enthusiasm to finish it. Second, you start to read a book and you like it enough to finish it. And the third, from the moment you started reading the book, you wouldn't want to let go of it. The third one is my favorite, and that's how I felt reading For Darkness Shows the Stars.

For Darkness Shows the Stars is a dystopian story inspired by a classic book by Jane Austen. After reading the book, I don't know if I should feel sorry for myself that I haven't read Jane Austen's Persuasion yet. Or if I should feel glad that I could marvel Diana Peterfreund's work by the book itself and not as a comparison to the Austen classic. Maybe I should feel both, or maybe neither. *shrugs* But what matters, really, is the fact that I sacrificed my "study time" just so I could read this and it was worth it (maybe not, if I failed the exam. Hahahaha.) My expectations were set high and not a moment was a disappointment.

One of the things I really liked about the book was the "years ago" chapters which showed Elliot and Kai's exchange of letters. In those letters, you saw how they grew up, how they matured and how their relationship bloomed. You really saw the change in them through their letters. From the petty child talk they exchanged, it became a more serious and secretive conversation that only the two of them shared.

Another thing I loved about the book was its realism and how it really held my emotions within its pages. It's amazing how the book can send your stomach in overdrive with only words. Not only that, the characters have the ability to make you really like them. They weren't perfect, physically, mentally or emotionally. They were made real.

I love a lot of things in this book, but I don't know how to put them in words that would do justice to what I feel. Maybe I'll just end it there. Whether I've read Persuasion or not, I'm sure I'd still love this book. It got me hooked from the moment I started reading it and still got me thinking about it days later. Book hangover, some people may call it. But it is, without a doubt, reading experience number three.

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teepee J