BOOK BLURB: Among the Nameless Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars #0.5)

Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

Before Kai joined the Cloud Fleet, he wandered… AMONG THE NAMELESS STARS

Four years before the events of FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS, the servant Kai left the North Estate, the only home he’d ever known, and Elliot North, the only girl he ever loved, in search of a better life. But the journey was not an easy one.

Featuring narrow escapes, thrilling boat races and at least one deadly volcanic wasteland.

***

Date Read: July 30, 2012

Among the Nameless Stars is said to be the "prequel" to For Darkness Shows the Stars. I, personally, wouldn't call it a prequel because it didn't really happen before everything else in the book. Maybe just a filler story. (hahahaha.. stupid ideas interrupting my train of thought.)

Anyway, as I've expected, I love this story because:

(1) Kai still writes letters or thinks of writing letters to Elliot, even though he keeps telling himself not to. I always love people sending letters (or just writing) to each other. For me, it's one of the sincerest ways a person can express how he or she feels. Kai and Elliot's letters really reaches out to the readers and captures them until they can't get enough it. This story is no different. Although Kai held a grudge against Elliot, he always made it clear in his unsent letters that he still cares for her. It's hard to explain, but there's something about guys who writes beautiful letters.

(2) We get a taste of Kai's life after he left the North Estate. How he struggled and fought to survive. How he met Andromeda and Donovan and the Innovations. It wasn't a good experience but it wasn't the worst as compared to what other Posts experienced. He had a lot of bad times but he stayed strong. He realized how lucky he was but still he wanted more, and he strived hard to get what he wanted. I just didn't like the part when he wanted to succeed because he wanted Elliot to regret her decision of not coming with him. But later on, that wasn't the case anymore.

My rating may be a little biased because I've read this after reading For Darkness Shows the Stars. My judgement may be a bit clouded by how I felt for FDSTS, so I might not point out other things that got me concerned in this story. But who cares? Hahahaha..

Oh wait! I think I forgot something. I would have liked it better if it also revealed their journey as the Cloud Fleet up until the time he becomes Captain Malakai Wentforth. That's all. :)

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teepee J

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