For Darkness Shows The Stars

Title: For Darkness Shows the Stars
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Series: For Darkness Shows the Stars #1
Genre: Dystopian, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Spice: 0.5 / 5
Format: Kindle
Pages: 448
Reason Read: Book Club
Rating:

My Thoughts

My book club decided to read both PERSUASION by Jane Austen and FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS because the latter is a retelling of the former. We read the former first, of course, and then the latter. It made for a fun discussion.

I really enjoyed FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS. It was everything I wanted PERSUASION to be with a little sci-fi / dystopia thrown in. I really liked the characters and how they tied into their corresponding characters in PERSUASION as well as just on their own. I thought Elliot had a lot more spunk than Anne, and I even liked Kai better than Captain Wentworth. My book club thought he was really mean and didn’t like him very much. I could just see how hurt he was, so his actions toward Elliot didn’t really bother me. I really liked all the Posts and I liked Ro a lot too. I liked the accident scene a lot more in FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS because it was so much less idiotic.

Whereas I didn’t start enjoying PERSUASION until more than halfway through it, I enjoyed FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS from the very beginning. I was intrigued about the dystopian world they lived in and the reasons behind the Reduction. The theology was interesting as well and I found myself wondering which side Peterfreund was on. My guess is she has the same ideals as Kai–that there’s a happy medium between the extremes of the Lost and the Luddites. I loved all the letters between Elliot and Kai. It helped us get to know the real Kai (something we weren’t privy to with Captain Wentworth) and the world Peterfreund created while in the midst of story.