Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

Title: Across a Star-Swept Sea (For Darkness Shows the Stars #2)

Author: Diana Peterfreund

Publisher: Balzer + Bray 2013

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Pages: 469

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - YA Retellings; I Love Libraries; Seasonal Series - Duology

Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction--the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars--is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries' weapon is a drug that damages their enemies' brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.

On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo... is her most dangerous mission ever.

Hmmm.... so I loved the first book in this duology (For Darkness Shows the Stars), but this retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel just didn't wow me. I couldn't quite connect to any of the main characters. I was not completely on board with the terminology used throughout. The first book felt like a logical adaptation of a classic work redone into a post-apocalyptic world. This one felt a little too fantasy/candy-colored future for me. My mind wandered throughout attempting to get through the pages. Just really not my cup of tea.

For Darkness... Short Stories by Diana Peterfreund

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

Author: Diana Peterfreund

Publisher: 2013

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Pages: 54

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR

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.

Loved this little short story focusing on Kai's adventures directly after he left the North estate. I loved meeting some interesting characters and the overall progression of the story.

Title: The First Star to Fall (For Darkness Shows the Stars #1.5)

Author: Diana Peterfreund

Publisher: 2013

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Pages: 34

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

New Pacifica was designed to be a tropical paradise, a refuge for humanity filled with natural wonders and technological marvels. A place of perfect peace where "war" was only a world out of history... or so the privileged teen Persis Blake was always taught.

But then comes the revolution and the death of a queen, and suddenly it's no longer enough for Persis to trust the words of her parents, the lessons of her teachers, and the decrees of the men in power.

One terrible night, Persis witnesses the truth: there are those who will stop at nothing to destroy her world... but is there anyone who can save it?

So this was definitely a departure from the pervious story. I'm intrigued by where this is going... Guess it's time to pick up the companion book.

For Darkness Shows the Stars

#0.5 Among the Nameless Stars
#1 For Darkness Shows the Stars
#1.5 The First Star to Fall
#2 Across a Star-Swept Sea

Next up on the TBR pile:

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Title: For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars #1)

Author: Diana Peterfreund

Publisher: Balzer + Bray 2012

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Pages: 407

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - 365 Young Adult, YA Retellings; A to Z - F; Seasonal Series - Free Space

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.

I remember hearing about this adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion when it was published, but promptly forgot about it. Thank goodness I saw it on my perpetual lists and finally got it from the library. This is such.a treat! Peterfreund has taken the amazing story of Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth and set it in another time and place. We still get the social commentary on social classes, but now it's in a post-apocalyptic society. We get an interesting society to explore and fun side characters to liven up the party. We get a bit of mystery concerning the Fleet Posts. And we get the amazing spirit and courage of this books Anne, Elliott North. I sped through this volume just waiting for the letter from Wentworth, Wentforth, to Anne, Elliott. And I wasn't disappointed. I'm very interested to see what Peterfreund does in the sequel, but first, I think I'll read the two short stories.

For Darkness Shows the Stars

#0.5 Among the Nameless Stars
#1 For Darkness Shows the Stars
#1.5 The First Star to Fall
#2 Across a Star-Swept Sea

Next up on the TBR pile: