For Darkness Shows the Stars

By Diana Peterfreund

Fans of Divergent will love Diana Peterfreund’s take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion set in a post-apocalyptic world.
 
In the dystopian future of For Darkness Shows the Stars, a genetic experiment has devastated humanity. In the aftermath, a new class system placed anti-technology Luddites in absolute power over vast estates—and any survivors living there.
 
Elliot North is a dutiful Luddite and a dutiful daughter who runs her father’s estate. When the boy she loved, Kai, a servant, asked her to run away with him four years ago, she refused, although it broke her heart.
 
Now Kai is back. And while Elliot longs for a second chance with her first love, she knows it could mean betraying everything she’s been raised to believe is right.
 
For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking YA romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062114372

Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund is the author of many books for adults and children, including the critically acclaimed For Darkness Shows the Stars and Across a Star-Swept Sea. She lives with her family outside Washington, DC, in a house full of bookshelves, and is always on the lookout for lost cities or stray rocket ships.

Reviews for For Darkness Shows the Stars

[booksovertv · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely FANTABULOUS!........I loved everything about this book. I recommend it to Jane Austen lovers, Romance readers and those looking for a well written entertaining story. One of the best I've read this year. I will definitely read and reread this story for years to come.

[cecilywolfe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely ADORED this story. Fantastic writing, believable characters, and a spectacular tale. Looking forward to reading more of Peterfreund's work.

[melrailey-412132 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a simple, almost pastoral novel based on Jane Austen's Persuasion. It wasn't one of those high action books that thrive on fight scenes and such but I couldn't put it down. The romance was just beautiful, heartbreaking and impossible to pull myself away from. I thought the language was beautiful. I loved the way the letters that Kai and Elliott wrote as children were interweaved into the story. The last letter from Kai completely and totally won me over.

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.

This is going to be a tough review for me to write. It seems the books you've most been anticipating are the ones that are most difficult to reflect upon. I had so many expectations going into For Darkness Shows the Stars (FDStS), something you can tell if you scroll back through my blog posts. In fact, I was entirely confident that this book would be a new FAVORITE, because how could a dystopian/Austen combo NOT become one of my top reads of all time? Well, with those weighty expectations, FDStS did not entirely satisfy me.

Peterfreund is a marvelous author, and she truly accomplishes what she aimed for in FDStS. First off, she got the Persuasion aspects of the story pitch perfect. The characters and their emotions are all by the book. Though many of the scenes and the overall situation are greatly changed, there is no doubting that this is a futuristic retelling of Persuasion. I am seriously impressed by Peterfreund's talent and how she made a story about an older couple (for their time) into a story about teenagers. Though I do feel it might have worked a bit better with slightly older main characters, she did make the tale work for youths.

What makes that work is the society in which FDStS is set. The world has regressed, run by Luddites, those who fear technology. Messing with genes, robotics and medicines, humans became close to gods, but there was an unfortunate consequence: the Reduction. Wars and, perhaps, divine punishment left the world populated by the Luddites, largely unchanged and the Reduced, unable to speak and used as slaves. The Luddites are much like the landowners of Austen's time: wealthy, privileged and built upon the backs of abused workers.

This political and social landscape is complicated more and more as time passes. Not all children of the Reduced are Reduced as well. Some of them (1 in 20) has all the capabilities of a regular person. The Luddites, comfy in their estates, try to keep the CORs (Children of the Reduced) in the same menial state, bound by the same laws. The CORs prefer to think of themselves as Posts (Post-Reduction), the beginning of something new. This is a time of upheaval, a nice parallel to the social issues in Austen's novels. The Posts have money and talent that Elliot's Luddite family now lacks, much like Captain Wentworth earned a fortune in the army in Austen's Persuasion.

Elliot, like her namesake Anne Elliot, does not fit in with her family. Her father and sister care only about material things: clothing, racetracks and other such trappings. Elliot works hard to try to help the Posts and the Reduced on the family farms and estate, burdened by her family's extravagance. Meanwhile, she is haunted by worries about what has become of the boy she loved as a child, Kai, who left to find fortune at 14.

In Persuasion, Anne Elliot turned down Wentworth's initial proposal because her family deemed him unworthy. In Elliot's case, she let him go of her own volition, not because of any direct social pressure. Still, she has always loved him and they have been friends since a young age, due to their shared birthday. Interspersed with the main part of the novel are letters the two snuck back and forth to one another throughout their childhood. These, while sometimes entertaining, perhaps could have been reduced, or at least put into chronological order. Bouncing around in time really didn't help their impact.

My issue with the book, despite its quality, is that I did not connect to Elliot or to Kai. Persuasion, though beautiful, is not my favorite Austen novel. I have trouble forgiving Anne and Wentworth for their behavior to one another, especially Wentworth's stupid and shameless flirting with the stupid neighbor girl. Peterfreund did such a good job with their characters that I feel much the same about Elliot and Kai. While I root for them more than I do for the other characters, I also didn't feel any special warmness towards them.

So there you have it as clearly as I can manage to put it. FDStS is brilliantly done, but it didn't touch my heart, at least not on this reading. I do think it's funny that her unicorn series is much darker than her dystopia. Still, if you're interested in this one, do give it a try.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Diana Peterfreund restores my faith in fiction once again. I loved her retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel - Across a Star Swept Sea - but wasn't tempted to try the same treatment of Persuasion until now. What changed? The witch hunt on social media over the 2022 Netflix adaptation of Austen's novel! The Regency fetishists are out in full force decrying changes to character and costume, despite Emma (2020) and nearly every other recent screen version receiving the same 'modern viewpoint' and 'fresh take'. I was so sick of hearing about the novel and Anne Elliot - who is a boring heroine and needs all the help she can get on screen - that I needed a spin on the original that would pique my imagination and silence the online hypocrisy. And then I remembered this dystopian twist on Persuasion.Of course I'm going to love any retelling of a classic novel that fell flat with me but Peterfreund really has created a strong and sympathetic alternative to Austen. I was absolutely gripped by the world-building, which resets Regency England on an island populated by the survivors of a genetics war turned apocalypse. The rigid class hierarchy of the nineteenth century which Austen mocks is echoed in the three levels of a new society based on old rules: Luddites, whose ancestors refused to be genetically enhanced and were thereby spared the resulting mutation, which resulted in the infantilised and enslaved 'Reduced' offspring of 'the Lost', and the 'Children of the Reduced' or 'Post-Reductionists' (Posts) born to the Reduced but with full mental faculties. A lot of exposition is needed to get to grips with all the different factions but the author employs letters between the two main characters as children to ease the reader into make sense of the alternate reality.Elliot North - I instantly preferred the new name! - is the Anne character, daughter of 'one of the last great baronic families who had preserved the world in the wake of the Reduction', or the aftermath of the genetics war which drove the survivors underground. Her father the Baron is the same vain and useless figure as Sir Walter, but with a vicious streak. Growing up on the North estate, Elliot's only true friend was Kai, the son of a Post mechanic, who was skilled and intelligent but restricted by the 'protocols' enforced by the Luddites like the Baron. When Elliot's mother died, the young girl realised that the role of peacekeeper and manager of the estate had fallen to her, and took the responsibility of protecting the Posts and the Reduced onto her own shoulders. Having suffered a similar tragedy, Kai realised he had to leave the island and begged Elliot to join him, but she - of course - chose duty over love. Four years later, Kai returns with Admiral Innovation and the 'Cloud Fleet', renting her grandfather's shipyard to build a new vessel, but has he taken on more than just a new name (Captain Wentforth, ha) since he left Elliot?The Reduced, Posts and Luddites can be viewed in terms of slavery, but also the social structure of Regency/Victorian England, with the working, middle and upper classes. Elliot feels protective of the Posts and Reduced workers on her father's estate, but comes to realise that the Posts at least can think and act for themselves. Kai returns with a promising if radical career and refuses to fall back into his old 'place' on the island. Both characters are far younger than Anne and Wentworth in Austen's novel - only eighteen years old - and Elliot is 'persuaded' by her conscience and sense of inherited family honour rather than a family friend, but at least Elliot has drive and a purpose, trying to keep the farm going. Also, the Louisa character, Olivia, has a better excuse for leaping off a precipice, rather than a grown woman acting like a child in the original - bonus points for rewriting that ridiculous subplot!I really got a sense of the North estate, and particularly loved the family 'church' of a 'star cavern' underground, where glow worms recreate the constellations lost to the Luddite ancestors after the war. Elliot's sanctuary in the barn, filled with Kai's letters to her, is a similarly poignant touch: 'All around her, strung from the ceiling and wafting softly in the draft, Kai's paper gliders glowed in the moonlight like pale spring shoots bursting from the soil.' The famous 'half agony half hope' letter takes on so much more meaning in this version because of Kai and Elliot's history of bonding through hidden notes.For those readers of Austen who can bear to have a word changed or a bonnet removed, this dystopian take is a treat, but I don't think a comparison with Persuasion is necessary to enjoy the story.

[smorton11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Elliot is dedicated to her family and the Reduced who live and work on their family’s lands. Her family, alas, is not. It is this unwavering dedication to her family and maintaining the health and livelihood of those whom she has been charged to look after, that lost her the first great love of her young life. Until he shows back up on her family’s estate a completely changed man and Elliot is once again torn between her desire to help her family and her desire to spend time with the one she loves.

Unfortunately for me, I do not identify with Elliot at all. Her quandary is not one that I have ever really had to deal with – I’ve never been responsible for the wellbeing of anyone outside of my family, I’ve never had a dependent whereas Elliot has many, most of whom are adults. The reduction leaves many with a reduced mental capacity and so it’s almost as if Elliot is taking care of a group of elderly dementia patients, which at the time, was hard for me to understand as I lacked a frame of reference.

Elliot is a strong character, unwavering in her beliefs and loyalty to those she loves and cares about. Kai’s departure was not wholly her fault and while she does feel responsibility, she doesn’t apologize for her reasons for staying behind.

[ajsteadman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book. Who wouldn't love a post-apocolyptic, sci-fi, steampunkish retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasian? I liked it so much I loaned it out to a coworker before returning it to the library. Great book.

[the_literary_jedi · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Supposedly, this is a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. While names may be similar and there are similar plot points, this is far from an excellent retelling. There is very little backstory or world building going on in this book. Peterfruend spends only a few sparse paragraphs telling the reader about the epidemic which created the dystopic world the characters live in and it is not well done. If you haven't read Austen's Persuasion, you won't be disappointed. For fans of the original, it is a big disappointment.

[drfuriosa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is Jane Austen meets Margaret Atwood meets steampunk. It's amazing and inventive in a way that no other Austen adaptation manages to be.

[ishanella · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When I heard that Diana Peterfreund was doing a Jane Austen revamp based in a futuristic society, I was practically hopping in my seat with excitement. I was really looking forward to it and when For Darkness Shows the Stars hit the shelves and I finally got to read it, I couldn’t put it down. I loved it!

For Darkness Shows the Stars is based on Jane Austen’s Persuasion. The plot sticks very close to its predecessor and in the futuristic setting, this worked. Elliot lives in a word that has been negatively affected by scientific advancements - particularly on a biological level - and her class (the Luddites), who shunned these advancements, feel charged to help the Posts and the Reduced whose ancestors destroyed the world. When Kai - a Post servant on her father’s estate - asks her to run away with him, she rejects him in favour for her home, where she felt she would be of greater value. Then, the two meet again a few years later with Kai in a better position than Elliot, when Kai and his new friends rent Elliot’s grandfather’s estate to build a ship; and the fun begins!

I absolutely loved this book and I pretty much devoured it! It was well paced, packed with tension and beautifully written. I only had two problems with the story on a whole; first, I wished there was a little more world building, however, I had no issues understanding the world and how it functioned, the characters were able to show this without lengthy descriptions and information dumps. The second thing was that there were times when the children (the letters between young Elliot and Kai) didn’t really sound like children though they probably sounded that way because of the culture they grew up in. If we had a better glance into how they grew up, this confusion might have been avoided.

The story followed Persuasion closely, but did not feel forced, mainly due to the setting that Elliot lived in. And what I really loved was that you didn’t have to read Persuasion to understand the story, it stood on its own. Fans of Jane Austen will definitely love this book.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Elliot North and her family are Luddites - members of the ruling class, landowners who, due to their distrust of technology, escaped the genetic defects that left most of the human population mute and simple-minded during the Reduction. Her father and sister see their elevated status as their god-given right, but Elliot believes that being Luddite comes with the responsibility of caring for the Luddites that live and work on their family's estate - as well as the Posts - children of Reduced who show none of the genetic defects themselves. As a child, Elliot was best friends with Kai, a Post child, and together they dreamed of growing up and exploring, of finding out what lay beyonds the confines of the North estate, and beyond their isolated island. But when Kai went, Elliot couldn't follow, and she thought they were separated for good. But now he's back, as a member of the Post Fleet that's renting her family's boatyards. He's changed a lot in the time he's been away - he calls himself Malakai Wentforth now, and he's cold and distant towards Elliot. It breaks her heart, but how can she hope to explain how torn she is between her desires and her responsibilities when she barely recognizes it herself?Review: This book is a science-fiction retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, set in a post-apocalyptic society that has reverted to a largely feudal system (the nature of the apocalypse is left pretty vague, which was a little annoying to me, albeit it did make sense within the confines of the world and the characters: the Luddites fear and hate most technologies, and the apocalypse was technological in nature. Plus I believe the science-y side of things is dealt with more concretely in the sequel/companion novel.) I appreciated a lot of the elements of the worldbuilding, and how they helped to connect a novel set in the far future to the elements that were important in Austen's time - the class system and the difficulties of moving out of ones class, the importance of money vs. breeding, etc. Even beyond these ideas, the worldbuilding was well-done and nicely integrated into the story.However, I had one large problem with this novel, and that was Malakai. As background, Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel, and Captain Wentworth is by far my favorite of Austen's leading men. He's loyal (even after he's been gone for nine years!), he's responsible, and even though he is distant to Anne when he thinks she's forgotten/abandoned him, he's never actively unkind to her (at worst, he makes a few pointed comments about wanting a girl who knows her own mind). On the other hand, Malakai has only been gone from the North Estate for a few years, but he's a completely different person than when he left, and worse, he is repeatedly actively mean to Elliot, trying to hurt her and make her feel bad. NOPE. None of that in my romance heroes, thank you! So I'm kind of torn. On the one hand, I really liked it because I thought it was a very creative updating of one of my favorite books, but on the other hand, it updated one of my favorite characters, and not in a particularly favorable way. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: It was an easy read, and fun, but I can't quite decide if it benefits or suffers from a good familiarity with the source material. Readers of YA SF/F romances will probably enjoy it regardless.

[katya0133 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am a sucker for retellings and I applaud authors who take big risks in trying something new and different. Even so, I was pretty skeptical about the likelihood of Diana Peterfreund being able to pull off a version of Persuasion set in a post-apocalyptic science fiction setting.I'm happy to say that I think the story really works. I can't speak to the enjoyment of readers who are completely unfamiliar with the source material, but those who know Persuasion well will have a lot of fun picking up on the references Peterfreund makes in this book, while also enjoying the new setting and story elements.

[luminescent_bookworm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So good! I will review this on my youtube channel soon!

[dukedukegoose · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was the most frustrating experience I've had reading in a while. I've had plenty of books I've hated more and plenty that have been more poorly written, but that's why it's so frustrating.

It's just lazy. The slavery theme somehow manages to be ham-fisted and half-assed all at once. The critique of genetic modification is neither particularly in favor of or opposed to. There's a real thread of iffiness with how she deals with the mentally challenged characters.
Yet, her actual writing skills are not nearly as bad as others I've read in the female-driven Dystopia YA genre. I think there's a good writer lurking in there. Which leaves me with the feeling that this is what we've been reduced to. Do you want to be a female-driven young adult writer? It better be dystopian or involve vampires. If not, you're SOL.

The whole novel just has this air of someone that wanted to write something else, but knew how to get published, and compromised what she wanted for what the publishers wanted.

Not to mention that the romantic scenes are totally incongruous with the rest of the novel, in that if you've read Persuasion (or even watched one of the movies) it completely throws you out of the rhythm of the story. The confrontations/revelations are metered out almost identically to the interactions in the original Persuasion, and so you're left feeling like someone watched Persuasion on a loop while writing a novel they didn't want to write and then once it was done they realized all of the romance scenes were so damn identical to Persuasion, they'd have to label it a Persuasion retelling lest they be called out for plagiarism.

I wrote this before completely finishing the novel, and then I reached the acknowledgements, wherein this line stood out to me in a big way: "and a family kind enough not to laugh when I explained my premise and willing to watch Persuasion on TV with me."

I kept thinking the scenes between Elliot and Kai reminded me, greatly, of the latest BBC adaptation of Persuasion. Which is an okay adaptation, but it just lends credence to the notion that this work had less to do with Jane Austen's Persuasion, and is just more of an adaptation of an adaptation.

I will say, I would read other works by this author. I think she's a talented writer, but man did this book just not work for me.

[beserene · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Warning: Spoilers! (Though, in fairness, since this book is based on a Jane Austen novel... 200 year-old spoilers. Yeah.)Diana Peterfreund's 'For Darkness Shows the Stars' is one of the better examples of the kind of speculative fiction retellings that saturate young adult literature today. It is also an example of the limitations of speculative fiction retellings in general, and in young adult literature in particular. Part of the joy of a retelling, for those who have read the classic that inspires it, is to discover all the little inside references and nods to the original, the book that is so beloved that it both drives the creation of retellings and drives readers to those retellings. The familiar has a pleasant echo in the act of retelling; an an equally pleasant swell of recognition should be experienced by the reader, and we certainly get that in Peterfreund's book. The capable and practical-minded Anne Elliot from Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' becomes Elliot, the dystopian baron's daughter who is fully capable of running a large-scale farming operation. The characterization of Anne, including the way that so many characters in the original speak of preferring her over her sisters, is echoed in the loyalty that the farm workers and other characters display toward Elliot. The reserved and honorable Wentworth becomes Kai, a farm worker turned sea captain who has found fortune after escaping the limited society of the farm. Wentworth's ineffective communication skills manifest as more direct assholery in Kai's hands, but the connection is there.The various amalgamation of other characters -- some of whom are quite altered from the original, and not just in speculative ways, including the elimination of several extraneous siblings and the addition of another one -- all work with polite nods to their inspiration. In fact, the overall characterization is quite admirable, except perhaps -- and this is a strange complaint for me -- that the book tends to push our main male characters to more extreme behaviors. For example, the previously vain, self-focused Sir Walter becomes a baron who is deeply manipulative and, really, borderline insane; instead of being dismissive of his less acceptable daughter, he is viciously controlling. Is this characterization a natural extension of the future-dystopic setting of the novel, and the general atmosphere of control and repression that dominates this society? Perhaps... but because the reader is expecting Sir Walter (as the book is so up-front about its position as a retelling -- it's on the cover!), the complete villainization of the paternal character feels excessive, especially in moments where the character echoes the insanity of the slavery-era south, an inclusion that -- while useful for someone wanting to build a dystopia -- can be problematic, to say the least.We might say, though, that these twists of character are the things which make this book its own beast, rather than a mere echo, and that is quite true. Though there were moments where the extremity of action and characterization made me sit back and say "really, enough already," most of the time I was leaning in, engaged and genuinely intrigued by the details of the world and its populace.But therein lies another limitation -- it was the world I felt fascinated by, not the story. This, of course, is a natural factor of retelling -- since one presumably knows the original, one knows what's coming. Here, though, the exaggerated characterizations and the heightened conflict demanded tension -- genuine tension and significant stakes -- that could not be satisfied. After all, we all knew already that Elliot (Anne) and Kai (Wentworth) would overcome their differences and get it together, so the most intense moments of the narrative were somewhat deflated by their very act of retelling.This, one might say again, is part of the nature of this kind of storytelling. Quite true. But one can't help but recognize that some books would have been better off as "inspired by" rather than actually retelling -- or even, heaven forbid, going it alone in the sea of YA lit, without the duck-floaties of a proclaimed literary inheritance. How much more amazing would this book have been if one really didn't know whether these two characters would end up together? If the first mention of the knot-hole where the letters were stashed didn't immediately give away the mechanism of their reunion? If the characters weren't all instantly pegged as who-would-end-up-where, merely by the way they were introduced? If the extremity of character changes were simply a part of the world-building, rather than constantly measured against something that had come before? Ultimately, that is my only real complaint about the book: that its self-proclaimed status as a retelling actually limits it from being a better science fiction story. In short, I kind of liked this story (except for the last two lines -- lord, save me from the CHEESE). But I found that, in clinging too tightly to its parent, it didn't allow itself to grow up all the way into the genuinely surprising, beautifully developed science fiction dystopia that it could have been.

[waclements7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t expect much from this, truthfully. I had read the author’s unicorn books (well, one and a half of them) and hadn’t really gotten into them. Then I heard it was loosely based on Persuasion and decided to check it out, which is a little ironic since that’s one of the Austen books I haven’t read. Now I want to, though. The novel has an interesting structure—the narrative goes along, and then there will be letters between Kai, the worker boy on the farm, and Elliot, the privileged daughter of the owner of the farm. They were friends since childhood until he decided he couldn’t stand it there anymore. She couldn’t run away with him, and that was the last she saw of him. She thought. While her father and older sister are supposed to be running the farm, Elliot is actually the one doing all the work, and a little more. She has been trying to genetically modify wheat so it will produce more, ensuring their workers won’t go hungry and possibly even having a little left over to sell. Her family is Luddite, as are all the landowners, and such meddling is prohibited. Her father discovers it and plows it under to keep anyone else from finding out—he’s going to put in a race track. Knowing they desperately need money, Elliot looks through her father’s correspondence and finds a letter from a well known adventurer, looking to rent the dock her grandfather owns for however long it takes for them to build a new ship. Elliot completes the rental agreement, even though it means moving her grandfather out of the only home he’s ever lived in to make room for the new tenants. Elliot’s grief, frustration, and disbelief at her father and sister’s behaviors are completely convincing. All of the characters, even those with minor roles, are fleshed out just enough to make them believable and real. Elliot truly does care for the people who work for her family, but her view has always been from the view of being the privileged one. When their new tenants arrive, Elliot is at a complete loss at the identity of one of the Captains. Ultimately, this is a story about moving forward and forgiveness, both on a personal and a technological level. The acceptance of things beyond our realm of imagination. The door-stopper stubbornness of the hero, as in the Austen novels, to do anything to indicate his true feelings that makes you want to whack him over the head with a broom—see, the writing really does pull you into the story, when you want to start hitting characters with cleaning implements. Not that Elliot isn’t stubborn herself. There is just enough detail to make everything seem real—to get really angry at the “bad” guys and cheer the “good” guys on.

[nycke137 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was slow to start but then the love drama began. But there was so much more to the story from there. I really enjoyed reading it and I"m glad where it left off.

[russianlovemachine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Elliott North has been running her father's estate since her mother died when she was fourteen. In her pastoral post-Reduction world, no technology is allowed, not even electricity. So when Elliott creates a new strain of wheat so that her family and their servants won't starve, she knows she's doing forbidden work...but she does it anyway.When the Fleet, a daring group of sailors who venture into the unknown, rents the shipyards belonging to Elliott's ailing grandfather, she expects to have nothing to do with them beyond using their money to keep the estate afloat. But the Fleet brings an old friend--Kai, who used to work on the North estate, is now Captain Malakai Wentforth, the most famous Fleet Captain in the world. He left the estate when he and Elliott were both fourteen, and she never expected to see him again. But Kai doesn't seem happy to be 'home'. When Elliott finds out that the Fleet is hiding an abominable secret, she'll have to choose which is most important to her--family, responsibility, or love.Based on Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a futuristic historical romance with solid characters and excellent world-building. Even the slightly too-perfect ending works, considering the source material. Highly recommended.

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

For Darkness Shows the Stars is a 2014 Lone Star Selection that I attempted to read three times. However, I felt much of the novel was simply "telling" instead of showing. Too much background information and rather pedantic telling of who is whom, etc. I was bored.

[jen7waters · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh, I'm so annoyed and frustrated with this book. I wanted to love it so much, especially when I think the author did a great job with the worldbuilding, and that she totally nailed the grand task of retelling Persuasion, YA-dystopia style---I recognised most of the scenes, Elliot, the protagonist, has a beautiful and kind heart, just like Anne in the original story, and I think the letters exchanged between little Elliot and little Kai were a nice touch, because they gave me Jane Austen vibe all the time, BUT in the end I cannot love this book or give it a higher rating because the male lead and the romance just... NO.I'm sorry, but spiteful and abusive heroes are not my thing, and in the end I just wanted to cry because goddamn it Elliot, have some self-respect. I can give him a break when he's young and gets all angry because the girl he likes refuses to run away with him, I mean, he's 14, why would he understand her motives? But please, 4 years later he still doesn't get it, and he's still angry, and he's been badmouthing her to his buddies, and even has the nerve to behave like an asshole every single time she's around, well excuse me if I can't swoon over this sonofab*tch or be happy that Elliot forgives him.So yes, the author did everything right, except Wentworth, because, really, this Kai character is a total disgrace, in every scene I just wanted to knee him in the groin. I've read Persuasion a long time ago, but I don't remember ever hating Wentworth, because he was never cruel to Anne, cold and distant, yes, but never cruel. When will the trend of the 'jackass hero' end, seriously, this concerns me. O_O

[anissaannalise-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just Finished Reading: For Darkness Shows the Stars

'Persuasion' is my absolute, hands down, packing it in my bag when the zombie apocalypse strikes favorite Austen. I have read my fair share of re-tellings & re-imaginings of the tale between Anne & Captain Wentworth & yes, I am that chica all stirred up as I turn the pages that they won't get together in the end, even though I've read it tons of times (the suspense & emotion get me every time and I know that's somewhat silly). So, I looked very forward to reading this. I mean, Persuasion with a scifi leaning. Oh yes. I need that in my little life. I loved it!!

I did read the prequel novella Among the Nameless Stars before diving in & it's from Kai's perspective. It did a good job in setting tone because this book is Elliot's perspective. All the frustrations, misunderstandings & mistrust are teased out wonderfully & I really felt for many of the characters. I quite adored Ro, Dee, Gill (that he was ready to get into fisticuffs with Wentforth when the latter was just being roundly jerky endeared him to me forever) & even found some semblance of empathy for Tatiana. None for Benedict or Papa North. None. I loved everything with the Innovations & Andromeda turned out also to be a favorite. I wanted most to know more about the Innovations & about their experiments. I got completely caught up in wanting to know about Gavin & Carlotta & wished for more details about what took place & led up to The Reduction. The science felt like a tease but I won't complain, this isn't a hard scifi book. There was enough to keep me wanting more so that's a good thing & I hope that there's more explanation to come in the next book in the series. Also, 5 stars alone for Peterfreund's prose. I was sad to have read a good deal of it via my Kindle app on my phone as it doesn't have a highlight feature. It was that good.

There is indeed only one Austen but Peterfruend has given this fan, a re-imagined telling that is top notch in every way that counts.

[bookwormdreams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For Darkness Shows the Stars is one of those book that takes time to develop but when it grip you, it does not let you go until the end.Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is set in a post-apocalyptic version of Earth. Social structure reminded me of Gone with the Wind. Luddites govern the land while Reduced are servants. At the start I was confused how we declined into slavery again, but slowly the reasons were revealed to me. Diana Peterfreund really tests your patience in some points. Readers who are used to new fast and gritty style of writing might be bored, but I think lovers of classics will enjoy reading For Darkness Shows the Stars.For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana PeterfreundThe main focus of For Darkness Shows the Stars is romance. Those who have read Persuasion, know the story well: forbidden young love, pain over unrequited feelings, questioning is everything worth sacrificing for true love... Elliot and Kai had me sighing and signing I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That).As always dystopian setting also poses some interesting philosophical questions. Do genetical enhancements make us something else than human? Should science be limited? Can some acts be qualified as 'playing God'? Is controlling people 'for their own good' right? Those and many more similar questions were running trough their mind while I was reading.Diana Peterfreund has another treat scheduled for us on October 15th 2013: Across a Star-Swept Sea is set in the same world and based on The Scarlet Pimpernel. I hope I will enjoy it as much as I did For Darkness Shows the Stars. Until then, prequel novellas Among the Nameless Stars and The First Star To Fall are free on Amazon. I know I will be reading them soon.In The End...For Darkness Shows the Stars is written in style which fans of classic literature will enjoy. The world building and characterisation take time to develop but when they do you will sigh over forbidden love and ponder some interesting questions. I know I will be recommending this book to a lot of my friends.

[eburggraf_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

VOYA - Christine MillerFor Darkness Shows the Stars is a post-apocalyptic parallel to Jane Austen's Persuasion. After a terrible genetic accident and the Wars of the Lost nearly destroy humanity, Luddite lords, saved by their contempt for technology and modern medicine, manage large but declining estates worked by the greatly diminished "Reduced" caste and their descendants, the CORs (Children of the Reduced) and Posts (rebellious "Post-Reduction" CORs). Elliot North manages her ruthless and inept father's estate. Striving to maintain appearances (and to feed their laborers), she rents an adjoining estate and shipyard to Post's Admiral Nicodemus and Felicia Innovation, and the Cloud Fleet, led by Captain Malakai Wentforth, Elliot's childhood infatuation who years previously had fled to a Post enclave. Elliot's Luddite beliefs are constantly at odds with her benevolence and sense of duty, forcing difficult decisions. Will Elliot and Kai rekindle their romance; will she save the North estate and shipyard? Austen fans will suspect how this story ends. Diana Peterfreund authored the Killer Unicorn series (Rampant [HarperCollins, 2009/VOYA June 2009] and Ascendant [HarperCollins, 2010/VOYA December 2010]), the Secret Society books, Morning Glory, and several nonfiction titles and short stories. Her most recent addition succeeds in recasting Austen's characters to bring her themes to a futurist society and provide wry comment on life in the twenty-first century. The book supplements other Jane Austen-inspired books, spinoffs, sequels, and adaptations, and will appeal to science fiction and romance fans alike

[babeltower-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Jane Austen-inspired love theme in the middle of a dystopian society where a superstition-ridden high class clashes against the cry for freedom of an enslaved people. Riveting and thought-provoking.

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Adorable! Another rec (from the friend who told me to read Raven Boys and The Diviners) and another winner in the long run of beautiful rec books.

This was a sweeping retelling of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" and I loved getting to see how Diana rewound the story, refitted it to her world. The pieces that clicked immediately, the passions of the characters, the difference of culture and choice, how love and pride (of many different kinds of both) are at war across this story.

I made sad, confused faces in the right places. I clung to the childhood letters that led you through the past between chapters. I cheered and was taken aback, and swooned through the right declarations. And my heart soared in the end, when the conclusion was what we knew it would be, but what felt all over new with our heroine this time, again.

I'd definitely advise this one to my friends who love classics, who love retellings, who love love and life and survival.

[fueledbycoffee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm feeling robbed. Where, or where, is my kiss?

You are likely thinking I'm a bit shallow to focus on a kiss. You say to yourself, "Self? Isn't she shallow to focus on a kiss?" This gem of writing is in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian setting and retelling of my favorite Austen book. Out of all the things I could focus on, I'm stuck at the ending KISS ON THE KNUCKLES.

I'm SO having t-shirts made that say, "I LIVED THROUGH REDUCTION AND ALL I GOT WAS A KNUCKLE KISS!"

I powered through this book with my heart in my throat, through duty, heart ache, a father that wants to be the proverbial Joneses, secrets, societal morality, ethics and I didn't even get my kiss?! I WANT MY KISS! Down with knuckle kisses. A curse on knuckle kisses. Knuckle kisses are dead to me.

Since this is a retelling of Austen's Persuasion and my read count on that classic is higher than the number of buttons on a Captains Navy dress coat, I drew the parallels easily between Anne Elliot / Elliot North and Capt. Wentworth / Capt Malakai Wentforth.

The story was a nice twist on a classic. There were differences, and they worked with the ages of the characters portrayed in this book. Capt Malakai Wentforth's bitterness in Elliot's refusal was reflected back to her with some strong eye daggers and contempt, whereas Austen's Capt Wentworth seemed to act with the reader carrying a weightier heart-fail in his subtle slights and indifference toward Anne.
It was clear that Malakai was hurt by her decisions but he was also still cheesed to the back teeth. I'd say fairly accurate for a young man.

Overall, a lovely retelling of a favorite classic...but I still wanted my good, old-fashioned swoony HEA kiss.

[empress8411 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked this up only because it is a sci-fi retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. I'm not sure what I expected but this was more. Peterfreund does an excellent job of keeping the core of Austen's story while adding a futuristic twist that blends nicely with Austen's themes. Peterfreund's writing has a repetitive quality that mildly annoying, but did not distract from the story. I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys Austen, and perhaps wants to read a unique retelling.

[annesanse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first time I picked this book up, I had literally just finished reading Persuasion for the first time. I loved Persuasion, but I wasn't quite ready for a retelling of it set in the future. So, I decided to put it down and read it later. For Darkness Shows the Stars was beautifully written, and I absolutely loved it. The characters were smart and interesting and very misunderstood. It was very much like Persuasion as far as the story goes, but it was very well re-imagined in my opinion. (a new Austen lover) I loved how the story was all what was going on in the present, but the letters we get at the beginning of each chapter were jumping around from past to even further in the past, to not so far in the past. Overall, I just loved this story. I read it rather slowly for some reason, but that didn't alter how much I enjoyed it.

[ilikethesebooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am a bit of a history nerd, so when I read the synopsis of this book and saw "Luddite" I was immediately enthralled. Historically, the Luddites were a group of workers during the English Industrial Revolution who would break into factories and destroy the machinery. They believed that the new technology would threaten their jobs, so they resisted it. The Luddites in this novel do not have the exact same motives, but they stem from the same ideals. Luddites are at the top of the social hierarchy. Years ago when people started genetically modifying everything - including themselves- the Luddites resisted. Eventually the modifications took a toll and the new generations became Reduced, riddled with deformities. The Luddites were the only ones who were not effected by this sort of apocalypse, so they rose above. They run farms, directing the reduced like slaves, hoping to create enough food to last. Recently the Reduced's children have been born "COR"s (Children of the Reduced), or Posts as they like to be called, with none of the apparent reduced symptoms. Does this mean the world is starting over again? Elliot North has always been involved in the running of her family's estate. After her mother dies prematurely, it was up to Elliot to keep everything running, although officially it should not be her job (as the second daughter, the estate is not even in her inheritance). Elliot grew up side by side with a Post child, Kai, who she grew to love. When Kai left unexpectedly, she was heart broken and kept waiting for him to reach out to her. Years later he returns, not as the boy she once loved, but rather Captain Malakai Wentforth, and he is determined to show Elliot just how little he thinks of her. The more time Elliot spends around Malakai and the other Post members of the Cloud Fleet the more Elliot questions her own Luddite upbringing and the future of the world. How many secrets can she learn until her whole world is shattered? Just how far is she willing to go to protect the ones underneath her? Even if it means loosing everything she has ever known? I really enjoyed this one! In-between the chapters there would be letters written by Elliot and Kai as they grew up. It was a really interesting tool to let the reader learn about the world and to see how the two minds progressed. Elliot mentions how Kai was when she was little, but it is another thing entirely to actually read it for yourself. I also just love reading letters in general, so it was really great to see so many used in a way that really benefited the story. Another thing that I loved is that the relationship between Elliot and Kai is not a sweeping romance. In fact, Kai - excuse me - Malaki is a real jerk to her. The romance lays in what they used to have together, not their current situation. This adds so much romantic tension I cannot even accurately describe it in words. Their relationship pissed me off, but then it would turn around make me extremely sad. I understood where both of them were coming from. I really liked how this relationship wasn't one where you could easily predict where it was going, it kept me guessing right up until the end. Although Elliot spends a good portion of her time pining after the boy she lost, she is a strong character that I really enjoyed learning more about. She was born and raised Luddite, but she is constantly at odds with what she has grown up to believe. Is genetically modifying one strand of wheat really so terrible if it means that everyone on her farm will last past winter? Should the Reduced really spend most of their pregnancies cooped up in a birthing center that many of them do not live to walk out of? Aren't Posts the same as Luddites now? Does the existence of Posts mean God has forgiven the Reduced and the apocalypse is over? Elliot cannot accept what someone has told her just because they know the world to be a certain way. She has to see and learn things for herself, which I really appreciated. Overall, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a great read. It is a touching and intriguing story of coming of age in a post-apoctalyptic world.

[stormydawnc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Do you ever have those books where you enjoy reading them WHILE you’re reading, but when you have to put it down it’s not a big deal? That’s what For Darkness Shows the Stars was like for me. While I was reading, I enjoyed the story and the writing, but when I would look down at my watch and see I needed to leave to go to work or a meeting and had to put the book down for a while, it didn’t bother me at all to leave the story. If I had to return this book to the library before I finished, I wouldn’t have been upset at all.

I haven’t read Jane Austen’s Persuasion, so undoubtly this affected my reading of this book in some regards. I LOVED the inclusion of the technology drift. Instead of society being stratified based upon economic class, the two main classes in this book were based upon their views towards technology. The Luddites, or the class of people to which Elliot belongs, shun most technology as evil. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, and so many of my favorite parts where the ones in which the ethics of technology was debated. I think it was an interesting addition to this story, which at it’s core, is a love story.

The main aspect of this book that made it not a I LOVE THIS! book for me were the characters. Now, I am typically a character-driven reader. Nothing makes me DNF a book faster than characterization that is sloppy or makes no sense. Peterfreund’s characterization wasn’t bad by any means, and they grew and learned throughout the story, but I never felt as emotionally connected to them as I would have liked. I kept reading because the plot intrigued me, but I felt no loyalty towards the characters. I was a happily-ever-after not because I cared about the characters but just because I wanted a happy ending.

By the end of the book, I was only half-heartedly rooting for Elliot, and wasn’t too fussed about Kai at all. They just didn’t stand out to me in any great way. I did think that Peterfreund’s writing was had a great natural rhythm. It felt Austen-like, but in a more modern, contemporary way. As far as actual retellings go, this is a pretty good one from what I know, though I haven’t read the source material. It felt familiar, but with a spin that made the tale fresh.

In short, I liked this book, but I didn’t love it the way I thought I would. I never REALLY felt a strong connection to the characters, and I never felt emotionally invested, only marginally interested. I would have also liked a little more exploration of the ethics of the society. It was a good read and when the book was opened, I enjoyed it, but it’s not a story I fell in love with and would have a desire to re-visit any time soon.

Final Impression: Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it as an entertaining read, but wouldn’t expect to much out of it(which is a bit sad, because the technology ethic in the post-apocalyptic society had SUCH potential!). I did enjoy the plot a lot and by the end, some of the characters, though I wished I had felt that a bit stronger in the beginning. The writing was very Austen-ish and I really enjoyed that aspect of the story.