For Darkness Shows the Stars Review

398 pages

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, 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.

Review:
This novel is basically a love story set in a dystopian future. This book was inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, and although I haven't had a chance to read it I can imagine just what a great book it must be. Elliot North is definitely my favorite character from this novel. Besides being the main character and heroine of this tale, she is remarkable strong willed and intelligent as well as kind-hearted. Malakai Wentforth is kind yet proud and a completely different person from the one Elliot remembers. The world is one in which science has destroyed the majority of the human race so the Luddite nobility is against technology and experimentation. All Elliot wants to do is help those who are beneath her in society and she's willing to do anything to achieve this. I felt bad for Elliot throughout most of the novel because I didn't feel like she deserved to be treated the way she was by her family and Malakai. There are quite a bit of secrets to be discovered along the way in this novel and those secrets really help to shed light on a lot of things. There isn't a lot of action in this novel but it still makes for a wonderful read. I absolutely enjoyed this story and I would recommend it to anyone who likes romantic dystopian fiction with a hard-working heroine.