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.
From goodreads.com
Thanks ATWAT for the copy!!
First, let me start out by saying that I’m a huge Jane Austen fan. I adore her characters, her story lines, her writing. Everything. Seriously, my parakeet, Frederick Austen Fitzwilliam is just an example of that :)
Second thing I should point out is that I also adore Diana’s writing. I’ve never been much on Unicorns but Rampant changed all that for me in one sitting. Diana has a unique voice and characters that I enjoy very much.
Lastly in things I should say before I write my review is that I was very nervous about reading For Darkness Shows the Stars. You’d think it be the opposite considering the other two points, but it just made me all that much more nervous. I wanted to like it so much, but I didn’t want to like it just because it was a Jane Austen retelling or because Diana wrote it. In the end, it didn’t matter, because I LOVED the book to pieces! Now, for the actual review part. :)
For Darkness Shows the Stars is a story about Elliot North, a Luddite nobility who struggles to take care of her home and her people, when all her father and sister want to do is spend their money. The world is not like it used to be, and Luddite’s take upon themselves to care for those less fortunate ones. One of these is Kai, the mechanics son and Elliot’s best friend. I have to stop and say that Kai and Elliot’s relationship is so real and powerful I fell in love with it from the first letters. The glimpse that Diana gives us into their childhood through those letters was one of my favorite parts of the story.
Now, Kai leaves to make a name for himself and Elliot doesn’t go with him as promised. When he returns four years later, he is no longer the scrawny little kid everyone remembers, but a Captain. I loved Kai’s character and his struggle to figure out where he stood in Elliot’s eyes and what their relationship was truly like. The hurt that Kai carried was right there, underneath all of his personal armor, and it broke my heart to hear him talk to Elliot and others. I loved Elliot as a character as well because she was the one who had to make all the tough decisions. She stood by her people, even when times were hard, and she learned how to be the best version of herself in the end.
This story was beautifully crafted and told in a way that would’ve made Jane Austen proud. The world Diana created is unique and realistic, and the relationship she wrote is heartbreaking and powerful. If you love a good romance, this book is for you!
Happy reading,
Valia
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