For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Before the Reduction, a group of humans called the Lost sought to challenge God by doing an experiment that would change the world. They experimented on the human babies in order to enhance their vision, hearing, speed. However, these experiments lead to the birth of the reduced - humans with limited mental capabilities. This is the called the Reduction.

The aftermath of the Reduction led the people who rejected the experiments, called the Luddites, into power. The Luddites became the nobility who ruled their own estates and caretaker of the reduced.

Elliot North came from a Luddite family. She had refused to run away with her childhood friend, Kai, who served as a mechanic in her family's estate. Kai was part of a new class, the Post-Reductionists, children of the Reduced who were born normally. Four years later, Elliot was forced  to rent out part of their estate to a group of shipbuilders who called themselves the Cloud Fleet. Elliot was then dumbfounded when she found out that one of  the group's famous explorers, Captain Malakai Wentforth, was no other than her old friend, Kai.





Jane Austen's Persuasion meets the dystopian genre. I found the first chapters confusing, as there was little introduction to the Reduction and I couldn't complete grasp the idea till it was explained a bit later. But even so, I was able to see a glimpse of the novel in which it was based with.

Elliot North was likable as a heroine. She made the biggest sacrifice when she chose to do the right thing instead of the person she loves the most. And I couldn't just hate her. I loved the moments when she was able to stand up for herself, was able to walk away when she needs to and was able to argue with Kai when he's on jerk mode.

Sometimes, I really wanted to hurt Kai. But then he was hurt because of Elliot, so I sort of understand what he was going through. Even with his jerk mask on, you can still see he cares for Elliot and still found myself rooting for their love story.

Included in the story were letters of Kai and Elliot exchanged when they were younger. These letters were able to provide the back story and their sweet moments. Sometimes they distracted me from the present, but I got used to it later.

Peterfreund managed to weave the story of Persuasion into her dystopian world. It was a very interesting read, as this was my first classic meets dystopian book. I did enjoy it very much and so after reading this, I immediately went to read the sequel of this book which will be featured in my next review.

There is a prequel for this book called Among the Nameless Stars, which is told in Kai's point of view. This is available to read here.

Title: For Darkness Shows the Stars
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Published: 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rating: ♨♨♨♨