For Darkness Shows the Stars

May 7, 2012
Dystopian, ideological, rebellious—Peterfreund’s fantasy homage to Austen’s Persuasion departs from the original in many respects, and with great success. Elliot North is a strong and creative woman, holding together the estate her father neglects and conducting secret
agricultural experiments that defy “the protocols,” which were established after genetic tinkering nearly destroyed humanity. Antitechnology “Luddites” took sanctuary underground, emerging as overlords of the mentally diminished above-ground survivors. Those survivors, the “Reduced,” are now having normal children, and the Luddites’ status is no longer unquestioned. Four years earlier, Elliot refused to elope with Kai, a mechanical prodigy and descendant of the Reduced. Now he’s back as Capt. Malakai Wentforth, flirting with Elliot’s pretty neighbor and being savage to Elliott. Resemblance to Austen’s story lies largely in the superficialities of the plot—Peterfreund (Rampant) invokes less of Austen’s subtlety or social critique, and she really doesn’t need to. The story stands on its own, a richly envisioned portrait of a society in flux, a steely yet vulnerable heroine, and a young man who does some growing up. Ages 13–up. Agent: Deidre Knight, the Knight Agency.

July 1, 2012
Drawing heavily from Jane Austen's Persuasion, this story features a post-apocalyptic society consisting of the Reduced; their children, the Posts, who do not share their genetic limitations; and Luddite leaders. Luddite Elliot realizes she is still deeply in love with Kai, her childhood sweetheart, and must resist her entire upbringing to truly begin to see how she can change the world.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2012
A post-apocalyptic retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion scores high for ingenuity but loses points with sledgehammer morality. Elliot North is a Luddite, one of the elite destined to care for the mentally Reduced remnant after human genetic engineering went catastrophically wrong. But she has begun to question her duty; her family seems more interested in luxurious leisure than estate management. Her people will starve without recourse to forbidden technology, and more and more Post-Reduced children are being born. None of these "Posts" are more clever than Kai, her best friend until he ran away four years ago. Now he has returned with the fleet of Post explorers who could be the last hope for saving Elliot's heritage, but his bitterness toward Elliot may be hiding a more dangerous secret. The plot stays surprisingly faithful to Austen; the setting is cleverly updated to a futuristic dystopia, but it fails to explore the more interesting societal and technological ramifications. Instead, the original's subtle delineation of the nuances of class and social change is replaced with heavy-handed condemnations of slavery, anti-intellectualism and fundamentalist religion. The protagonists are now barely 18, and the compressed timeframe makes their remarkable accomplishments implausible, even with nigh-magical nanotechnology. However, as the emotional drama is similarly ramped to extremes, the target audience may be too swept away by righteous indignation and swoony romance to notice any lapses of logic. A perfectly pleasant read on its own, this could send readers to investigate the source--a happy outcome indeed. (Dystopian romance. 13 & up)

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Starred review from June 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-Told partially through secret letters between forbidden childhood friends, this novel is a postapocalyptic retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion that will be a hit with fans of sci-fi romances such as Nancy Farmer's The House of the Scorpion (S & S, 2002) and Catherine Fisher's Incarceron (Dial, 2010). Four years earlier, 18-year-old Elliot North, a member of the Luddite ruling class, refused to run away with Kai, one of her family's servants and her first love. In the years since his departure, Elliot has become responsible for her family's struggling estate and taking care of the Reduced, laborers who are treated as underclass servants. Technology has been forbidden since the Wars of the Lost, a fight Luddites think was the result of humans trying to improve on nature, and Elliot's options for advancing the estate are limited. When a fleet of former servants offers to rent the family's shipyards, Elliot knows that she cannot afford to refuse their money. She's excited to discover that Kai is one of the captains, but soon learns that he is not the boy she remembers, and, like Elliot, he has plenty of secrets. Epistolary sections help readers connect with Kai and Elliot and bridge the gap between the past and present. Peterfreund takes her time developing characters and the political and social realities of a stratified society. The plot, nonetheless, moves along at a steady clip. Readers will keep turning the pages right up to the end.-Leigh Collazo, Ed Willkie Middle School, Fort Worth, TX

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2012
Drawing heavily from Jane Austen's Persuasion, this story features a futuristic world with limited opportunities for women, the arrival of some bold and daring outsiders who shake up the status quo, and a long-unresolved romance. Of course, Austen didn't have a post-apocalyptic society that consists of the Reduced; their children, the Posts, who do not share their genetic limitations; and Luddite leaders. Elliot is part of the elite, the Luddites who survived because they scorned technology and therefore avoided the genetic changes that left most of the population Reduced (a term coined by the Luddites). Years before, Elliot had given up her chance for love with Kai after she refused to run away and abandon her family, home, and responsibilities. When he returns, Elliot realizes she is still deeply in love, even after it is revealed that he may be part of something that threatens all she knows. The inclusion of interspersed letters between Elliot and Kai that document their slow move from young friendship to love is powerful, aiding readers in understanding, for example, why Kai is worth so much trouble now, even as he is benefiting from the genetic experimentation that caused the horrible effects in the past. The Luddite community is used effectively here to explain key plot points while also highlighting all of the ways in which Elliot has had to resist her entire upbringing, and generations behind it, to truly begin to see how she can change the world. april spisak

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)