Book info:
Title: Sky Without Stars
Author: Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell
Series: System Divine #1
Genre: Retellings, YA Science Fiction
Release Date: March 26th, 2019
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: E-galley from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating: 4 stars
Synopsis:
A thief. An officer. A guardian.
Three strangers, one shared destiny . . .
When the Last Days came, the planet of Laterre promised hope. A new life for a wealthy French family and their descendants. But five hundred years later, it’s now a place where an extravagant elite class reigns supreme; where the clouds hide the stars and the poor starve in the streets; where a rebel group, long thought dead, is resurfacing.
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My Review:
If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know that I’m always up for a retelling, especially when it is one like this, a major classic story, Les Miserables. This book did not disappoint in that aspect. Sky Without Stars is definitely a sweeping epic of a story. Even set in space on another planet, in another solar system, it has the operatic feel of Les Miserables. As I read I definitely tried to match up characters with what I knew of that classic, since I’d only seen the movie and never read the book. This world was one that had a lot of things going on that seemed kind of counter-intuitive to a future society. Because while they had screens built into their arms, no one knew how to actually read words anymore. It was all pictures and people actually speaking. That in itself hurt my heart so much! But it helped to make the poor third class people really appear to be down below everyone. I loved that they had brought their French customs and names of things like the Bastille along with them.
It did end on a cliffhanger, and at such a long book, almost 600 pages, I can only imagine how much we have left to this story when the next book comes out. A great story for both science fiction readers, as well as deep classic types of storytelling lovers.
About the Authors:
Jessica Brody is the author of more than 15 books for teens, tweens, and adults including Addie Bell’s Shortcut to Growing Up, A Week of Mondays, Boys of Summer, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, and the three books in the sci-fi Unremembered trilogy. She’s also the author of the Descendants: School of Secrets series, based on the hit Disney Channel original movie, Descendants. Her books have been translated and published in over 23 countries and Unremembered and 52 Reasons to Hate My Father are currently in development as major motion pictures. She lives with her husband and four dogs and splits her time between California and Colorado.
Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody
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Joanne Rendell is the author of three novels and holds a PhD in English literature. She teaches fiction writing to teens and kids and is a board member for the youth Shakespeare company, New Genesis Productions. With her husband and son, Joanne divides her time between New York City, and New Paltz, New York. Visit Joanne at JoanneRendell.com.
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A limited edition two-sided 12”x16” poster featuring the ONLY available colored version of the book’s world map
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A Sky Without Stars bookplate, signed by both authors
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A Sky Without Stars postcard
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A Sky Without Stars bookmark
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Excellent review. I really enjoyed this book too and am curious to see where they take us in the next book.
Glad you enjoyed it as well! Thanks for stopping by!
I loved your review on this book. I didn't realize it was 600 pages! I've never read a retelling of Les Miserables before, so I'm intrigued as I enjoyed seeing the Broadway play. A cliffhanger sounds awesome right now.
Makes sense for it to be so long if it is a Les Miz retelling, although a whole other book might be really, really long!
[…] loved this series, Sky Without Stars and Between Burning Worlds, and didn’t get around to getting a copy of this one to read, or […]