For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Do you have a favorite Jane Austen book? If you're reading this bloggy I'm more than a little positive you do. In fact, I'd wager a guess that many of you discerning readers place her timeless tale of Persuasion at the top of the pile. I do. More than a little bit. I remember cracking open its pages for the very first time after buying it at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, England while on study abroad and just knowing that this was The Book for me. And it was. I've re-read it so many times but I still manage to cry (over Capt. Wentworth's letter of course) and to laugh and to smile and to sigh deeply at its end. So when I say that after hearing that a favorite author of mine was penning a retelling of said novel, I was a bit on tender-hooks. To discover that it was to be a post-apocalyptic retelling...well, say it isn't so Ms. Peterfreund.

As a Luddite, it has been ingrained in Elliot North since birth that her job is to watch over the laborers on her family's estate, the docile yet mentally 'incompetent' Reduced. Knowing full well she was the only North capable enough left to run the farm after the death of her sensible mother, Elliot nevertheless was ready to leave it all behind four years ago. Ready to leave with her best friend Kai, a Post-Reductionist (or a descendant of a Reduced who is normal) who was raised on the North estate. Yet responsible, practical Elliot changed her mind at the last moment as she forced herself to think of all those who depended on her for support and care, knowing her feckless father and prissy sister would never be able to keep things going on their own. A decision which left her heartbroken and alone, watching Kai leave for parts unknown with nary a word for over four years.

Imagine Elliot's surprise when Kai appears right in her backyard with a group progressive Post-Reductionists who want to rent her grandfather's boat building warehouse in order to build a new type of ship for exploration. No longer the childhood friend she remembers, Captain Malakai Wentforth (don't you love his new name?) is now cold and aloof and not at all pleased to be near Elliot. Which of course puts Elliot in a bit of a spot because how do you begin to tell your heart to stop loving someone just because they don't seem to want you anymore?

Diana Peterfreund you are a genius. Seriously. In a wash of classic retellings, you have managed to take my ALL TIME FAVORITE Jane Austen story, Persuasion, and remake it into a heart wrenching Sci-Fi adventure without the aid of a single vampire or zombie. Who does that?! In all seriousness though, I loved every stinkin' detail about this book. She reeled me in with those first few pages of letters between Elliot and Kai as children and then proceeded to sink her hooks into my heart as I watched Elliot try her best, fail and yet still managing to keep going -- even in the face of extreme suffering and betrayal. That is my kind of character, someone who I was rooting for and sympathizing with from the moment I saw that lovely cover.

Part of what makes For Darkness Shows the Stars such a special retelling is that I loved much how Ms. Peterfreund made this well-known story into her own. Yes, there are similarities between the two (enormously large ones in places) but readers can easily fall into the story and enjoy it solely on the basis of character conflict and story-building alone without having to have read Persuasion. My sole issue with this book is the ages of Elliot and Kai, who are eighteen at their reunion. I liked the characters being a bit past their prime in the original -- it added to the sense of life passing Ann Elliott by, but the age different does work here, if not as effectively.

I love reading authors' acknowledgments sections -- due to all the hidden gems contained therein -- and Ms. Peterfreund's proved exceptionally satisfying as she included Ms. Austen in her thanks saying: "Thank you for giving me the bones of this story, and forgive me the changes I've made to its DNA." Honestly, I can't think of a better way to describe this story. And really, I don't think she would have minded one bit.

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Angieville review
Book Harbinger review
Good Books & Good Wine review
The Readventurer review

book source: my local library

Beyond Exile by J.L. Bourne

The first book of Day by Day Armageddon took us deep into the mind of a military officer and survivor as he made a New Year's resolution to start keeping a journal. The man kept his resolution and brought to us the fall of humanity, day by day. We see the man transition from the life that you and I live to the prospect of fighting for his very survival against the overwhelming hordes of the dead. We see him bleed, we see him make mistakes, we witness him evolve. The highly anticipated sequel to the bestselling underground cult classic, Day by Day Armageddon begins where the first novel left off.

 START INTERCEPT
Armies of undead have risen up across the U.S. and around the globe; there is no safe haven from the diseased corpses hungering to feed off human flesh. But in the heat of a Texas wasteland, a small band of survivors attempt to counter the millions closing in around them.
INTERCEPT COMPLETE

Survivor,
Day by day, the handwritten journal entries of one man caught in a worldwide cataclysm capture the desperation—and the will to survive—as he joins forces with a handful of refugees to battle soulless enemies both human and inhuman from inside the abandoned Hotel 23.

But in the world of the undead, is mere survival enough?

In an effort to maintain a shred of humanity, our anonymous narrator has made a resolution to daily pick up his pen and record his experiences facing a world decimated by hoards of undead zombies. With his military background, he's an ideal leader to watch over the various survivors he's rescued from a gruesome fate, now concealed in a bunker-type facility called Hotel 23.

To be honest, I was hoping this narrative would be reminiscent of the thrilling first-hand account based novel World War Z by Max Brooks - which I eagerly devoured. J. L. Bourne's narrative unfortunately can only be described as periodically gruesome and oftentimes dry at best. Yes, in the face of certain death on multiple occasions, our narrator is always resourceful and cunning yet I found his account lacking in any emotion that I could connect with as a reader. Perhaps that was due to the format - diary entries - which did not allow for much interaction with other characters; which could provide a more complete picture of his character. Additionally the large of amount of technical/military and weaponry jargon was confusing and distracting more often than not since I am not what you would call 'gun savvy.'

Sad to say, the blah cover is nothing to write home about either. But it does stay true to the overall feel of the novel: there is nothing fluffy or endearing about Beyond Exile. It's dark and horrific and full of the dark moments. For true zombie fiction fanatics, I'm sure this one will be instantly gobbled up; but since I like my books with a little more heart and character interaction, it just wasn't my cuppa.

series reading order:
~ Day by Day Armageddon
~ Beyond Exile

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Books and Things review 
Gnostalgia review
Lorrie Jeanne review
Must Read Faster review
Wayfaring Writer review

book source: provided by the publisher

Am I morbid?

Many of you know about my fascination with anything dystopian, end of the world or post-apocalypse in literature. Maybe I just have an unhealthy curiosity over what happens when either mass disease, natural disasters or super scary technology irrevocably changes the world. Something about people showing their true colors in times of trial and all that. Many of you have also expressed similar interest and I just knew there were others out there. So I couldn't have been more pleased to read the fabbity-fab post The Book Smugglers recently wrote outlining mucho many dystopian books as part of their YA Appreciation Month. They hit many of my favorites (how i live now for starters) and touched on many that I can't wait to try out (can anyone say Obernewtyn?). I think I've just added another 15 inches to my ever increasing TBR pile...

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary's life has always been simple: protect your family, follow the Sisterhood, and stay away from the Unconsecrated in the Forest of Hands and Teeth. This is the only life she's ever known: a village surrounded by fences with the large Cathedral dominating every day life. But Mary's mother always told her stories of the ocean and Mary is sure there must be something outside of their tiny village. After the fence is unexpectedly breached and the town is overrun with Unconsecrated, Mary flees with her brother and his wife and her childhood friends Cass, Harry and Travis through a series of gates without any clue as to where they will lead.

Let me start by saying how much I enjoyed Carrie Ryan's writing style: it is filled with beautiful descriptions (including a lovely title) and has a wonderful ebb and flow of action. I also thought her world building was pretty solid and full of interesting ideas - the whole idea of how the village establishes its own customs and religious ideals intrigues me. That said, I could not stand the character of Mary - or really any of the others for that matter. She seemed selfish, immature and seemingly incapable of the love the author keeps telling you she possesses. None of the characters were developed adequately for my tastes and consequently I never understood why she loved Travis so much or why others were drawn to her. Over and over again everyone asks Mary what will make her happy - I got so sick of that question by the end. Mostly because Mary proved time and again that whatever she felt like would make her happy would occur no matter the cost to anyone else. Yuck.

It's the end of the world as we know it

I have no idea why I enjoy reading doomsday or post-apocalyptic books. Maybe it's the extreme circumstances that build strong characters (or sometimes expose weak ones for that matter) or maybe I just have an unhealthy obsession with the end of the world. Whatever the reason, these books never fail to catapult me directly into the story and leave me shivering with delight. It's like watching a train wreck - it's gruesome and horrific but you just can't tear yourself away. So I thought I'd put together a list of some of my favorite post-apocalyptic books that just might make you want to get a gun, food storage and a whole stockpile of medicine.



How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Dark and moving book about teens living on their own in England through a devastating war. Told from the first-person, I loved the narrator’s psychological development and struggle to deal with the reality of her new life. And of course, it's a Printz winner - no further recommendation needed.





Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Boy does this book ever make me want to get my food storage! In a series of diary entries, a young girl records her life after an asteroid hits the moon, throwing it off it’s path causing all kinds of natural disasters. The honest narration compelled me to honestly evaluate what I would do in the same situation.




The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Panem ruthlessly controls the 12 districts that once were known as North America. Their ultimate control over the populace lies in the Hunger Games where one boy and girl are chosen as 'tributes' from each District every year and are forced to fight for their lives while the struggle is broadcast to the entire nation as mandatory viewing. But that doesn't even begin to encompass it's greatness - just read it.




The Road by Cormac McCarthy
McCarthy has a classic on his hands here. An utterly amazing story of a father and son who travel across a devastated and scorched America. Along the way, they deal with love, loss, courage, the will to survive, and simple pain. Some of McCarthy’s images will stay with me for a really long time. It completely blew me away.





World War Z by Max Brooks
A compilation of first-hand 'accounts' from when zombies tried to destroy earth's population. Various countries and communities are featured, each giving a different look at how people reacted to a large scale threat – often in chilling ways.





The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Government control gone crazy. Each person has a ‘job’ but even in this highly strict society, corruption and greed are found as one woman tries to escape her life as a handmaiden to a civic leader and his barren wife. Not for the faint of heart.






1984 by George Orwell
George Orwell's bleak vision of a world under the thumb of a brutal, oppressive regime in which we are first introduced to that all-knowing and all-powerful presence: Big Brother.





Among the Hidden (Shadow Children series) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
These quick yet thought-provoking junior fiction books introduces us to a time when America is suffering from food shortages due to population explosion. The military has taken control and Haddix forces the reader to consider what our own government would do in the face of such crisis.



The Giver by Lois Lowry
A fascinating, almost chilling tale about a boy, Jonas, who is chosen to be his community's new Receiver. Jonas receives memories from The Giver; memories that are full of feeling - pain, love, loss, color, and life - that are deemed too dangerous for the community to be able to experience.




Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
A totalitarian regime controls the populace through nonstop entertainment. Don’t think, don’t read, don’t be an individual – just enjoy TV. Follow the transition of Guy Montag from book burner ‘fireman’ into a man who is on the run for not only possessing books, but killing a fellow fireman to protect them.




So that's my list of post-apocalyptic books. I'm always on the lookout for the next great addition to this list, so please let me know if I've missed your favorite doomsday book!