Sky Without Stars (System Divine #1)

Synopsis

A thief.  An officer. A guardian. Three strangers. One destiny . . . 

When the Last Days came, the planet of Laterre promised hope. 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. Whispers of revolution have begun- a revolution that hinges on three unlikely heroes . . . 

Chatine is a street- savvy theif who will do anything to escape the brutal Regime, including spying on Marcellus, the grandson of the most powerful man on the planet.

Marcellus is an officer- and the son of a traitor. Groomed to command by his legendary grandfather, Marcellus begins to doubt the government he's vowed to serve when he discovers a cryptic message that only one person, a girl named Alouette, can read.

Alouette is living in a underground refuge, where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet. But a shocking murder will bring Alouette to the surface for the first time in twelve years . . . and plunge Laterre into chaos.

All three have roles to play in a dangerous game of revolution- and together they will shape the future of a planet. Power, romance and destiny collide in this sweeping reimagining of Victor Hugo's masterpiece Les Miserables.

Loved

• The Les Mis vibes! As a disclaimer, I've never read Les Mis, but I have loved the story since I saw the musical as a 12-year old and it has impacted me ever since. Although I haven't read the book, I was honestly a little nervous going into this because Les Mis is very meaningful to me and you don't just simply "reimagine" Les Mis. It's probably one of the most, if not the most, powerful works of literature, and tinkering with it could be dangerous! However, I felt like the authors did such a good job incorporating the characters, oppression, desperation, brutality, and humanity that defines Les Mis.
• ***Since writing this, I have read Les Mis. After reading the book, I feel a little more unnerved by the idea of a dystopian re-telling of the story, so now I'm just thinking of this series as something totally different. The scope and depth of Les Mis simply cannot be portrayed in a YA novel, so I'm just going to think of them as two different stories in order to enjoy Sky Without Stars.***

• The setting. I loved how the authors captured the maddening irony of the poverty of the people, while the few elite lived in outrageous wealth and luxury. This felt very similar to France in the 18th century and seemed to paint an accurate feeling of hostility and desperation brimming the streets at that time. I loved how the authors used French names and words to capture the Les Mis vibes as well.

• The multiple POVs. We get to switch back and forth from the POVs of Marcellus, Chatine, and Alouette, which I feel gives the story more depth because we get so much more understanding of each character's thoughts and perspectives. 

• Marcellus. I loved Marcellus. To be honest, I've never really liked Marius just because he falls for Cosette by looking at her and doesn't pay much attention to Eponine, who is the coolest- and she basically dies to save him. Hello? Let's go for the brave girl with spunk instead of the pretty face who doesn't seem to have much personality. Anyway, Marcellus (or Marius), has his frustrating moments in this book for sure. But most of those moments are because he is so conflicted between his grandfather, the General of the Regime, and the things he is learning about his planet and his father and governess. I love how he develops in the story and how he becomes bolder and more assertive after being so passive and borderline pathetic in the beginning (which I was okay with the pathetic, because it makes him feel more real).
  

• Chatine. Throughout the story I couldn't decide how I felt about Chatine (or Eponine). Eponine has always been a hero of mine because of her bravery, boldness and spirit. So I was a little disappointed when Chatine was brave and bold, but very selfish. However, she also develops a lot in the story as she starts thinking outside herself, and by the end of the story I loved her, despite her tough exterior and constant thieving. 
  

• Alouette. Alouette (or Cosette) was such a relief for me. Cosette has always driven me crazy because she just seems like a pretty face who has no idea what's going on around her and no personality that she (or anyone else) is aware of. But Alouette, though naiive and somewhat fragile) is determined, brave, smart, and handy! She carries her tool belt with her everywhere and can hack anything, which is just super cool. It was such a relief to have a Cosette character with brains and substance, while still keeping that naiive and sheltered perspective.
  
  Aren't these character cards stunning? I got them from the preorder for Between Burning Worlds and I'm obsessed!

• Inspector Limier. Inspector Limier is our Javier. And he's a cyborg. I'm used to Cinder-type cyborgs who are just normal people with metal parts. No, in this world cyborgs have part of their humanity removed when they get their circuitry put in, which makes SO much sense why Inspector Limier would be obsessed with finding Jean Legrand (Jean Valjean). While listening to the audiobook I would seriously get chills when the actor would do his voice for Limier because it was so deliciously creepy and I just loved it.

• The sci-fi. I loved how to sci-fi elements worked into this story- the planet systems, the audiochips implanted in their ears, their telecoms, and cyborgs- it all fit together and totally worked to make this world seem believable. I thought it was really creative how they incorporated the sci-fi, while still keeping the Les Mis feel.

Didn't Love

• I really enjoyed this story- there wasn't much I didn't like! Quite a few times I got frustrated with the characters because they made assumptions, did selfish things, and communicated poorly. But that's every YA book right? :) And of course, all those things were solved in the end and it all worked out. I really don't have any major complaints about this book!

Content

• Language: 
• There are a few "damns" sprinkled throughout, but they are very few. 
• The characters swear by the "sols"- or the suns, which many people worship on Laterre. They frequently use curses such as "solsforsaken."
• Chatine frequently uses "fric" as an expletive.

• Sexual content: 
• There is surprisingly little sexual content in this story.
• The Renards (the Thernadiers) have a conversation about how much Madame Renard's "tettes" are worth. I was expecting a lot more scenes like this from the Renards, but this is the pretty much the extent of their vulgar comments/conversations.
• Instead of becoming prostitutes, the desperate impoverished women in this story sell their blood to "blood bordels" so their blood can be used to make youth creams for the wealthy. There is no talk or mention of prostitution except that Renard says Alouette's mom "got around" while in the blood bordels.
• There is a love triangle developing in the story, which vaguely follows Les Mis. There is one kiss that describes his pulling her closer and putting his hands in her hair, but not physically described more than that.

• Violence:
• There is a lot of violence related to political intrigue, such as a two-year-old girl being poisoned.
• There are references to a bombing that happened years ago where a lot of innocent people were killed. It talks about bodies being strewed in the streets, but with no detail.
• There is a bombing that happens in real time in the story, and one secondary character is killed with no description of bodies or blood.
• There is an execution with a guillotine-like weapon. It describes the horror of the victim, the crowd's reaction to her horror, and her head being severed.
• There are various physical fights with fists, tree branches, and pieces of metal. One fight involves a gun and one character repeatedly attempts to shoot another.
• In all of the fights except the one previously mentioned, the weapons used are paralyzers, so there is a lot of talk of being paralyzed temporarily by weapons.
• There are mentions of a gang who cuts the toes off those who don't comply with their rules.
• There is mention of a small girl dropping a baby on his head and killing the child. Another character looks for the body of the baby and cannot find it.
• There is a scene where two characters are in a room of cadavers and interact with the bodies. Some of the bodies are described as having been worn down, beaten and consumed by disease before they died.

 Overall Thoughts

I loved this story and I thought it was very engrossing and fast paced. I feel like the authors did an awesome job at building a creative sci-fi world while incorporating the elements of 18th Century Paris surrounding political events. I loved how the plot moved and twisted, and how the characters danced around each other as they all desperately tried to find answers about their pasts and decide where they stand in the future. I highly recommend this, even if you aren't familiar with the story of Les Mis. You will miss some references, but it will still be a very entertaining story. If you already know and love Les Mis, I think you will especially enjoy this and have fun watching a story you already love unfold in a completely new and creative sci-fi, dystopian setting. 

**Again, after reading the real Les Mis, I feel more inclined to think of these as separate stories. Les Mis is so powerful, deep and moving with themes that simply cannot be addressed in a YA novel. So if you have read the real deal, I think you might still enjoy this story, but it might be helpful to think of them as two different stories rather than trying to compare them- which might end up unsatisfying and disappointing. But if you think of it as a fun YA novel, you'll be able to enjoy the adventurous ride without comparing it to one of the greatest works of literature ever written and being disappointed.**