#i see ya laterr my lovely little followers!

[cucarachaisgay07]

I find it common knowledge that I tend to pop in on Tumblr post 1 thing then disappear for months-

Do I have an excuse for these very long absences?

[10kwordsreviews]

Sky Without Stars - 4.5

Sky Without Stars is a Les Miserables retelling set in space. Is that all you needed to hear? Yeah, that’s all I needed too. 

THE GOOD 

- The worldbuilding is awesome! The planet Laterre represents France. The population is separated into three “estates” as it was historically. Only the monarchy and Second Estate get to live under the light of three fake suns. (It’s a rainy planet). Everyone in the impoverished Third Estate is obsessed with winning a raffle to go live with the others. Other than culture, the world is built out in terms of technology. The weapons are called rayonettes, which I’m imagining as bayonet that shoots blasts Star Wars style. Some details of clothing are worked in, and everyone logs onto some little screen inserted in their arm called the Skin. I’m assuming that's a reference to modern smart phone obsession, but I dig it. With small mentions of other planets and their rulers peppered in, I felt like this world really came to life and drew me in. 

- The characters are pretty likable. Instead of following Valjean and Javert (they are definitely included though), we follow characters that parallel Eponine, Cosette, and Marius from Les Miserables. The book is split into three point of views: Chatine, Alouette. It makes total sense to focus on their story in a YA rather than Jaljean and Javert’s. 

- I would say I prefer the Les Mis counterparts a little more, but I still really like these three characters. Chatine is meaner than Eponine, but hey, I get it. She has every reason to be a pissy af. Her life is really rough. However, what I admired about Eponine (in the musical anyway) was that she was sweet and caring despite how difficult her life was. Alouette is sheltered and innocent, but I felt there was some attempt to make her more badass and appealing to YA readers. She can hack and she doesn’t shy away from action. I think in Les Mis we compare Eponine and Cosette to see what Eponine could have been if she had been loved by her family and didn’t live in poverty. The comparison is still there in this book, but not quite as strange. That brings us to Marcellus. Eh! He’s sweet, he’s good to both girls. He’s kind of impulsive and dumb. But so is Marius : ) Marcellus comes from a privileged background and has to make a really difficult choice about who to trust and who’s side he’s on. 

THE BAD 

- This doesn’t bother me, but if you hate love triangles, you won’t want to read this. If you know Les MIs, you should know what’s coming. Both girls fall for Marcellus. Marcellus only loves one of them. Although I feel the triangle is a little more gray compared to Les Mis, and I think Marcellus has feelings for both girls. He just clearly has stronger feelings for one over the other. 

- Without giving too much of a spoiler, Marcellus has to choose a side at the end. I was a little confused about what he actually chose at the end. Maybe I’m just dumb and that’s my punishment for calling him out above. 

- Some people think retellings have to be really faithful to the source material. I disagree and would rather be surprised. Otherwise, I’ll just read the original, right? But if you’re of that opinion, I think you’ll be disappointed. 

- On the above topic though, I think Les Mis is about how people change, why they change, and how they deal with that change. I feel like this should set a strong precedent for the characters changing a lot. These guys eh, they change a little. Not a ton. 

THE VERDICT 

For me, this book really worked. I looked forward to reading it and binged big chunks of it. My gripes are pretty minimal, so I’m only knocking off half a star. I’ll be there for the sequel. 

Peace!