Monday, January 28, 2013

Book Review: Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Book: Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
For: Fun
From: free for Amazon Kindle

Have you noticed the trend lately with these little interim novellas? They are put out between the main books of a series to keep us tied over I guess. (At one of the panels I was at recently, the author mentioned that they are now becoming part of many contracts, and that the publisher is requiring authors to write these little middle books to be put out as ebooks. Interesting yes?) I've never really been all that drawn to them, but when I saw this one for free awhile back, I decided to try it and see what I think.

This story takes place before the events of  For Darkness Shows the Stars and we learn what happens to Kai when he first leaves the North Estate. And it's not pretty. After getting through the fire fields... terrible volcanic wasteland, he finds a group of people living awful conditions and he wonders if this is what he left his fairly comfortable spot on the North Estate for. It's quite discouraging.

But he pushes on to get to the big city where he expects his dreams to come true (except for the fact that Elliot is not with him.) At first it seems like things might be okay, but then suddenly, everything comes crashing down and in fact it's so bad, he fears he may never escape.

All along through these adventures, he is writing to Elliot, mostly in his head, but sometimes on letters that he plans to never mail. We see that he pines for her and yet is so mad at her that he vows to never forgive her.

So, all in all, it was fun first foray into these new things, the "in between" series book. I enjoyed the back story and loved being in this world again, even if it was for only a short time. And yes, I can't wait for the next book in this series, the REAL next book!

Bottom line: Totally enjoyed it, very fun!

Other Reviews:

Whether you read the novella first or second, I feel that it's important because it shows Kai's backstory through firsthand experience, giving more readers insight into his life and the trials he endured before FDSTS. From A Backwards Story

It’s fantastic character development for Kai. It gives a lot more insight into him as a person, why he thinks and feels the way he does, why he makes the choices he does, and why he feels so betrayed by Elliot. From Flashbulb Review

You will love Kai all the more so than you already did. So go get a copy and start reading! From Thoughts at One in the Morning

This POV story brought me SO much closer to him [Kai.] From Read-A-holicZ

4 comments:

  1. I kind of like this trend. And I didn't know about this one, so I'm off to download it!

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    Replies
    1. Jessica: If others show up for free, I'll for sure get them, but I'm still not sure about paying for a less than 100 page book. Hmmmm....

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  2. I've yet to read one of these novellas but I shall some day. They're such a tease though.

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