Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell - ESSENTIAL

Sky Without Stars (System Divine, #1) by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell, 582 pages.  Simon Pulse, 2019.  $20.  

Content: Language: PG (5 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  

Chatine is a thief, who tries to collect items so she can one day escape the bleak planet of Laterre.  Chatine dresses like a boy and once while stealing from the dead, she runs into a wealthy ruling-class boy named Marcellus.  Their chance meeting later turns into Chatine spying on Marcellus for his grandfather.  Marcellus is trying to be brave and carry out his government position in a manner pleasing to his grandfather who is the general, but he receives an encrypted message from the rebellion the night he visits his father’s dead body, and Marcellus begins to doubt the system of government he has been trained to guard.  One night, Marcellus is caught in the rebellion's crossfire and injured, so a sweet girl named Alouette, who Marcellus learns is a defector, tends to his wounds and helps him translate his encrypted message. These three characters’ lives become critical to each other’s salvation and the future of their planet.  

I could not put this book down.  I loved all the characters and the setting.  The plot is a reimagining of Les Miserables and moves quickly with lots of action.  The ending isn’t complete, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.  If you liked the Cinder series by Marissa Meyer, then you will enjoy this.  The violence includes dead bodies and a beheading.

Reviewer, C. Peterson.