This book was amazing. I love the space take on Les Miserables and it had me hooked. The 3 POVs were a great way to bring the world great depth. I can't wait for more!!

Sky without stars is phenomenal. The writing style and the world is so three dimensional, you can fall straight into it.

The characters are loveable and hateable and just perfect

4.5

When I first came across this book, I wasn’t so much drawn in by the fact that it was a Les Mis retelling. It really was as simple as me seeing “where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet” in the synopsis. Little did I know, that was going to be one of the last things on my mind after finishing this book.

I don’t know how many people are going to pick this up because they love Les Mis. I personally have only seen the movie from 2012 once so before getting into this I read a synopsis of the original book by Victor Hugo to refresh my memory. That probably isn’t necessary—in fact, I almost don’t think you should. If anything, it caused me more stress because I was too wrapped up in worrying about if Chatine was going to die like her counterpart does in the book. Also, it almost took some of the suspense out of several parts because you can guess what might happen based on what happened in Les Mis. But let’s just forget about the retelling aspect of this for a moment.

Let’s just focus on what this book is. In short, it’s a book about the separation between the rich and the poor on a planet that has formed after the destruction of the First World (Earth). It’s a story about rebellion. It’s a story about spending your whole life thinking one thing is true because of what you’ve learned from your family, only to have that life flipped on its head after discovering there’s more to the story than you ever could have imagined.

Even though I knew this story was going to be about rebellion, I wasn’t prepared for how dark it was going to be. How visceral some of the emotions that this book elicits might be. Ever since I’ve become a mom I have felt things a lot more intensely. So reading about an infant death, poor, starving people that have to accept their lot in life, parental abuse, etc. really got to me. It made the book more real to me. Made the rebellion more gut-wrenching.

If I haven’t already made it apparent, these ladies can write. I truly was sucked in while reading. The characters were great. It was easy to love them, to hate them, to desperately root for them. There is *kind of* a love triangle that I feel like we might see play out more in the next book(s). (Personally I’m rooting for Chatine, lol she deserves a happy ending, damn.) And that’s actually where I pray things deviate from Les Mis. I don’t want to know who dies and who ends up together based on the original book. I want to be surprised in this next book PLEASE.

The only reason I’m not giving this a full five stars is because there were parts where I felt it drag a bit. I mean I’m not quite complaining about the length? There was a lot of world building and plot to build up so it’s not like it could have been much shorter…I honestly can’t even quite put my finger on it. I just wasn’t feeling a half star’s worth of the book. Regardless, I am dying to see how EVERYTHING plays out in the next book. Definitely give this one a shot!

Content Warning: Violence, Torture, Death/Execution, Persecution, Prejudice, Murder, Oppression, Gangs, Abuse

Les Miserables is a massive book. It’s an even larger task to unpack everything within its text. I can’t even fathom what it would be like to try and create a retelling of this classical tale. Yet, authors Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell did it. And, they did a heck of a job at it! Just to emphasize their accomplishment a bit further---they wrote a retelling of one of the most iconic classical tales, and set it in space, while still keeping true to the original story.

You guys, I won’t be able to get over this book for a while. Thank goodness it’s a part of a series, so I don’t have to completely die...yet...from book hangover! Probably one of the biggest issues I have with the Young Adult genre is that there isn’t an overabundance of quality writing. You know, like with actual world building, setting description, and, for the love of all things good, further rendering of a character beyond their hair and eye color! The characters of Sky Without Stars are made of flesh and bone, sinew and blood. They have personalities with depth and harbor layers of emotion. The best part about these characters is that nothing is easy. Each and every character has a life full of raw, merciless experience---a true reflection of what Les Miserables aims to portray.

At first, I actually was trying to figure out which character represented who. It didn’t take too long to figure it out, but I relished the “revelations” when they occurred. I don’t even want to share who is who because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, so I won’t.

"The System Divine offered hope. Hope to the inhabitants of a dying world. With its three beautiful Sols and twelve habitable planets, the miraculous system would become a new home. A new start. A place where twelve powerful families could begin again."

The world-building, I do want to unpack a bit. Set in a dystopian time long after Earth was left behind by mankind, this story takes place on Laterre, a rainy planet within the System Divine. The three Sols (suns) have been invisible behind grey rain clouds for years, making the place dismal, to say the least. The inhabitants are split up into three factions--estates.

"Every estate has its place and purpose. The First Estate rules us, like the brain governing the body. We, the Second Estate, are the heart, providing the power and pulse. While the Third Estate are the legs on which we all stand.”

While the Third Estate are intended to be the working class, poverty, starvation, violence, and gangs run rampant among its participants. The Third Estate is no class to be envious of. “Lucky” for them, the annual Ascension is the event to look forward to. If one remains a good and faithful laborer, they are entered into a drawing to become part of the elite class and win a new life. The Ascension resembles the selection that takes place in The Hunger Games, and serves a similar, yet different role. This chance of escape isn’t an encouragment for all, though, as a life of crime serves to be more enduring for some.

”Laterre is the envy of the System Divine because of how well our beautiful body functions.”

While crime runs rampant, the Second Estate, the “policemen” if you will, are comprised of men, cyborgs, and robots. They serve to root out the fallen, and protect the system in place. When whispers of the Vanguard returning begin to surface of their attempts to overthrow it, the two upper estates dole out cruelty and force to keep the massive Third Estate at bay.

As the three main characters, (along with many other prominent ones) live out their lives, their stories become intricately woven together. Chatain, Marcellus, and Alouette, by chance, experience the unpleasantness of life more together than apart. While Chatain and Alouette are very solid characters, I felt Marcellus blundered around a bit. I love seeing strong male characters, and wished he had fit that bill instead of playing the naive. I get why his character is this way, due to his father’s history and Marcellus’ elaborate upbringing, but I felt he should have been more vigorous that he was.

Lastly, I just want to say that this book has been compared to The Lunar Chronicles. Yes, there are some similarities---limited to the fact that this is a retelling set in space. That’s where the line ends. This book surpasses The Lunar Chronicles by far in every aspect, but especially in overall quality, character development, and plot ingenuity. This is one of the best Young Adult books that I’ve read in a long time, as well as a new favorite, for certain. I can’t wait to read the sequel, which I hope is coming sooner than later!

Vulgarity: Minimal.
Sexual content: Minimal.
Violence: Quite a bit.

My Rating: ★★★★★

The first 75% of the book was so dang slow. I would get a couple paragraphs into the chapter and my brain would wander off, wondering what it could do for more entertainment.

The authors did a great job of setting up Laterre and the atmosphere of the book. Their retelling was both original and faithful to its inspiration. However, I constantly found myself wanting more than the book was giving me. The authors established a great foundation, but they didn't build on that until the last 25% of the book! Until the end I didn't care much about the three main characters or the plot, and I found that a lot of the chapters were either too repetitive or didn't give enough new information to warrant being in the book in the first place.

Despite the rocky start, I am interested in reading book two. The last 25% of the book went by quickly and was much more interesting than the first part, so I'm holding out hope for a stronger second book.

Confession time! I have never read/seen/consumed Les Misérables in any capacity. I don't intend to, either. Though it sounds mildly interesting, classics aren't really my jam, plus the thing is like, 1500 pages and just hard pass okay? That said, the premise is kind of appealing? So when I saw that this book was going to be an iteration on different freaking planets, obviously sign me up!

The Stuff I Liked:

•The world is pretty impressive. I mean, I love that it's French-based, and for reasons that make sense. Plus it's so fascinating that no matter how much you think you change things (i.e., moving to another solar system), humans never really change. It's a pretty crappy world to live in for almost everyone, save the upper echelon. Just like it is now, just like it's always been. The authors did a great job of translating that feel to this new world.

•The characters are so different, especially when we meet them. They all have wildly different backgrounds and different worldviews because of it. They end up learning a lot by their encounters with each other as well, as they end up seeing things from others' perspectives.

•For a nearly-600 page book, it didn't feel long. I was scared, I won't lie. Like... will this take me 3 weeks to read? But it actually went really quickly! The chapters are short, which I appreciate always, and I think in this case the POV switches really added a lot to the story. Checking in with everyone moved things along, but also allowed the reader to get to know each character really well.

•"Let’s raise a couple more… to the Revolution!" Ah, when are Hamilton lyrics not appropriate, right? But seriously, I love when the underdog rises up! Especially when the odds are stacked against them but you so badly want the arc of justice to bend in their favor. Obviously we don't know how it will play out, but just getting the anarchy started is good for me!

The Stuff I Didn't Like:

•My biggest qualm was the predictability. I know you're thinking "yeah dude, it's a retelling" but I didn't know the thing we were retelling, so 🤷‍♀️. Now, part of it was fun because it made me feel all kinds of smart when I correctly guessed the twists. But then I was a little bummed at the same time because... well, I'd just predicted the twists!

•I would have liked more connection to the characters, especially Allouette. I felt like there was a lot of potential to connect with her, but then I just... didn't? Marcellus grew on me during the course of the book, but it was Chatine who I enjoyed from the start.

•Hard pass on the romance. I'll keep it vague for the sake of spoilers, but I just wasn't into it. At all.

Bottom Line: Such an imaginative take on Les Misérables, it will be very interesting to see where the authors take the next book, as there's a vast world still to explore!

Sky Without Stars is a space opera retelling of Les Misérables. I’m a huge fan of the musical, I’ve seen it a couple times. Although I’ve never read the book or seen the movie version but I know that it’s kind of a big undertaking to retell the story.

So as much as I love the musical, I always struggled with the characters. I felt the same with Sky Without Stars. We have Chatine (Éponine), Alouette (Cosette) and Marcellus (Marius) now just because these three perspectives have counterparts in another universe does not mean they are exactly the same.

I feel like I rooted for Chatine’s character the most. I’m not saying she is not flawed and she hasn’t done bad things. This is someone hardened by living in the slums, with really really horrible parents. She has no one who truly loves her or nurtures her. She is kind of adrift and her goal is to get off planet. She might be in the game to provide only for herself but that doesn’t mean she can’t be redeemed.

Alouette was kind of eh. I actually really liked Cosette so I was glad that I enjoyed Alouette’s character more. I think the authors injected her with more spunk and spine. She is someone who is raised complete opposite of Chatine. Warm, safe, feed and loved. She is also a much bigger cog in the wheel of the events occuring in the story.

Marcellus? I think both girls could do better honestly. Which was fine because I was more interested in the plot itself then I was in any romance aspect of it. Maybe the series will sway me differently down the line but really I’m just like get some backbone man!!! I also think that his character is a little bit perfect as well because he comes from the higher class. He really doesn’t understand what it’s like to have to fight for everything like Chatine or be shut away like Alouette. I think his navitivitey to their strife makes absolute sense and is on par for what the character should be.

I really like this reimagining and idea for the plot. I thought the world building is good and when I picture what the planet looks like with the ships used as housing. I kept picturing the end credits of Wall-e. I felt like the descriptions were good and it was easy to imagine. The tech was not too complicated so you weren’t focused on trying to understand how things work. I wish the pacing was a little faster, however. I enjoyed all the components of the book it was just I need things to move along a little faster. This is something I’ve noticed with me and other space operas I’ve read so it might just be a space opera thing.

I enjoyed the story and I think for a book that is co-written, Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell do a great job of making the writing flawless. The funny thing is I didn’t realize it’s a series at first so when the story was winding down, I’m like wait what? What? Oh okay there is another book, phew.

Title: Sky Without Stars
Author: Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell
Genre: YA Sci-fi, Retelling
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Rating: 3 stars

eARC provided by publisher (Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing/Simon Pulse) through NetGalley

->Click for Synopsis<-

Laterre promised a place for those to live during the Last Days. It became home to a wealthy French family and their descendants. Now that 500 years has gone by, an elite class reigns and a rebel group is ready to take action. Alouette, Chatine, and Marcellus each come from different backgrounds and will have a huge role to play in this revolution.

When it comes to the characters, Alouette, Chatine, and Marcellus have their own point of views when it comes to the chapters. It was interesting to see the story unfold through different sets of eyes. It adds a bit to the story and gives the characters a bit more depth. Marcellus is a part of the regime and after awhile he begins to question what they are doing. I like characters like this because its so easy to fall into a group or just take someone’s word without questioning any of it. It’s always good to question because that is how we grow. Unfortunately, it was still quite hard to have a connection with the other characters and even Marcellus at times.

The plot is a retelling of Les Miserable but set in space which is a unique take on the story. It is full of cool sci-fi stuff, like robots which gives this retelling more of an updated feel. Without having read Les Miserable, it is easy to understand the revolution that is taking place. Usually sci-fi keeps me intrigued but the plot was not grasping my attention and it was hard to continuously read through this book.

Overall, this just wasn’t a book for me. I managed to get through it but it never had a grab affect on me. It was neither good nor bad and I am sure others will absolutely love this book especially if they are a fan of Les Miserable.

Sky Without Stars is a great adaptation of the classic Les Miserables. I was intrigued at every turn how the author would include details from the origin material. I enjoyed the book and the story, but it was needlessly long and I didn't form any connections to the characters.

There are parts of Les Mis both the play and the film (confession: I actually haven’t read the book) that I found a little dull, I mean it’s an epic story but I did on occasion find my attention wandering. I was intrigued by the idea of a re-imagining of this story because I’ve not heard of it being used in such a way before and also sheer curiosity to see if this work could keep my attention. It was a shaky start but I’m pleased to say that it definitely has.

At the start of the book I found it quite difficult because it is such a bleak world that we are introduced to, luckily Chatine is such an interesting character that she kept me reading on but it did feel a bit overwhelming to be pushed into the third estate mindset. It didn’t take long though before I was hooked into the story and wondering what directions the authors were going to take.

Even though this story is based on the Les Mis story and certainly has some of the elements of the original story, it is a work that can stand on its own. The setting of Laterre, the three different classes and the technological advancements that they have despite being somewhat rudimental in attitude, made the story really compelling. I also loved that the French was still included, even if it was just here and there.

The plot loosely follows parts of the original story but definitely surpasses it, it is a story about oppression and a resistance that is building towards the authorities. It has a lot of mysterious elements as you try to piece together which side some of the characters are on, it also builds in tension as the characters get caught up in schemes and you start to wonder who you can trust. It really did have me hooked.

The book is split between three points of view Chatine, a third estate thief, Marcellus, an officer who starts to question the regime and Alouette, a girl who has lived underground for most of her life protecting relics of the First World. I thought Chatine was the most complex character, she has had it tough but is a survivor and knows how to manipulate a situation to her advantage. She was my favourite character because to begin with she doesn’t really have a side, she looks out for number one, but as the book goes on she starts to show a vulnerability that really gives her character more depth. She is also a character that I found myself constantly questioning, just as I thought I knew how she would react to a situation, she would surprise me.

Marcellus was also interesting caught between what he has been brought up to believe and what he feels is right and wrong, I liked that he had to start second-guessing everything that he had been taught. I also liked the interactions between Chatine and Marcellus how they start to form a bond even though there is a lot that would ordinarily stand between them.

The only character that I felt could have had a little bit more going on was Alouette, I think it’s mostly down to her setting, she’s very secluded and sheltered, so she doesn’t quite capture your attention the way the others do. It’s a shame because she does have some fantastic qualities but for a lot of the book you don’t really get to know her that well and then just as her character is faced with some interesting problems the book ends. I also wasn’t sure if I felt the spark that was supposed to be between her and Marcellus, there was potential for it to feel a bit more authentic but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

I cannot believe where this book ended, I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait for the next book but I really want it now. Sky Without Stars is a brilliant read, with a really fascinating take on the original story, and I am looking forward to seeing where these two authors take us next.

Shameful! I have not read Les Misérables. I know, for a librarian it is pretty scandalous, but this was able to be read as a stand alone without much confusion which I appreciated. I did have a small issue with the instalove that seems to be ubiquitous in books in this genre lately, but overall I will await the next installment anxiously.

I’m very disappointed! This book grabbed me at the beginning and didn’t let me go. But now I have to wait until book two comes out! I pray it comes quick!

I have so much love for this book!!! Now that's not saying that it was perfect. There were parts where I was a bit lost but other than that I loved the plot! I'm a huge Les Mis fan and this book just made me so happy. Loved the characters and the feel of the story. The world building was amazing as well.

If you've followed me for awhile, you know that I'm always up for a retelling, especially when it is one like this, a major classic story, Les Miserables. This book did not disappoint in that aspect. Sky Without Stars is definitely a sweeping epic of a story. Even set in space on another planet, in another solar system, it has the operatic feel of Les Miserables. As I read I definitely tried to match up characters with what I knew of that classic, since I'd only seen the movie and never read the book. This world was one that had a lot of things going on that seemed kind of counter-intuitive to a future society. Because while they had screens built into their arms, no one knew how to actually read words anymore. It was all pictures and people actually speaking. That in itself hurt my heart so much! But it helped to make the poor third class people really appear to be down below everyone. I loved that they had brought their French customs and names of things like the Bastille along with them.

It did end on a cliffhanger, and at such a long book, almost 600 pages, I can only imagine how much we have left to this story when the next book comes out. A great story for both science fiction readers, as well as deep classic types of storytelling lovers.

DNF at 3%. I really loved the premise of a Les Mis SF retelling, but wasn't feeling the writing style even this early on. It wasn't the right fit for me, but I'm sure many others will really love it.

I received this eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest book review.
In all honesty, I am not really into rebellion type book plots or anything too high-tech sci-fi, however, this book somehow managed to keep me interested and in the end, love this book. Although, this book is monstrous and it took me a while to finally get through the book, the whole love triangle thing going on kept me on my toes and kept me up all night. As most of the book reviews say, it is indeed Les Mis meets Lunar Chronicles.
I also adore the cover title for this book!

I read the synopsis of a Sky WIthout Stars and was intrigued.  I also saw that it was compared to the Lunar Chronicles series. Sky Without Stars is a dark, beautifully written retelling of Les Miserables with a science fiction twist!  I thought the pace of the story was nice. The world building was great! This book does have multiple points of view and I didn't mind. Sometimes that bothers me but in this case, it didn't. I think it actually lets us know more about the characters. I thought the characters were interesting. I really enjoyed this story and I'm excited to read book 2!

Sky Without Stars is the first installment of the System Divine series written by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell. This debut novel is a Young Adult (YA) sci-fi retelling of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. This book is set to be released on March 26. I received this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m also part of the Book Tour through Fantastic Flying Book Club. This is a spoiler-free review.

I requested this book because I grew up reading French classics, and Les Misérables is one of my favorite novels. When I read the description of this book, my curiosity was piqued. A sci-fi twist to Les Misérables: I’ll admit I was truly intrigued. The book cover is really pretty as well, and I can say it fits well the story.

After reading the story, I can say that the authors did an amazing job. The sci-fi world is well thought out and created in a way that respects the original story, while adding a whole new dimension.

The characters are very interesting, especially Chatine. She is the most interesting character. Marcellus was too but should be more interesting in the next installment. I enjoy reading about his struggles. As for Alouette, she sounds a little clueless at times (through no fault of the authors. She was also in the original novel). But the authors managed to make her sound better in this story. In the original story, I didn’t like this character so much. In this new series, it sounds like this character will have a little more substance/backbone, which is promising. 

You don’t need to have read Les Misérables to enjoy the story. Actually, I would say that you might enjoy it more if you haven’t. Let me explain. There are a few things in the backstory that the authors overlooked. The book is already longer than average novels, so I understand that you can’t have everything, but at times I felt that the lack of backstory truly changed the nature of the story. For example, some of the characters’ motives are harder to understand. They sound plain evil when they’re not. An antagonist isn’t necessarily evil but his or her values/motives can go against the protagonist. It sounds vague, but if you read it, you might understand what I’m saying. Trying to stay away from spoilers. 

What I truly enjoy about the story is how fast-paced it is. There’s no time to get bored despite the length of the book.

Overall, this story was fun to read. I rated it four out of five stars for a few reasons. Alouette (could still work), but especially Paresse, were a terrible name choice and distracted me while reading. It’s hard to take a story seriously when the authors use names taken straight out of a kid’s book. I’m not sure if the authors were aware of it when they picked it. I wouldn’t call a character Dr. Seuss or Sponge Bob in a YA novel (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but not by much). This is a personal opinion and mostly due to the fact I grew up in France. Most US readers may not even realize it. All of my negative comments about the book are really minor.

If you enjoy retellings and sci-fi, this book is a must-read. I’ve often heard it compared to The Lunar Chronicles, which is true to some extent. To sum this up, this book has great pacing, interesting characters, and easy-to-read writing. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 4 stars

Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is a favorite of mine – I’ve read the book, seen the movie adaptations, and I’ve watched the Broadway show. I’m also a big sci-fi fan so I when I heard that Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell is a retelling of Les Miserables set in outer space, it immediately became a must-read for me.

Sky Without Stars is a dark and intense story of oppression, rebellion, and revolution. It features three main characters – a thief, an officer, and a young woman who is guardian to the last surviving library. These three seemingly unrelated characters will find their lives unexpectedly intertwined as the poor and oppressed citizen of the planet Laterre threaten to rise up against those who would keep them down.

In an atmosphere filled with danger and destruction, who will survive?

The worldbuilding in Sky Without Stars is top notch. The story is set in outer space on the fictional planet of Laterre. The authors did a brilliant job of reimaging the tense social climate in France at the time of the French Revolution, the way the filthy rich and the authorities built themselves up on the backs of the poor, while at the same time, turning their backs on them and letting them live in slums or starve in the streets. The descriptions were so vivid that it was easy to imagine the horrid conditions the poor were stuck in while the rich lived in their opulent homes. They also added in lots of futuristic gadgets and weapons, including a modernized version of a guillotine that reminded me a lot of a Star Wars lightsaber.

Chatine was my favorite character. She’s street smart and feisty, and all about doing whatever she has to do in order to survive. Disguising herself as a boy, Chatine works as a thief, picking pockets all day. She lives with her con artist family, but there’s no love lost there so Chatine is trying to thieve her way into getting enough money to buy her way onto a better planet. I live for a good underdog, so I was cheering Chatine on every step of the way.

Marcellus was another interesting character. He’s a military officer who is in training to take over leadership of the military. He begins to question his loyalty to the government, however, after receiving a cryptic message from his father, that implores him to go and visit an old friend – an old friend who happens to be suspected of being one of the masterminds behind a rebel faction hiding amongst them. It was interesting to watch how complicated things got for Marcellus as he struggled to figure out if his loyalties should lie with the government he works for or with the people, who are clearly suffering.

Alouette is the third voice we hear in the story and like, Chatine and Marcellus, she is an easy character to sympathize with. At first I’ll admit that I found her a little dull compared to the other two characters, but once she is confronted with the fact that her whole life has been a lie, she gets a lot more interesting.

There is also a secondary character that I fell in love with, a young boy named Roche. He’s a little thief like Chatine, but he has more personality in his body than all of the other characters added together. He’s clearly modeled after Gavroche, who stole the show in the original story.

The main issue I had with Sky Without Stars was that I found myself constantly comparing it to Les Miserables. I kept trying to match up every character in the retelling with who they were inspired by in the original and it actually started to get very distracting, especially if I thought the new character fell short of the original, case in point Alouette as Cosette and Marcellus as Marius. Although I liked both Alouette and Marcellus overall, I just found them a little flat if I thought of them in relation to Cosette and Marius too much.

I also found myself missing characters like Fantine and Valjean, one who was not included in the retelling at all and one who seemed severely underused, even though I considered their roles to be pretty vital in the original.

It can be hard to measure up to a beloved classic, but I think Sky Without Stars stands on its own as a pretty exciting space opera. I actually think I would have enjoyed it even more than I did if I had been less familiar with the original Les Miserables. I guess what I’m trying to say there is I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction, even if you’re not at all familiar with the original classic.

I really thought the concept behind a <i>Sky Without Stars </i> sounded really awesome. I like both Les Misérables and the Lunar Chronicles, so I was really excited to read it!

I must confess that there were parts of the book that I was really into and other parts that I had to stop myself from skimming through. There wasn't really anything that I disliked about the book, but there really wasn't anything that I loved about the book either. It was the same with the three main characters, too. There just wasn't anyone I gravitated towards, but there also wasn't anyone that I was desperately rooting against.

Overall, the book was interesting but not completely captivating.