For Darkness Shows the Stars

Peterfreund, Diana. For Darkness Shows the Stars. Balzer & Bray, 2012.

This is the Goodreads blurb on this book: "It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever. Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it."

The premise of this book sounded interesting, Austin connection notwithstanding. However, the pace of the book is so slow that I simply could not get interested in the story, no matter the premise. At just over 400 pages, I should have been able to finish it in a few hours, but it took me DAYS of slogging to get through this book. I could see this book as a great cross-genre recommendation for Austin fans, but it was not my favorite.