Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

Across a Star-Swept Sea (Stars, #2)

by Diana Peterfreund

Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction--the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars--is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries' weapon is a drug that damages their enemies' brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.

On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo... is her most dangerous mission ever.

Though Persis is falling for Justen, she can't risk showing him her true self, especially once she learns he's hiding far more than simply his disenchantment with his country's revolution and his undeniable attraction to the silly socialite he's pretending to love. His darkest secret could plunge both islands into a new dark age, and Persis realizes that when it comes to Justen Helo, she's not only risking her heart, she's risking the world she's sworn to protect.

In this thrilling adventure inspired by  The Scarlet Pimpernel, Diana Peterfreund creates an exquisitely rendered world where nothing is as it seems and two teens with very different pasts fight for a future only they dare to imagine.

Reviewed by ladygrey on

3 of 5 stars

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My tolerances have changed. And it is, admittedly, my own fault. But if you’re going to write a 450 page book, I expect that you have more to say. Or more that happens.

This story is pretty good. A bit confusing at first with a lot of unfamiliar terms, no sort of a timeline between the first two chapters and not a lot of context. But all of that works itself out well enough before too long. Most of the characters are interesting enough, except when they’re being colossally stupid. I’m all for plot and things going wrong but when it’s because a character comes to wrong headed conclusions, or several characters come to wrong headed conclusions again and again, it’s annoying. Like, punch the stupid book but keep reading, annoying. (Please note, no books were harmed during the course of reading.)

And I don’t have any patience anymore for repetition. Explanations of character’s names, history, motivation, character’s self-recriminations or going over the same train of thought again and again. We know you don’t trust him. We know why. We know why you must act as you do. We know what you want to do and why you need to save everyone. Over and over and by page 300 I was so over it. Seriously, just trimming the repetition would have saved 100 pages.

Or given the other characters more to do. The princess, the visitors especially, the engineers who don’t collaborate at all, the secondary romance that barely exists. There were a lot of potential storylines and character angles maybe the author didn’t want to explore and maybe there just wasn’t room for. I particularly wanted more of the implications of Persis and Justen’s romance on both islands - where it succeeded and how it failed and, like Isla, more being out and about with it.

And it feels like there wasn’t enough room for the ending. Like it was all repetition, repetition, repetition, climax (easily seen coming), two page ending, DONE. A little time in the resolution never hurt anyone.

For all my criticisms, it’s not a bad book. Even with them I enjoyed it well enough. Someone who likes sci-fi and thinks that sort of repetition draws them deeper into the characters would provably like it quite a bit.

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  • Started reading
  • 28 July, 2018: Finished reading
  • 28 July, 2018: Reviewed