Okay but really did anyone else think about that quote when you saw this title, or was it just me? Oops.

Thank you so much to the FFBC team for having me on this blog tour and for hosting! I had such a great time as usual. Be sure to click on the banner for the rest of the schedule and to see some of the other books coming up soon. There’s always really good ones, so stay tuned fam.

Les Misérables meets The Lunar Chronicles in the out-of-this-world sequel to Sky Without Stars that’s an “explosion of emotion, intrigue, romance, and revolution” (Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series).

A thief.
An officer.
A guardian.
All from different backgrounds, but sharing one same destiny…

The planet Laterre is in turmoil. A new militant revolutionary group has emerged calling themselves “The Red Scar” and claiming responsibility for a spate of recent bombings. The infamous rebels known as the Vangarde believe that in order to bring about a peaceful revolution, their charismatic leader, Citizen Rousseau must be freed from prison right away. Otherwise the bloodshed will only escalate.

Soon Marcellus, Chatine, and Alouette all find themselves pulled into battle with extreme consequences.

Marcellus is determined to uncover his corrupt grandfather’s plan to seize Laterre—even if that means joining the Vangarde.

Aloutte, trying to unearth the truth about her past, becomes a captive of Marcellus’s grandfather, the general.

Chatine, who is serving time on Bastille, hopes to escape the brutal and horrifying reality of the prison moon.

But the failed attempt to break Citizen Rousseau out of prison launches Aloutte, Chatine, and Marecellus into the middle of a dangerous war for control of Laterre. And in the midst of it all is the legend of a secret and dangerous weapon that could mean complete and absolute power to any that wields it.

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Jessica Brody knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self “publishing” her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples, and electrical tape.

After graduating from Smith College in 2001 where she double majored in Economics and French and minored in Japanese, Jessica later went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, Jessica quit her job to follow her dream of becoming a published author.

Since then, Jessica has sold over twelve novels for teens, tweens, and adults including 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, The Karma Club, My Life Undecided, and the three books in the Unremembered trilogy, the first of which is currently in development as a major motion picture by the producers of The Vampire Academy, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, and Slumdog Millionaire. In 2016, she will release two new contemporary novels, A Week of Mondays (August) and Boys of Summer (April), and in 2017, her debut middle grade novel entitled, Addie Bell’s Shortcut to Growing Up, will hit bookstore shelves.

Jessica also writes books for the Descendants: “School of Secrets” series, based on the hit Disney Channel Original movie, Descendants!

Jessica’s books are published and translated in over twenty foreign countries. She currently splits her time between California and Colorado.

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Joanne Rendell is the author of four novels and holds a PhD in English Literature. She teaches fiction writing to teens and kids, as well as online writing classes at Udemy.com and Lynda.com. Joanne is a board member for the youth Shakespeare company, New Genesis Productions. With her husband and son, she divides her time between New York City and New Paltz, New York.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and Simon Pulse for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Okay fam. So I’m clearly not a true literature fan because I’ve never read Les Mis before, although I’ve heard of it, saw previews for the movie adaptation, saw how thick the book was, etc. I know of it. I just never read it. So that part didn’t appeal to me. BUT when the synopsis told me that it was like Lunar Chronicles?? Oh that sold me so fast I thought I was getting whiplash. I freaking LOVE that series – from what I read, yes I don’t finish series you know this – and if there was going to be anything compared to that, I knew immediately that I was going to dig it.

And guess what?

Ya girl totally dug this one.

Like, do I need to watch Les Mis or something to truly see how amazing it was? Probably not because THIS book was already amazing and wow, both Brody and Rendell blew me away. Out of this world, literally. I think they make a great author duo and I’m hoping that they can collaborate on something again.

Not only was the world-building really intriguing for me – and seriously I’ve noticed lately that if I’m not feeling the world that my characters are in (not literally my characters but you get me) then I don’t fall in love with the book as much. Which nothing is wrong with, sometimes books are more character driven than plot driven and sometimes characters can hold their own and carry the novel in a lackluster world, but that was not the case in this one. I felt like this was a world that I could see myself living in if I was born centuries later, trying to navigate and survive in. Just like our characters here.

Maybe it’s because I have a little bit of a rebellious side to me somewhere deep down, but I absolutely love seeing books where there are groups of people trying to overthrow the current regime or government or whatever bad guy is messing stuff up. Rebel groups. Rebellion groups. Revolutionary groups. I dig them all. Also rebel groups and rebellion groups may be the exact same thing – oops. I like seeing regular people band together and just get this stuff done. It makes me wish I could be one of them. Which one of the characters do I wish I was more like? I don’t know. I like the double agent aspect even though they are usually seen as bad people. Playing both sides so well that it’s hard to tell which side you’re really on? That’s impressive to me. Having someone take on a punishment because they messed up, and they handle it like they handle everything else? Impressive.

I was just really into this book and from the ending, it sounds like there will be another one? I hope so!

I may or may not have taken inspiration from a couple of playlists that I already listen to on the regular – which I do for a lot of my custom playlists for reviews because clearly those songs really speak to me on a whole different level.

It just hits different.