Title: Across a Star-Swept Sea (For Darkness Shows the Stars #2)

Author: Diana Peterfreund

Publisher: Balzer + Bray 2013

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Pages: 469

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - YA Retellings; I Love Libraries;  Seasonal Series - Duology

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.

Hmmm.... so I loved the first book in this duology (For Darkness Shows the Stars), but this retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel just didn't wow me. I couldn't quite connect to any of the main characters. I was not completely on board with the terminology used throughout. The first book felt like a logical adaptation of a classic work redone into a post-apocalyptic world. This one felt a little too fantasy/candy-colored future for me. My mind wandered throughout attempting to get through the pages. Just really not my cup of tea.