Sky Without Stars was described as a retelling of Les Miserables. While I can see that the world building, and side plots, were based upon Les Miserables, it seems like describing it as a retelling would be incomplete. I would find it more accurate to say Sky Without Stars is influenced by Les Miserables rather than a retelling. Although, all this is probably just semantics.

I did not realize how long this novel is before I picked it up - a side benefit of owning it as an ebook. Yet, in its 580 pages I did not feel like there were parts that should have been left out or dragged. I found the world building fantastic, descriptive without being overdone. The characters had their own distinct personalities. Not just the three main characters, but the many side characters as well.

A lot of times the characters did the exact opposite of what I thought they were going to do. Yet, not once was this actually out of character, the book just did not follow YA troupes. This is probably why I enjoyed the book as much as I did. I am kind of burnt out on YA books, so it was nice to read one that was different.

While this book was not an instant favorite, I did really enjoy it and plan on continuing with the series.