I honestly think Diana Peterfreund is an angel disguised as an author. Never have I fallen so head over heals into a world as I have in this series. The first time I encountered her, I was browsing a friend's bookshelf when the title jumped out at me. For Darkness Shows the Stars, the first installment of this series, sounded more like the musings of a poet than a novelist. And I, being a sucker for poetry (not to mention historical romance and dystopian novels), whisked away that beautiful cover to my creaking little reading chair and read it in one go. This second installment was no different. Granted, I did leave this book sitting on my shelf for a few months because I simply did not think it would meet my expectations. Eventually, the rainy days caught up with me and I dusted off the book and got to reading. 
 Let me start off with my only problem with this book. I don't know if other people quickly grasped what was going on and I was the only one stuck trying to throw this book in with the previous one like two puzzle pieces you know belong together but just won't fit or if everyone had the same problem. Anyways, I will say this: Please leave all of the knowledge you gained about Peterfreund's world from the previous book behind until it becomes relevant (and you will know when it becomes relevant). I spent so much time trying to find out if this book takes place in the future of that book, or if it is in a parallel universe, or some other explanation for why what is happening doesn't make sense with where we left off in For Darkness Shows the Stars. I'm going to tell you what it actually is and I'm not sure if we were meant to know this from the beginning or only figure it out when it is made explicitly clear by the author but, with fair warning, this slight possible spoiler follows: 
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 Across a Star-Swept Sea takes place exactly where we left off in For Darkness Shows the Stars only it takes place on two small islands completely isolated from any other civilization which includes the people from the first book. Therefore, this book has its own history of the events that followed the reduction. 
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 The main heroine, Persis Blake, is a gem. I love her. I hate her. She's a genius and an idiot and has all the workings of a regular human being. Her shallow facade is as intricate and well-written as if she was her own character and not merely a farce put up to throw suspecting folk in the wrong direction. She has her clique, full of ingenuity and wit, and her romantic interest: Justen Helo. Justen could possibly be the most frustrating human left with his absolute inability to see Persis for who she is. He is only forgiven because his battle with his own demons provides us with enough sympathy to spare him. 
 Diana Peterfreund can bring far more interesting worlds to life than characters. While Persis and Justen's stories are interesting, the world of New Pacifica is captivating. With its obvious flaws in gender inequality and ineffective government, it bears some resemblance to a world not too unlike ours and leaves us room to reflect on just how unjust politics are. 
 Stemming from The Scarlet Pimpernel, Across a Star-Swept Sea follows its prequel in satisfying hungry readers of historical fiction and dystopian literature alike.