Actual rating: 3.5 stars

This novella takes place after Kai ran away from the North state, leaving Elliot and the life he always knew behind. It tells a little of what happened with him in the 4 years he's been away and how he came to meet the Innovations and become a part of the Cloud Fleet. It was nice to follow Kai's POV for a while, I was always wondering what he was thinking during For Darkness Shows the Stars and what he was feeling, and I got at least a brief glimpse here. I still think he was a bit unreasonable with Elliot, but I can understand his desire to go away and be free. He went through a lot after the escape the North State.

The only thing I felt was a little bit unresolved for me was his two friends, Cleopatra and his little brother, Napoleon, the ones he was teaching how to read and write. Are they supposed to be Andromeda and her brother in the past? That's how they met and the siblings ended up in the Cloud Fleet? Because I thought the story of these two siblings in this novella resembled the siblings in the main novel, especially when Kai mentions that Cleopatra told him about her original state and how bad it was there and we know for a fact that Andromeda and her brother escaped their state very young because of all the violence and abuse they suffered. I like to think that it was indeed them in this novel and that's why Andromeda is so protective of Kai - because he was the one to actually save them, by helping them and after through the Innovations, getting them on Cloud Fleet.

Nice novella to add to this world Diana Peterfruend created!