Title: Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
# Of Pages: 384
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Level: Young Adult
Rating: 4 Hearts
Synopsis
(From Amazon.com)
Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived an Aether storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. This was worse.
Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.
A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.
My Verdict
I’m finding that I have an extreme case of writers block when it comes to this review. I think the problem is the fact that it took me almost a month to read it, which kept me from getting absorbed into the story or the characters.
The story dives right in to the excitement, I was hooked within the first 30 pages. This was especially nice because I started it after giving up on a book after 50 pages of nothingness. So I liked that it wasted no time in getting to the good stuff.
The world that Veronica created was described to us very well throughout the story. The people are divided into two groups; the dwellers and the outsiders. The dwellers live within pods full of high tech gadgets and spend their time escaping into “Realms” where they can travel anywhere and do anything they want. This aspect reminded me of that movie (Surrogates) with Bruce Willis where the people never leave the house and live through robot doubles.
Meanwhile, the Outsiders are fighting for food, and survival. All of the outsiders live in tribes and a lot of them have heightened senses, able to smell emotion, or hear for miles.
After Aria witnesses something that could bring down the head council member, she is left for dead on the outside! It’s not long before Perry finds her and forces her to help him make contact with the dwellers, who have kidnapped his nephew. Together they must embark on a journey to meet a guy named Marron who can fix the one thing they have that can help them both, Arias smart eye.
I found that I liked the secondary characters more so than the main ones. Perry’s best friend, Roar, was instantly likable and I grew to favor him over Perry.
Perry’s seven-year old nephew, Talon, isn’t even in much of the book, but when he was, he was adorable. I loved the relationship he and Perry shared.
The ending was absolutely perfect! I couldn’t have asked for anything better. It’s a completely satisfying ending in itself yet leaves enough doors open for the sequel Through the Ever Night, which I look forward to reading!
I'm glad to find a good review of this book, because I wasn't sure whether to read it or not. I like how one of the groups is called the Outsiders, like the book, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. (If you haven't read it, it's a really good book.;) )
ReplyDeleteAnyway, great review! I'll have to get this book now.