Author: Veronica Rossi
Genre: Young Adult/Sci-fi
Publication: Harper
Release Date: January 3rd 2012
Pages: 376
Spoilers: Yes, some small spoilers. I will try to spoil as less as possible.
I bought this book a few months ago, intrigued by the cover and its backflip. Also, I heard the book was very good. People who said that, also loved book like The Hunger Games and Divergent. Without a doubt, I bought Under The Never Sky. A few weeks ago (I guess 3 or 4 weeks ago?) I started reading the book. School kinda made it impossible for me to finish it faster, but last night I finally closed the book. Satisfied? Nah. Not really.
Before I explain what bothered me about the book, but also what I LOVED about the book, I will let you read the synopsis from Goodreads. Enjoy!
“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 energy storms will. 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 come together to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky. “
So here’s our female main character: Aria, a girl from Reverie, a dome protecting people from the Outside. Since the Unity, people have been living in domes. Aria and the other people in the dome are told that they’d die if they’d ever go outside. Aria believes this too. In Reverie, people actually don’t really live in a real world. They live in Realms: virtual world they can enter with their eye-patch. It was really something I had needed to get used to, but it actually explained a lot when I got to the end of the book.
Aria’s mom is a scientist, or something like that, because her mom never really told her anything about her work. Aria gets into trouble with her friends, which causes her to get arrested for the death of one of her friends. Of course, the father of the deceased kid, is one of the bosses of Reverie. She gets thrown out of Reverie before she can contact her mother, who’s on a trip to another dome far away. Once outside, Aria changes from a uplifted girl to a girl who believes she will die any moment. Which is kinda weird, reading it, because as a reader, I knew she wouldn’t. (Note: after reading a lot of post apocalyptic books, this is kind of logical).
And than Aria meets Perry: our male main character. Muscular and wild, he saves Aria but looses his nephew Talon. Aria en Perry make a deal: Aria needs her eye-patch to get fixed and Perry needs to find his nephew. Aria and Perry aren’t friends, worse, they don’t even talk for a very long time. Perry is mad at Aria, and Aria is kinda afraid of Perry. The two of them get along better once they meet Roar, one of Perry’s friends. After a lot of fights, struggles en talks, Perry and Aria start to become better friends, trying to stay alive on the outside.
Dangers? Well, lets start with the Aether storms. It’s an electrical, scary storm that burns down everything on its path. Or, that’s what I imagined while reading it. Swirling in the sky, the so called Outsiders know when the storm is coming and whether there’s a change the storm will be so bad they have to hide. These storms are the biggest obstacles for the Outsiders. Second: the Tides and other tribes. Perry, coming from the Tides, is the brother of the blood lord. So his brother is the boss of the tribe. But Perry wants to be the boss to, but first has to find his nephew: the son of his brother. Third: the Coven. This is a human eating tribe that’s been hunting Perry, Roar and Aria from the moment Perry accidentally killed their blood lord. And fourth: the people from Reverie who had thrown out Aria.
They also meet Cinder, a boy who has the Aether in his blood. For all I know, this is a special ability none of them have ever heard of. Perry is a Scire (scents are his specialty), Roar is an Aud (he can her anything anywhere). But Cinder is even more special, but I still have NO idea how this is possible.
Towards the ending of the book, there’s more action and more secrets revealed. At Marron’s house, Aria’s Smarteye (the eye patch) gets fixed. That’s the moment everything happens at once, and things get vague and I got lost. Maybe it was because I was tired I didn’t like the ending, maybe it was because well.. I don’t know! You should read it yourself 😉
What I ADORED about this book, was the fact that Perry was just as insecure about everything as Aria. And love wasn’t the main thing in the book. It was there, it had its share, but it wasn’t the most important thing in the story. And also, Aria became one bad ass female character. She learned how to fight and how to take care of herself. And this all happened without force, it came very natural in the book.
Conclusion: the book is great, amazing and never ever boring. The characters are very strong and the story unfolded in a way I didn’t see coming (Cinder? Still dunno what’s up with him). And what about Talon? And Marron? And most important: Aria and Perry? The book left me with so many questions. It’s a good thing there a sequel.. and another sequel!
Veronica Rossi: I am looking forward to “Through The Ever Night”! (Which I will read after another book I just started reading: “This Star Won’t Go Out”.)
Happy Easter <3
