Ash’s review of Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Young adult published by HarperCollins 03 Jan 12
With the success of The Hunger Games there have been a ton of similar dystopian books, most of which I avoid unless I hear a lot about it. I don’t want to read books that come out because another did well, they never seem to work for me. I started hearing a lot of good things about Under the Never Sky, so I decided to try it. I am so glad I did.
Like I said, I don’t read many books of this genre, so I can’t say with authority how fresh Rossi’s world is, but to me I find it different and exciting. The different feels, from the sterile Reverie and how Aria is, to the scary outside and how Perry is, really helps give the book a feel and texture that I don’t find all that often. I actually like the degree of how different it all is from each other.
Aria is our female main character and I actually really like her. I find that far too often I end up finding things I am annoyed with when it comes to the female leads in young adult (well, I guess females in any book, there always seem to have a few TSTL moments). There is always something, some flaw that, while maybe realistic to teens, annoys me as an adult (and probably would have when I was a teen). That doesn’t happen here, and actually the more the story goes on, the more I like Aria. She knows what she has to do and she quickly adapts to life outside of Reverie.
When we first meet Perry through Aria, I thought I would be disappointed in him. I don’t understand the appeal of him right away, but I wasn’t disappointed for long. The relationship between Perry and Aria definitely grows and changes. It doesn’t just happen and I think it’s done rather well. In the end I wanted to rush out to buy the next book to see what happens next for them.
Grade: A-
Summary:
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.
In her enthralling debut, Veronica Rossi sends readers on an unforgettable adventure set in a world brimming with harshness and beauty.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
