Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Jen's review of "Under the Never Sky" by Veronica Rossi

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Publication date: Jan 3rd, 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Number of Pages: 374
Format: Paperback
Description: Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.

As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.

They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers abarbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY 


In this first installment to a new and thrilling Dystopian series comes Veronica Rossi who captures you from the very first page.
The story comes from Aria and Perregrine (Perry). Each chapter is a different POV, whether it's Aria's or whether it's Perry's. I haven't read many books this way, but it certainly works in this case. Not to mention it's 3rd POV.
Now, tell me.. you don't find many YA books in 3rd POV, but I guess for the story to work.. it's how it should be.. and it was a good call.

Aria is a seventeen year old teenager living in a pod that protects her from everything of the outsider world. The people in there don't get sick, and they can form up any world they want to be in, whether it's to be at a dance club, or a bookstore. The world is your oyster and there isn't anything she couldn't have asked for more.
That is until she suspects something has happened to her mother, and that is when she and her friend decide to go along with some guys for some experimenting in a forbidden area.
But what happens there will forever change Aria. It will make her an outsider to those of her kind. It will make her see everything so differently, and she won't be able to go back.

When Aria is exiled from her own land, she is forced to deal with the Death Shop, in other words.. the wild. This is something she is most scared about.. as there had been stories and rumors about how long one could last out there, and what you would find. You would be lucky to survive a day.

Perregrine, otherwise known as Perry has been born and raised an outsider. He is wild. An animal at times when he needs to be, and there is this competitive streak with his brother when it comes to leading their people.
When a tragedy occurs, Perry leaves his home in search for answers when he stumbles upon the girl whom he had saved. The girl who he calls 'Mole'.
Since they have something what each of them wants.. they'll have to form an alliance if they want to survive the aether. The storm.

Ah, this was such an amazing book. I had heard so much about it before I even picked it up at the bookstore, and it was so worth it.
These characters are not without flaws. But they are real, and they have challenges ahead of themselves, and which won't be an easy task to achieve.
And somewhere along the way their relationship starts to change, and it will be something that will surprise them both.
It was fun to see their reactions to one another and how they manage to work together even though they didn't like one another. It's an alliance that doesn't come without restraints and issues.
Yet, Aria and Perry are more alike than they might think. They both have been through some rough and terrible times.. they know what it is like to lose someone you care about.

We also meet some other people along the way.
There is Perry's best friend, Roar. Who was hilarious. He was so sure of himself and full of excitement and life. I loved him from the very first moment he came into the scene. You also sympathize with him, as he is not without issues going on his own life.
There is also Marron and Cinder, who also have significant parts in this book and have their own role to play in the lives of our two protagonists.
The journey these characters embark on is not an easy one. It's terrible and hard, but it's also one that does have meaning.

By the end of the novel.. these characters have been through so much.. they aren't the same people they begun out as. Relationships and friendships form. Things change. Discoveries and betrayals are found and there is a new life on the horizon.

If you see this book when you are out in the bookstore come January. Pick it up. No dot hesitate, as you will not regret it.
If you are a fan of The Hunger Games or Divergent, then you would love this.

It's just a shame we have to wait so long until book 2. *cries*


Rating: 5 out of 5

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