Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1)
by Veronica Rossi
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.
Source: I purchased a Kindle copy.
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Review:
I really enjoyed Under the Never Sky, much more than I thought I would. I expected something a lot more run of the mill and didn’t expect such a refreshing and original plot. It was a great blend of dystopian, science fiction, fantasy, adventure, and romance.
I love the way the story unfolded. Aria’s world was much different than ours and most interactions took place in a virtual world. I loved that the world wasn’t over explained, it just was. As the story progressed, more bits of information of how things came to be that way and how the world was set up were revealed. I hate when books give me too much of an information dump, so I liked the way I was thrown into the setting and the story eventually revealed itself.
I enjoyed Aria’s character and admired her resilience as she was thrust into a world where death was said to take her. The world was scary, flawed, and lacked the order and design that her virtual worlds had. I loved seeing her take everything in without letting it overwhelm or frighten her. She worked through any fear she had. I admired her for sticking with Perry, too, when he was so rude and terrible to her. She was scared of him because he was an Outsider and a Savage, but she knew she was better off with him than she was on her own in the world.
Perry was in the wrong place at the wrong time through the entire beginning of the novel and ended up stuck with Aria. He hated Dwellers, was rude to her, but had to do what was necessary to save his nephew. I liked his point of view and the type of society he was living in on what Aria called the Outside. He was faced with difficulties Aria couldn’t begin to understand. Over time, the two characters, along with some wonderful side characters, got to know and care about each other. Aria never had to deal with the stress, hunger, and decision making that the Outsiders had to deal with and she learned so much on her adventure to Bliss to find her mother.
The story was violent, adventurous, romantic, difficult, and entertaining. I couldn’t put the book down and was shocked it was as good as it was. I’m not sure what sort of terrible YA dystopian I was expecting, but I’m glad it exceeded my expectations. I definitely recommend the book to any fans of YA Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, and/or Dystopian because it fits well into all of those categories. I think it came out during a time when dystopian YA trilogies were abundant and I think it’s a bit forgotten and underrated now. I usually pay attention to what books aren’t really being talked about anymore versus what people are still raving about years after release, so I thought maybe this one would be a 3 star, meh, kind of book, but I was so wrong.. I skipped over it for such a long time and I’m definitely glad I finally got the urge to pick it up. It was so much better than I expected.
Labels: Dystopian, Fantasy, Review, Science Fiction, YA
