Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) by Veronica Rossi
Information.
Pages: 384.
Publication: January 3rd/February 7th 2012/ATOM.
"Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.
Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.
If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers." - Goodreads.
Review.
When I first heard about Under the Never Sky, I knew I was going to have to read it. Why? Well, for my selfish addiction to dystopian fiction, of course and since I hadn't read a bad review of Rossi's debut novel.
The concept of Under the never Sky is popular and in some cases overdone. Books similar include Enclave, which I loved, Blood Red Road and Birthmarked are two others. That said, Rossi has put an interesting twist on her version. She has created a world in the Pods, that are deemed safe and have highly technological advances. Then she has created the outside, the real world, where food is hunted and traded, where people live in tribes and some are gifted with better senses, and the aether lurks in the sky.
The story I enjoyed. It possessed all the attributes wanted in a good novel: adventure and action, as well as romance and when Roar is around, humour.
The negative aspect of Under the Never Sky for me was the lead characters. Aria and Perry are interesting characters. Two different people from very different worlds come together for, at the beginning, their own reasons, yet find solace and peace in each other. I, however, didn't connect either character which is always disappointing when reading a book. I did not find Aria or Perry particularly unique or engaging characters.
Aria actually got on my nerves quite a lot at the beginning of the story but as the book goes on and she grows and understands the outside world so does her personality and towards the end of the story, she is quite a admirable character.
The minor characters such as Roar and Cinder intrigued me more than the lead characters. Questions arose about the characters, regarding Roar and Perry's sister Liz, and what is with Cinder and his special "power"?
I am undecided on whether to give Under the Never Sky a rating of three or four. At the end, I have decided on three and half. :P I liked Under the Never Sky but I didn't really really like it because I didn't connect with it, like I had hoped. However, with that said, it is a readable and enjoyable book that I would encourage anyone who likes dystopian fiction to read.
Rating: 3.5/5.
