Reviews

Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title:  Under the Never Sky
Author:  Veronica Rossi
Series:  Under the Never Sky #1
Publisher:  HarperCollins
Publication Date:  January 3, 2012
Pages:  374
Format/Source:  Hardback/Purchased
Age Group/Genre:  Young Adult/Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian

WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.

DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

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. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads)



About Time…

My book club is full of girls who really enjoy YA.  We don’t exclusively read YA, but we do read a lot of it.  But it’s hard to find a YA book that hasn’t already been read by one or more of us.  So I was extremely surprised when I found out that NONE of the girls in my book club had read Under the Never Sky, including me.  

I’d had the book for a long time, and my husband had read it and LOVED it. Every few weeks he’d ask, “Have you bought the sequel to Under the Never Sky yet?” And I’d always respond, “I haven’t even read the first one yet!” And then when I heard the sequel is going to be at BEA, I figured I should get around to reading it ASAP, and since May was my month to host book club, I thought, “Why not kill two birds with one stone?”  And I’m glad I did, because not only did I really enjoy it, the girls in my book club all enjoyed it, too!

Kind of Science Fantasy?…

One day I was on Twitter and I saw a few authors (I can’t remember who they were now), talking about the genre Science Fantasy, which I took to be kind of a melding of Science Fiction and Fantasy.  They said that Star Wars was the perfect example, and that made total sense to me.  So after reading UtNS, I felt like I had found a good example of a Science Fantasy book.  It’s set in the future, on our world (I think), with lots of Sci-Fi gadgets, and there’s kind of a dystopian thing going on.  All those make it pretty Sci-Fi. But then there are the Senses that some of the Savages have and that seems more Fantasy to me.  But no matter what it is, I enjoyed the book, and I like when authors mix and match their genres within one book.

I also really loved the fact that this was a mystery, but I didn’t feel like it was solved in one infodump at the end of the book.  While I’m reading, I take notes, and I often find myself noting little clues that are sure to help solve the mystery.  But these are often things that the main characters dismiss, or don’t even acknowledge at all, and then they aren’t mentioned again until the very end when the main character suddenly remembers them and solves the mystery.  This kind of bothers me, because although I know it’s a good way to keep the characters and the readers in the dark, it seems really convenient that at the last minute the protagonist suddenly remembers all those clues, when they hadn’t thought about them for most of the book.  Anyway, my point here is that this didn’t happen in this book.  Aria not only acknowledged those little clues but she put two and two together as they happened, and figured out the mystery at the same time as the reader.  That made me pretty happy, because it truly made her a smart character.

And I also feel like Aria was a truly strong character.  I see lots of reviews about strong female characters and a lot of the time I don’t necessarily agree with their assessments.  Characters don’t have to physically fight to be strong characters, and showing emotion does not make them weak, but sarcasm and attitude doesn’t necessarily make for a strong character.  Yes, anything stronger than Bella is good, but I really feel like in this story, Aria proved that she was strong in several ways, like when she continued to walk in the wilderness when Perry left her to fend for herself.  I also just like the major concept of this book, which I won’t go into because of spoilers.  And I loved some of the side characters, like Roar and Marron.

Great Quotes…

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Under the Never Sky:

“Aria liked looking for the fissures in his image.”

“The Savage reminded her of the Equestrian Realms, how every movement in a horse showed a chorus of lean muscles rolling and shifting beneath skin.”

“He devoured the hillside in big, loping strides.”

“And in life, at least in her new life, chances were the best she could hope for.  They were like her rocks.  Imperfect and surprising and maybe better in the long run than certainties.  Chances, she thought, were life.”

“All he heard was the sound of his feet chasing the dark.”

My rating for Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi:


More like 4.5 stars.  I really enjoyed it, and can’t wait to read Through the Ever Night!
Find it:  Goodreads │ Amazon │ HarperCollins
You may also enjoy:  PureUglies The Maze Runner The Hunger Games
Disclaimer:  I purchased this book myself.  I was not compensated in any way for this review.

5 Comments

  1. Brittany S.

    May 23, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    So glad you enjoyed it!!! I was actually kind of annoyed with Aria at first and then I was like, "Wow, she's actually really cool!" Veronica Rossi does a fantastic job of developing her character and I think she grows even more in the second book!
    I love the science-fantasy type of book! I totally felt like this works with that. It was kind of dystopian, kind of fantasy, kind of sci-fi… It was so interesting!

  2. fakesteph

    May 23, 2013 at 9:37 pm

    Glad to hear how much you enjoyed it. My best friend listened to this audiobook recently and loved it! Maybe I'll get it from audible….

  3. Brandi Kosiner

    May 24, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    Loved Aria and this book in general. Glad you enjoyed!

  4. Sarah

    May 31, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    This might be my favorite dystopian, tied with Divergent. But I love Through The Ever Night more than Insurgent, so this wins.

  5. Bittner

    June 20, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    You know I got that kindle version of the novella that is tied to this book that night that we were at your house and I still haven't actually read it. I will though, and the sequel eventually.
    Good pick Andrea!

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