Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Publisher: Harper Collins (January 3rd, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 374 pages
Source: ARC from Publisher
Series: Under the Never Sky #1
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
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.
Review: I admit, I had no clue what to expect with this book. The summary is a nice start but it doesn't even begin to describe the complexity of this story. For the first 100 or so pages, I was a little lost. I didn't have a problem with the characters but I wasn't able to fully understand their world. At first I thought that only Aria's world was different-- that she lived in a Pod-type atmosphere containing several advanced technological gadgets but that wasn't all. Perry's world confused me even more. He wasn't just an Outsider. There was a lot more to it than that.
This story alternates POVs from Aria to Perry. It starts with Aria as she is going against the rules with a few of her friends and leaving their secure Pod. She wants to find out about her mother, a scientist, and feels that this is the only way to get the help she needs from one of the guys. Instead, she is thrown into a dangerous situation she never expected. I won't go into too many details but a short while later she is placed on a course to come face-to-face with Perry, but it isn't their first meet-up.
Aria has been thrown out and left in The Death Shop, never to return to Reverie. She has heard about the Outsiders and the dangers from the air and disease from being out of their safe environment. Aria assumes that death will be her fate.
Perry has had his own bad luck. From what he feels is punishment to his involvement in 'Dweller' territory, involving Aria, someone close to him is in danger. He will do anything to get them back and Aria will do anything to get to her mother. Together they make an unlikely alliance but one that kept me riveted! This was where I really started to 'get it'. The pieces of the puzzle came together and I could not stop reading. Perry and Aria's journey was unimaginable. The pain Aria had to endure and the worry from Perry made this a very emotional part of the story. Aria learns there is much more to Perry and all of the Outsiders than she would have thought, and Perry learns that not all Dwellers are as spoiled and selfish as he imagined.
Perry was just incredible. His raw strength and courage was astounding! There are very few YA characters that I think I would fear if I ran into them. I would fear Perry! Not because he wasn't nice (well, that may have came later) but because he was just so powerful. He knew how to survive on nothing and he taught Aria to do the same. He definitely didn't baby her and their connection was very far from 'insta-love'. He was exactly what she needed in order to get to a place where she could be capable of taking care of herself.
Aria may have started off as uncertain and a bit timid but she quickly learns the way of the Outsiders. Life is harsh. Death happen. And, you never know what you will be forced to do in order to survive. These were valuable lessons for her. She stood her ground when it came to Perry. Once she got to know him you could really see her respect what he was able to do.
The plot of Under the Never Sky is so original! I read dystopian/post-apocalyptic books often and it was nice to see even more of a spin placed on 2 different cultures that try to exist after so much devastation. The characters Aria and Perry meet along the way carried a lot of significance to the plot and overall feel of the story. None were 'throw away' people to me. I enjoyed each one and saw where they fit within the story line.
I gotta say, once I understood more of the world involved in Under the Never Sky, the more I was impressed with the inventiveness of it. I can't imagine the work Veronica Rossi put into this part of the story development.
Under the Never Sky completely transported me into a foreign word I could never have imagined. The characters were able to slowly build upon a relationship to have it become more and more complex and passionate. The intense action and magnificent world-building Veronica Rossi was able to create still has me amazed.
Recommended: Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic fans. People looking for something 'out of the norm' with a more slow-building romance.
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