Monday, April 15, 2013

Book Review: UNDER THE NEVER SKY by Veronica Rossi

Title:Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
Publisher: Harper Collins – 2012
Genre: young adult dystopia

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Aria has lived a sheltered life in the enclosed city of Reverie, where she spends her days hopping from simulated realm to simulated realm. When she is banished to the outside for a crime she didn’t commit, Aria is ripped from her pampered life and forced to survive. She forms an unlikely alliance with Perry, a hunter who sees his opportunity for redemption in Aria.

Rossi creates a rich, detailed world. The sky, known as the aether, is a character. It’s roiling colors and powerful storms reflect the action, shifting through different types of turmoil as tensions increase.

Aria and Perry are thrown together from the very beginning. This is made more apparent by Perry’s sire abilities—he can scent emotions. In a way, this gives a deeper insight into Aria’s character, as we see her emotions both from her chapters and from Perry’s interpretations of her feelings. As the two journey across the land to find Aria’s mother and Perry’s nephew, their relationship grows. Things begin rocky and eventually blossom into young love. The transition seemed a little too fast and lacking in believability.

I also would have liked to see more of the realms. Through the course of the book, Rossi has Aria fling around terms like “in the real,” and while the words themselves fill out her world, we don’t see anything of the realms until several chapters into the action.

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