Bookanista Review: UNDER THE NEVER SKY

I love Veronica. Seriously, she’s one of the loveliest people you will ever meet. From the first time I met here, I could see that she was a thoughtful, intelligent person, and I couldn’t wait to see how that translated into her debut novel. Read below to see what I thought!  Full disclosure: Veronica Rossi is a friend and fellow Bookanista.

Here is the official blurb from the publisher:

UNDER THE NEVER SKY

Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.

As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.

They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers abarbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love – one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY

The first book in a captivating trilogy, Veronica Rossi’s enthralling debut sweeps you into an unforgettable adventure.

****

Wow.

No, seriously. Wow.

When I get too much of a good thing, sometimes it makes me a little sick. Like how the Kardashians are EVERYWHERE, and I would really be happy if they disappeared from the media. Or how there are currently a 1,001+ dystopians out there right now. After the Hunger Games series and Veronica Roth’s Divergent, I wasn’t sure there was room for me to like another dystopian yet, even though I love Veronica Rossi to death.

But I picked it up anyway because the cover is stunning and the back cover copy intrigued me. I was a chapter in before I knew I would not be putting the book down until I’d finished it. Some novels have great pacing. Some have fantastic characterization. Others have a lot of heart. UNDER THE NEVER SKY had all three. The two main characters, Aria and Perry, start out with enemies with a very certain outlook on life. When they meet, they don’t like each other. It’s not even a “this hate is the flipside of love” thing. No, these characters misunderstand each other and judge each other quite harshly. It’s only through circumstance that they begin to show their true selves to one another, and the shift in their attitudes happens so gradually that it feels completely authentic.

One of the things I like least about dystopians are the long and/or frequent passages about how stark and bleak everything is. Again, Veronica managed to surprise me here because her world is so creative that I was never bored or hopeless. I wanted to know more, see more, understand more.

And then there are the relationships. I don’t mean just the romance, which is hot. I mean, the relationships between family and friends. A pure emotionality tugged me along through the story. These characters want so much to belong and to be safe. They are not merely hardened survivalists. Their desires are blatant and so very relatable, and the dangers the characters face are imminent and terrifying.

Normally, I strive to balance my reviews with of the things that I didn’t love about a book. The things that I wished had been a little different so a reader knows what they are getting into. I honestly can’t do that here. I truly loved UNDER THE NEVER SKY and thought about it in the days after I read it – something that happens less often lately. Five stars all around, and lots of air clapping for Veronica Rossi’s debut.

***

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