Book Review: Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

It seems as though I haven’t read any good books in a while. I mean sure, there’s A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, but that’s something that I had to read for school. What I mean is the fact that I haven’t read any good books for fun. So, at a loss, I asked a friend about what I should read next because of my severe lack of judgment for the setup for the past few books that I’ve reviewed. She responded by saying that Under The Never Sky was excellent, so I decided to pick it up. So, did this book satisfy my need for a good book? Sit back, relax, and read on as I review Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi.

The Setup:

Under The Never Sky takes place in the distant future ravaged by Aether storms. The people in this world either live in pods isolated from the outside, called Dwellers, or within the outside world, called Outsiders. Granted, they call each other different names, but Dweller and Outsider are the official names. Our two main characters are Aria, a Dweller, and Peregrine (nicknamed Perry), an Outsider. One day Aria is framed for a crime that she didn’t commit (yes, there’s more to it and Perry is involved, but SPOILERS) and was quite literally thrown out of her pod, called Reverie, into the outside world, which is incredibly dangerous to Dwellers because they are not used to being exposed to disease, sunlight, rain, ect. Perry, who had being going through problems with his own tribe, the Tides, finds her and then our story begins. Well, if I have to give props to anything within this setup, it’s the fact that it’s really original, with the exception of the obvious romance elements that are being set up; other than that, I haven’t seen an environment like this, so it definitely intrigued me at the get-go. The only problem with it is the fact that it does take a little bit of time to get to the point that I described, but to be fair, it establishes the characters’ situations well enough before that point that I suppose that isn’t truly a valid complaint.

The Characters:

The characters of this story are fairly well written, but not the strongest. We’re not talking like Looking For Alaskaor Legend unique, but they’re still memorable and likable enough to be considered pretty distinctive. Aria was a fairly well written main character. She starts off as a relatively bland person who lived in the pods for all of her life, but throughout the story she learns to embrace her humanity due to SPOILERS! My favorite character was definitely Perry. Being the “savage” of the group, he was the most interesting of the characters, and learning more about him was truly fascinating. All of the other characters pretty much fell into your standard archetypes, and didn’t truly develop beyond that. What they did develop, however, were the societies that each character came from and how their cultures affected their personalities. The most intriguing aspect was seeing just how different Aria was from Perry in terms of the environments that they grew up in, in terms of the physical and mental situations, and it what generally kept me coming back for more in the character department.

The Story:

The story of this book is actually its strongest point. I loved the world that this book created, and the story was well paced and exciting, but it did have a slow start until the two mains met each other. It basically followed the numerous adventures of Perry and Aria, while also slowly growing closer to each other. I tend to really like these types of road-trip stories because it allows for characters to have time to develop, which is what truly matters to me in the long run. The relationship between Perry and Aria, while not the best I’ve ever seen, did feel genuine despite the forced nature of the setup, and you do grow attached to them. So, while not the greatest, the story is entertaining, sporting a fantastic setting and was enjoyable to read.

The Writing Style/Grammatical Errors:

The writing style of this book can be slow at times, but I rather liked it. It was very descriptive and helped build on top of the already well developed world that the characters live in. The book is told in third person, which is something that I don’t necessarily mind, and in this book the author managed to pull it off, so no complaints from me in that regard. There were no grammatical errors except for quite a few fragments, but they were used to emphasize the character’s emotions or thoughts, so I don’t think that it truly counts as a flaw.

Final Judgment:

Overall, I think that Under The Never Sky is great. It can get a little slow at times, but in the long run, its two main characters are memorable, the setting is fantastic, the story is well put together, and it was a great read in comparison to the myriad of terrible books that I have read recently. I give Under The Never Sky a 3.5 out of 5, and a recommendation to read it. But, like always, it is up to you to decide your own opinion.
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Further Recommendations:

Legend by Marie Lu

This is my favorite trilogy of all time, with a fantastic dystopian setting, interesting characters, and a high-octane story. If you like dystopias, definitely check this book out.

Switched by Amanda Hocking

A little more on the Paranormal Romance side, Switched is an entertaining read with a great main character and a fantastic setting. Give this book a chance if you're into that kind of stuff.

The next review will be on a science fiction anime. Here's the hint: Hacking to the gate!

See you guys then!