Author: Veronica Rossi
Genre: post apocalyptic, dystopia
Series: Under the Never Sky #1
Pages: 374
Published: 2012
Source: won
Rating: 3/5
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.
There are a few issues here but primarily, the beginning is too weak, too easy, and too full of holes for me to rate this better. I did enjoy it more as I read and the characters had a chance to develop and grow on me more. I did find things to enjoy while reading this, to my surprise, and am very curious to see where Rossi goes with her story in the next novels. It's not the most plausible or the best-explained world, but it is intriguing and different.
The Aether is both a great addition and a weakness to Under the Never Sky - it's not expanded upon enough for me to fully endorse, but the world is intriguing and somewhat unique. I like the ideas and concepts, I just think her execution needs a bit of work to truly excel. If I finish your book feeling more confused about the basic principles than when I started? Then the worldbuilding needs clarification and more explantion.
That said, Roar is awesome and I want a full-length novel devoted solely to him. Aria's platonic relationship with him is utterly fantastic and gives the two a good chance to banter without losing the plot or creating a love triangle. There are kernels of hope that the next book could be an improvement; this is a series, starter, afterall. In conclusion: excellent premise, average execution with hope for better.
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