Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

“UNDER THE NEVER SKY was an intense ride from beginning to end, and I loved every minute of it.” ~Under the Covers

There’s something refreshing about picking up a good young adult book every now and then, and that’s in great part thanks to the amazing worlds that young adult authors create.  UNDER THE NEVER SKY is another unique tale that sucked me in from the very start.

The first thing that I was drawn to was the world.  Basically there are two groups of people that live in this world, the Dwellers and the Savages.  The Dwellers are the humans who survived the Aether storms and have evolved and used technology to create a completely new way of life.  They use a device over their eye, mainly because they are germophobes, and that also helps them function in their society because they live basically in a virtual reality.  It’s like going off into game lands and virtual trips.  Yes, even sex can be had as a virtual simulation instead of having to do the real thing.  They live in their safe pods, with no contact with the disease ridden outside.  Oh and did I mention their life span is altered? Yeah.

In the outside, we have the Savages.  They live day to day, they hunt for their food, they fight diseases, they dress with what they can.  They survive.  They are definitely the race that’s looked down upon.  Then there are the Crowen.  Basically cannibals that wear bird masks and are really scary and will eat you.  Yes, quite literally *licks lips* so you better not cross them.  The outside is a scary place.

So when Aria, a Dweller, is dumped out of her pod by her own people, without her protective lens and not a clue how to survive, she has to team up with an unlikely ally to try and get back home.  Perry is a Savage looking for his missing nephew.  He was taken by the Dwellers and he’s on a mission to go rescue him.  They can both help each other get their goals.  But of course their path there won’t be easy.

The thing that made this book so special, other than this amazing world, was the characters.  I absolutely loved Aria and Perry.  Individually they are awesome and strong characters.  Even though teenagers, they have a good head on their shoulders for what needs to be done and to keep pushing forward.  Perry is pretty badass, and at the same time funny and quirky and sexy.  And throughout the whole book, the author did an amazing job at slowly building a connection between the two to the point that the romance between these two characters actually took an important role in the story.  I also enjoyed the fact that we get Perry’s POV as well as Aria.  She’s still the main narrator, but it was great to peak into his mind at times.

The story is full of action and tough situations for these two to get out of.  It will take sweat, blood and tears to get to safety.  They both have to face some deep betrayals.  And learn to accept each other after a lifetime of conditioning that their races are the enemy.  UNDER THE NEVER SKY was an intense ride from beginning to end, and I loved every minute of it.  For fans of THE HUNGER GAMES, you’ll definitely enjoy this story.

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[about-author author=”Veronica Rossi”]