Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Title: Through the Ever Night

Author: Veronica Rossi

Series: Under the Never Sky #2

Publisher: HarperCollins

Date Published: January 3, 2012

Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

It’s been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don’t take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe’s precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.

Threatened by false friends, hidden enemies, and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?

The first sequel I read this year was disappointing but of course that’s nothing new. Most sequels tend to be disappointing, but if the first sequel of the year disappoints, you lose hope for the rest that you were looking forward to. It’s the reason why I didn’t read this book as soon as it came out. I couldn’t. I was too scared that Rossi would fail to make it as awesome as the first one. I should never have doubted her.

Rossi never fails to impress me, first with Under the Never Sky and now with Through the Ever Night. This sequel has given me hope again, it doesn’t matter how many disappointing sequels there are out there. You will come across some that will never fail to amaze you. Such is the case with this one.

I think the best thing about this book is the relationships amongst the characters. Rossi did the one thing most authors are too scared to. She has a platonic relationship between a guy and a girl, the one thing that authors are scared of (apparently). Friends can love each other without having feelings for the other. Really. I am so tired of friends in love triangles or whatever and I absolutely ADORE the relationship between Roar and Aria. It’s as good as the one with Perry and Roar. Both are in love with another person and it’s as clear as that. No messed up feelings. No nothing. And I am so glad for that because it gives me a better chance to enjoy Roar’s character. He is so different from Perry. Perry is serious (not in a brooding way) because he has tons of pressure on him and he is always trying to do what’s best. Roar follows his heart, he does what he needs to but he is a loyal friend and he is hilarious. He knows how to lighten the most serious situations. I just hope that nothing happens to him in the next book (me being paranoid).

There is a lot of character development as well. It makes me so happy to see that each character has improved in their own ways. Perry learns how to be a true leader throughout the book. He isn’t perfect and he isn’t an amazing leader in the beginning the way some people magically tend to be in YAs these days. He learns! Same with Aria, she develops into a better character (not that I had any problem with her before).

One of the things I don’t understand is why people think that authors who kill characters are brave. It’s not taking a risk if it’s a useless death. Yes I agree that sometimes someone needs to die but sometimes authors tend to kill for no reason (Suzanne Collins). Rossi didn’t do this and thank god for that. This is the sign of a good author, someone who can write a great book without going about killing people.

Also she doesn’t end the book with a cliff hanger. She ends it how authors should end books in the series. She solved the problems we were dealing with in this book leaving a bit of room for the third book. Perfect.

I think I am kind of sad I read it so soon. This means I’ll have to wait a WHOLE year for Into the still Blue. But I believe in Rossi and I know she will make the wait worth it.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
Series: Under the Never Sky #1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date Published: January 3, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

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.

I am not sure I can call this book a dystopia, I think this is more of a futuristic book. Aside from that, this book is a masterpiece. Perfection.

I read this a while before school started and well, it made me wish I had more days for my summer break so that I could hunt down more books like this and read the hell out of them.

This book has the perfect opening, someone breaking the law of course, with a fire and the author introducing us to the society in which Aria lives. Openings matter quite a bit because sometimes if the author fails to impress us with the beginning, we tend to either quit after a while or drag along with the book, which ends up with us not liking it as much. It also gives us an idea about what the rest of the book will be like, will it be worth reading or not? With an opening like that, I was drawn straight into the story and wasn’t let free until the end. I was never bored. This book is an adventure so there isn’t much opportunity for boredom.

Unlike a lot of people though, I actually liked the world building. Most of the reviews I had read were good but they all said that the world building was a bit sketchy. I guess opinions differ. It’s very easy to imagine the world. Plus the concept of Aether is cool, we aren’t told a lot about it in the book but I think there is a reason behind that. It’s something none of our characters really understand. If they don’t understand how can they be expected to describe it to us? The whole realms thing is kind of scary, “better than real”, because the people living in pods are secluded; they have what is known as realms. Everything they cannot experience in real life can be experienced through these realms. There is a realm for everything, the difference is, they aren’t real. The idea kind of scares me because as much as I don’t care for going out and seeing the world, to have it all taken away from me would suck.

The book is written in dual POV and is narrated by our Perry and Aria. Oh my gosh I love both of these characters so much, although I do prefer Perry because of his attachment to his nephew, Talon. They are both on a journey for someone that is important to them so they need to match forces to make this possible. Perry is a serious person, who although may not be extremely friendly, is extremely loyal. He is a great friend and a great uncle. Aria is a character that takes some time to warm up to mostly because of her prejudices which aren’t exactly her fault. But she is also a great character, a strong female lead who can think for herself.

I had a lot of fun watching the romance between the two unravel. It went from this:

“Oh, this was champ. She’d found herself a Savage prince. Don’t laugh, she told herself. Don’t laugh, Aria.” 

To this:

“What could she say? How could she possibly describe what she felt for him? He knew. He had to know.”

The plot was also great, like I’ve mentioned already, this book doesn’t leave much opportunity for boredom. I was always on the edge waiting for something new to happen, something even better than what had just happened.

Overall, Under the Never Sky is a great read for everyone looking for something that’s a bit different than everything else out there.