Review: Under the Never Sky

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: Janurary 3rd 2012
Pages: 374
Copy: Hardcover
Source: Library
Genre: Dystopian, Romance
Challenges: Debut Author Challenge
Goodreads

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.

This is the first debut book I have read so far this year and I am glad to say that I was fairly impressed by Rossi's Debut and I think we will most likely be seeing some good work from her in the future.

The first thing that really stood out to me about this story is that the Dystopian world that the main character, Aria lives in is not like a typical dystopian today.  Instead of a controlling government this world is confined to enclosed homes to keep people safe from the dying and murderous world outside. After the angered parent of a hurt boy blames her for his injury he sends her out of their safe home and out into the death shop.

And then there's Perry, the other character the story follows. Perry lives out in the deathshop in a tribe that has been fighting to stay alive since the storms have been raging and death has been coming closer and closer to reality. We first see him when he sneaks into Reverie and saves Aria from two boys who had been attacking her. Back at his tribe he takes his nephew out hunting and then people from Reverie, or "Dwellers" take his nephew from him and he goes on a mission to safe him. And then he runs into Aria again.

And there's storms, fights, man eating people, death and of course, romance.

I love how adventurous Rossi got with writing a book like this as a debut writer. She has a very easy to follow writing style and I thought it was very well done. The scare factor of this book was very minimal, though the aether storms were a very interesting aspect of the story. The romance of the story was very cute though like a lot of stories it did seem forced upon the story.

Overall this story was pretty amazing. I can't wait for Through the Ever Night!