Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Under the Never Sky
by Veronica Rossi

WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.

DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers.

Let me first say that I absolutely loved this book, the only reason I’m giving it 3.5 stars is because I think the beginning is a bit confusing and lacked a bit more detail. This book is a 100% must read!

I read the 0.5 novella Roar & Liv before I started UTNS and I’m glad I did, because it let me understand Perry better than if I hadn’t read it. 

It was a slow start for me, I think it was mainly because I needed to envision all the different aspects of the story and move along at the same time, Veronica is incredible at world building so much so that she had 3 different main environments going on at the same time, all like nothing I had ever read before so my mind kept going back and forth between worlds trying to imagine them, I have to say that the “outside” changed in my imagination several times until I finally stuck with one vision of it. The underground world I think was the easiest to imagine though the Realms is where that world really throws a monkey wrench into your brain lol 

The characters were a bit easier to imagine but still at times a bit confusing, they are all human but different, very different, evolved in different ways, envisioning the characters though I got to admit was very fun. 

I think though that I would have found useful, in the beginning chapters, more detail on what the outside looked liked and how the abilities the outsiders had come about as well as how they worked. I’m still not 100% sure I understand how the Aether formed as it is now and what it does.

If I had to describe this novel I would say it’s dystopian-scifi with a little fantasy sprinkled in … ok a lot of fantasy actually.

Aria is my favorite character because she is a fighter & a survivor. A series of events lead to Aria being thrown out of the underground world she had called her home since she was born and was forced to try and survive in the wild outside the safety of the “pods”, where the technology she always had access to doesn’t exist. Things were looking grim until she runs into Perry; who she has met before even if she faintly remembers him. 

Aria who initially thought she would die, either of illness or starvation or both, actually learns a thing or two from Perry & she discovers that surviving in the outside may not be as impossible as she was told it would be.

Aria, in a way, discovers a new person in herself, one that’s strong, resourceful, smart, brave and passionate.

Perry is positively yummy-licious! He is a loyal friend, brother and uncle, he is strong and smart, he possesses special abilities that make him unique and can be lethal if needed. Perry is on a mission to recover someone very precious that has been taken from him by the dwellers so when he finds Aria it’s the perfect connection to this underground world he so desperately needs to infiltrate. 

Aria and Perry are unlikely allies, they need each other’s help so they agree to travel together but they are both weary of each other. They have both been fed stories about the other one’s kind, they each had preconceived notions of what the other one is, little by little though they discover that things are not what they seem and eventually they start leaving their prejudices behind.

They each learn from the other. Their relationship would have probably taken even longer to develop had it not been for Roar. Roar is Perry’s best friend and they cross paths mid way to where Aria and Perry were heading to. Roar is such a funny guy and very observant, he notices what’s going on between Aria and Perry before either one of them even starts to realize it. Roar too is in search of someone he loves and lost due to circumstances beyond his control.

Veronica’s worlds and characters will capture you without a doubt, a story full of self discovery, true friendships, survival & action that will keep you at the edge of your seat. 

My expectations for Through The Ever Night are high, because I know that this story can only get better and better… I feel like there is so much more to learn about the outsider tribes and their abilities and many more secrets to uncover when it comes to the dwellers. I’m very much looking forward to finding out where the sequel will take them and how their relationship survives, if it indeed does.