Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi Series: Under the Never Sky #1
Published by HarperCollins on 2012-01-03
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eBook
Goodreads
Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.
As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.
They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers a barbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY.
Julie’s Review:
I’m sad to say I was pretty underwhelmed with Under The Never Sky. I read so many glowing reviews, so my expectations were sky high on this one (pun intended). I guess you could say this novel fell into the pitfalls of hype category for me. It was very much a journey book, and my returning readers know how I feel about those. But on top of that, I just didn’t buy what the novel was selling.
The world building was pretty good, and I enjoyed learning about the differences between the Dweller world and their technology and virtual reality world in the Realms. I also found the Outsiders world interesting with the Aether storms and all the dangers with the Cannibals. I thought it really cool how the Outsiders have these gifts of special abilities (like being able to scent someone’s emotions) that them apart from their tribe mates. There were some other cool sci-fi elements that were not explained, like the kid Cinder and what his dealio is. I’d really like to know more about why he is like he is.
What I struggled with was the overall plot and the characters. I just didn’t believe in the characters. I didn’t really care much for Aria or Perry. Sorry, they were just not interesting enough. They have interesting abilities and issues, sure, but their personalities were not really presented and they felt a little flat. I also did not buy their romance one bit. It was very much tell not show, and so I didn’t feel what they supposedly felt and their getting together just felt out of place to me. There wasn’t enough dialogue between them and there were so few emotions that no feels were felt by this reader. Sorry. I didn’t mind the alternating POV in this novel, because both characters have individual stories to tell, but everything was in 3rd person and maybe if it were 1st person there might have been more feeling and thoughts about everything going on.
As for the plot, like I said, journey. The novel opens with a really exciting visit to a broken Dweller pod, but bad things happen and people die. Aria is one of the only witnesses, so for her honest testimony she earns getting kicked out – OUT. She’s expected to die, but somehow lives (and the explanation for that comes much later, and I did find that interesting, actually). Perry’s nephew gets kidnapped by Dwellers (they’re Outsiders) and so Aria teams up with Perry because they each can help in their quests. Aria is in search of her mother, and Perry is trying to find a way to rescue his nephew. Well, they walk and walk and encounter survival issues and cannibals on their way to get Aria’s eyepiece repaired so they can try to contact Aria’s mother and figure out where the nephew is being kept. Then they walk and walk and walk some more back to the Dweller pods. Lots of walking. Some banter along the way after they stop hating on each other. The ending of the book sets up some interesting plot points for the following books, but I can’t say much happened in this one. So that is why I was underwhelmed. I am interested maybe eventually in continuing reading because there are some intriguing threads that I want to see tied up.
Howdy! This post couldn’t be written much better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
He constantly kept talking about this. I most certainly
will send this information to him. Fairly certain he’s going to have a good
read. Thanks for sharing!
Kill recently posted…Kill
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!! NOOOOO! Hahahaha. I love love this series so you’re hurting me a lot. LOL. Kidding aside, I understand where you are coming from as I already know that journey books are not really your thing as what you have reiterated in your Cress review. And this book is all about journey. The second book is also about the same thing, Julie. So I don’ think this series will work out for you.
I am sorry that this one was a huge letdown for you. Good thing that the world building and the sci-fi aspect were still able to compensate for the things that you’ve disliked.
LOL sorry. It wasn’t just the journey aspect, cause I liked Cress more than this because of the characters. I just didn’t care for either of the characters much.
Like you, I have read a lot of raving reviews for Under the Never Sky. I rarely read book after the hype hits, as I often am disappointed. There are those rare occasions where I was left feeling like I should have read it earlier.
Stephanie recently posted…Review: The Circle by K.M. Montemayor
Hype is an awful thing!
Based on the summary, I probably wouldn’t read this. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it as much as you thought you would. That’s always a bummer. The cover is beautiful though! 😀
Jessica @ Strung Out On Books recently posted…Reading Progress for #BtHReadathon
Do you not read a lot of dystopia in general, or why does this book not appeal to you based on the blurb?
I like dystopia, but I don’t read this genre that often. The summary for this book just didn’t appeal to me, I guess. I’m not a huge fan of science fiction, though. It really depends on the book, though, and this one just doesn’t pop out to me as something I’d enjoy.
Jessica @ Strung Out On Books recently posted…Does Your Gender Limit What You Read?
I binge read this series this winter and I really ended up enjoying it. Surprisingly, the second book is actually the strongest in the series. I hope you give it a go.
Heidi recently posted…Review: Between the Spark and the Burn(Between #2) by April Tucholke and Giveaway!
Well that gives me hope if the second book is much better. Thanks for the encouragement 🙂
that’s hard when you can’t get into the characters. makes finishing a book especially difficult. hopefully your next read will be amazing!
Stacy (The Novel Life) recently posted…Book Review: Marina
Thanks 🙂 Yea the characters matter!
:-/ Oh bother, this is one of my books that is in my physical TBR pile… I’ve been putting it off because I won it in a giveaway and haven’t felt motivated to read it yet. It will probably be a while before I try it. I’m just not in the mood to begin too many series at the moment.
Jordin @ A Bottomless Book Bag recently posted…Moving, lack of internet, and other sh*t: A Rant
Well, maybe you’ll like it more than I did 🙂
Boo. I’m sorry you didn’t like this one, but if you couldn’t connect with the characters, you couldn’t connect with the characters. The end. I hope your next read is better 😉
Jessica @ Rabid Reads recently posted…Review: Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Thanks, it was 😉
I have high expectations for UtNS, too, and I’m sorry it didn’t live up to yours. That’s a letdown. I can see you didn’t connect with the characters. And the journey…sounds like a journey. :/ I don’t know what I’m going to think of it once I finally get around to reading it but I won’t be in too much of a hurry. I am glad you liked the sci-fi elements. It wasn’t a total loss, then. Nice review.
Bookworm Brandee recently posted…**#COYER Audio Review ~ Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs ~ Molly Harper**
I hope you enjoy it more than I did when you do get around to reading it 🙂