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The Girl in a Cafe

Loving Books Since Before It Was Cool! All reviews can also be found on my main blog!

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Under the Never Sky

Under the Never Sky - One of the great things about dystopian novels is that they can take place in any setting in the future. I think that’s what I love so much about them – which each one takes on its own identity about what our future could be like.Veronica Rossi’s debut novel, Under the Never Sky, takes all of my perceptions of the future in a blender and pulverises them. In a good way, no less. Under the Never Sky was a complete mind bender, but in a good sense. Rossi has turned something that’s more science fiction/fantasy than anything else into a genre that’s not only marketable, but readable too. This is the story of Aria, a girl who has always grown up in the Pods, an underground cave like city, who gets exiled to the outside world. Yet it’s not just her story, it is Perry’s also, the Outsider who has only known the world that he lives in, the world that Aria thinks is full of death. It’s about how two young people, who are more alike than they think they are, come together. What appeals to me most about Under the Never Sky is how much detail is in this book. It’s hard to create something from scratch and keep it up the whole way through – only a few select YA authors like JK Rowling and Cassandra Clare can create complex worlds that actually stay steadfast through a series, and Under the Never Sky did this in one book. The senses play an important role in this novel, meaning that the flow of Rossi’s writing is emotional and fast-paced. The action is spread out through the entire book, but in such a way that doesn’t leave you bored reading it.I’ll have to admit at first I wasn’t quite so taken. In fact, it took me a while to get used to the concepts of the world that Rossi has created; as the reader, you dive straight in to the action, which while a good thing, it can also be a bad thing. While most of the back story is pretty self explanatory – like what the Unity was, what the Outsiders consider to be the better Senses etc, there are many questions left unanswered. For example, the Aether, a series of storms that have a deadly affect on the population (is what my interpretation of them were). We don’t actually find out how the Outsiders managed to survive through this apocalypse, let alone function in the outside world. Then again, I guess that’s half the fun of waiting on a sequel, isn’t it?Before I go any further, I must say how much I loved how music plays a big part of the novel. It’s very subtle, but you’ll notice it as the book progresses. Especially considering that Aria is a musical term for an expressive melody – think in terms of O Mio Babbino Caro from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Habernera from Bizet’s Carmen and yes, that aria from Tosca. Then we have our two main characters – Aria and Perry. Two completely different people who have more in common than they realise. Though we know that they are going to, as nicely as you can say ‘get together’, Rossi manages to do it in a subtle way, so that it’s not so in your face. While you have the standard two people who hate each other but eventually fall in love syndrome, what I loved most about this relationship is that the feelings and emotion is mainly seen through Perry’s eyes rather than Aria’s. Overall, Under the Never Sky was a fascinating, scintillating read that will have many on the edges of their seats and wishing the next book will hurry up and come out soon. After my initial read, I’ve found that I enjoyed the book a lot more than I originally thought I did.