Far, Beyond the Blue

Published:  January 28th, 2014

Into The Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)

By: Veronica Rossi

HarperCollins

ISBN-13:  9780062072092

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate.  Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do - and they are just as determined to stay together.

Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation.  Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities.  Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission.  Cinder isn't just the key for unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival -- he's also their friend.  And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

Review

     When Into the Still Blue begins, Aria and Perry have just been reunited after being separated for what seems like forever.  Aria is recovering from a serious injury to her hand, which may never be able to work the same again.  But things aren't better now that they're together.  Their best friend Roar is turning into a stranger, because of his grief over the loss of Liv, the love of his life (and Perry's sister).  This throws Perry off balance, with one less person to lean on.  Also, all of them are trying to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in an attempt to join forces, and gather strength for a last attempt at the Still Blue - and survival of some sort.  But to do that they must team up with unlikely people to rescue Cinder, the only one with the power to find the Still Blue, from Hess and Sable.  Can they make it in time, or will it be too late?

      Considering how many times I've been disappointed by the last book in a series, I was REALLY reluctant to read this initially.  I am so glad that I did!  Unlike other disappointing final installments in trilogies, this book respected its characters and didn't do anything ridiculously trite or unbelievable to them.  There were no 180 degree shifts in character, for a reason inexplicable other than to shoehorn in a specific plot/ending.  The romance between Aria and Perry, while definitely strong in its presence, didn't monopolize the book and detract from the action.  Plus, the major thing Rossi has my respect for, there is no love triangle anywhere in this one!!!  How rare is that in a Young Adult novel nowadays?  Perry is strictly friends with Brooke, and has no deeper feelings for her.  Also, Aria is close to Roar and they understand each other better than almost anyone else (they both have the Aud gift, share a lot of them same thought processes and reactions, etc.) but they are entirely platonic.  

      As for the plot and the writing, the prose was just as gorgeous as ever and the plot didn't have any out of the blue, bait and switch tactics going on.  We got to see all of the loose ends pretty much tied up, including whether or not the Dwellers and Outsiders get to the Still Blue, what happens to Cinder in the process, who lives and who dies, and everything else.  Probably the biggest surprise in this one was the character development and worth of Soren, the son of villainous Dweller leader Hess.  Soren starts out as a completely despicable, untrustworthy character that you love to hate.  But then he turns into something more, as he starts to connect more to the people around him, and realize that Hess betrayed him - he obviously isn't interested in his son or doing the right thing.  So Soren has to make a choice - does he want to be useful and redeem himself, or keep self-destructing?  We also see Brooke moving past her lingering feelings for Perry.  An understanding develops between her and Aria, also the banter with Soren and Brooke is hilarious.  She definitely puts him in his place!  Probably the only thing that was even slightly a surprise, was the identity of Aria's father, which is revealed in this book finally.  I liked the realistic emotions of this book.  I always felt that the grief, frustration, fear, love and hope were true to the characters.  There was never a false note.  While not completely resolved, the ending hints at a somewhat brighter, happier future for the characters.  And I am glad for them.  Probably my only complaint about this book, is that the steady pace of the first two books has been traded in for breakneck speed, and non-stop action.  It's good at times, but it also feels rushed and like it's over too fast because of it.  Overall, I loved this book and I highly recommend this trilogy to anyone looking for a consistently well-written, awesome series! :D

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

*I received this book from HarperTeen, on Edelweiss.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was published on  January 28th, 2014.*

A Waste of My Time

Expected Publication:  March 26th, 2013

Wasteland

By: Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan

HarperTeen

ISBN-13: 9780062118516

Welcome to the Wasteland. Where all the adults are long gone, and now no one lives past the age of nineteen. Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan’s post-apocalyptic debut is the first of a trilogy in which everyone is forced to live under the looming threat of rampant disease and brutal attacks by the Variants—hermaphroditic outcasts that live on the outskirts of Prin. Esther thinks there’s more to life than toiling at harvesting, gleaning, and excavating, day after day under the relentless sun, just hoping to make it to the next day. But then Caleb, a mysterious stranger, arrives in town, and Esther begins to question who she can trust. As shady pasts unravel into the present and new romances develop, Caleb and Esther realize that they must team together to fight for their lives and for the freedom of Prin.

Review

     Esther and all of the others living in Prin are just trying to live through one day at a time.  The difference between her and them, is that she is friends with a Variant named Skar and they believe Variants are an abomination.  Then the Variants begin to attack the town of Prin, firebombing buildings and killing innocent citizens for seemingly no reason.  Around this time Caleb, a stranger, comes to town on a mission.  Caleb is determined to find out who murdered his wife and kidnapped their infant son - and more importantly, why they did it.  And what does the Source have to do with everything?  Esther is shunned and Caleb is run out of town as they get closer and closer to the truth.  With time running out, can they figure out what's really going on, save the town and get Caleb's son back?  I was wary about this book from the get-go because of the authors feeling the need to make the 'bad guys' hermaphrodites and outcasts.  Oh, so just because they don't have one set gender they're deformed and disgusting?  Shame on both of you assholes for perpetuating stereotypes, even in dystopian fiction.  I managed to slog my way through the book, even without any real world-building to get me involved in the story and some horrifically one-dimensional characters.  Esther is a spoiled brat, who lets her sister do all the work and then steals food to give to her friends when her sister isn't watching.  She admits that she doesn't know how to do anything, but it's almost like Esther's proud of it, even though it makes her useless, in a high-risk, low-survival world.  I liked Caleb, but I feel like I didn't get to know him very well and that while his quest was admirable it was also prepackaged to fit anyone.  The romance between Esther and Caleb was unrealistic and majorly based on lust and nothing else.  It was sickeningly obvious from their first interaction that they were going to be thrown together.  I did like the revelation about what was underneath Joseph's building and way Levi was defeated.  Overall, a very lazy attempt at high grade dystopia and I will definitely NOT be reading the next one.

VERDICT:  1.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on March 26th, 2013.*

Free Fallin' Under the Sky

Published: January 3rd, 2012
Under the Never Sky
By: Veronica Rossi
Harper Collins
ISBN-13: 9780062072030


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.

Review

   Aria belongs to a society that is careful and structured by rules.  She and everyone else are part of a virtual reality that is far more appealing then the dismal state of real life.  All of that changes when she and her friends sneak into a forbidden area one night and one of the guys (the son of a prominent community member) decides to set it on fire.  Aria and the boy who caused the fire are the only ones left alive in the end.  His father decides to blame Aria for the whole thing and have her exiled from the society.  Now Aria is alone on the outside, desperately trying to find a way to contact her Mom, who is possibly in danger.   Peregrine 'Perry' is a Outsider, belonging to a tribe of people who do everything they can just to survive.  When his nephew is kidnapped, seemingly by his mistake, Perry is banished from the tribe by the bloodlord - his brother.  Trying to find a way to get his nephew back and return to the tribe, Perry thinks he's found the answer in Aria.  They work on a mutual understanding of her getting to her Mom and him getting his nephew back.  Somewhere between deadly storms, attacking cannibals and misunderstandings about each other love manages to creep in.  But will Aria and Perry be able to stay together when life seems to be tearing them apart?  I honestly enjoyed this book!  I loved that it was from third-person perspective and yet alternated between Aria and Perry's respective worlds.  The character development of both was realistic and heart-wrenching.  I really felt for both the characters as they tried to figure out themselves and the world around them.  Especially fun were the scenes with Perry's best friend Roar, who was something of a mischief maker.  This book has a lot of heart, a good natured sense of humor and some tuly meaningful scenes worth reading.  Glad I spent time with this book.

VERDICT:  4.25/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*