Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Summary:

Aria lost contact with her mother several days ago but when her plan to find out what happened goes awry she’s kicked out of Reverie. Aria’s dumped in the outer wasteland and has to fend for herself, or die trying. After all, it’s not called the Death Shop for nothing.

Perry can’t stand Dwellers but he’ll put up with Aria for just as long as he finds her useful. Where he is quiet she is loud, where he is wild she is polished, but they each discover that the other is just who they need to make it where they’re going.

Excerpt:

“The Aether looked brighter than it had earlier. It knotted on the horizon in glowing blue waves. She watched the sky until she was sure. The waves were rolling toward her. Aria closed her eyes and listened to the flap of the wind blowing past her ears. It rose and fell. There was music somewhere in the wind. She concentrated on finding it, on slowing her racing pulse.

She heard a crunching sound. She tensed, her eyes desperately searching the darkness. The Aether churned in eerie whirlpools above her now, casting rippling blue light across the desert. She’d been in a daze, but she knew she hadn’t imagined the sound.

‘What are you?’ she said, straining to see in the shifting light. No answer came back. ‘I heard you!’ she cried.

A flash of blue lit up the distance. Aether dropped from the sky, whirling and twisting downward in a funnel. It struck the earth with a tremor that rattled the ground beneath her. Frenzied light spread across the empty desert. But it wasn’t empty. A human figure charged toward her.”

Review:

The raw tone of Rossi’s writing was perfect in every way. When the world felt too cruel there was something equally as wondrous and full of promise around the corner . I especially enjoyed Perry’s chapters where she incorporates how a sense of smell is powerful enough to evoke memories so real it’s like reliving the experience. The intensity drew me in and I needed to know how Aria was going to survive the viral never sky and the dangerous look that Perry keeps giving her. Rossi's debut is not to be overlooked, fans of Hunger Games and Divergent will undoubtedly love it.

Reviewed by: Lostnthestacks