Under the Never Sky
Synopsis:
Aria lives in 'pods' in the future. They, the other 'Dwellers', live their entire lives in the 'realms', think virtual world that is able to trick your brain into believing it's real. Basically, even though it's virtual, when in the realms they're able to still feel, smell, and taste. To them it feels as real as it is to be 'in the real', which means NOT being in the realms. 'The Real' for them is boring and dismal, because they live in 'pods', which basically means they've never really seen the REAL sun. Confusing yet? Yeah, it was for me too. This absolutely could have been explained better.
Anyway, so stuff goes down and Aria finds herself ousted from 'Reverie', (oh yeah, that's the name of the land of the pods). She's thrown to the 'Outside', land of Savages and Cannibals. She's been told all her life that the Outside is full of disease that would kill her quickly so she's pretty freaked out. The Outside is wild overgrown. People live in tribes, where they fight to the death to be 'Blood Lord', and they hunt with bows and arrows, and they're 'marked'. Very primitive. So, Aria is pretty nervous and made more so when she's forced to ally herself with Perry an Outsider with an insane sense of smell.
Because of all that stuff that went down they decide to work together in an effort fix things and right each others worlds. And, oh yeah, feelings grow.
My thoughts:
I touched on it just slightly above, but the two different lifestyles in this book could have been clearer. What caused those in Reverie, the 'moles', to lock themselves away? What caused the Aether storms that are ravaging the world? Even at the end I'm not quite sure I understand most of this place. So, I echo the sentiments of others, world building could have been fleshed out more. Especially because the concept was awesome. While I preferred to read about Perry's world, the idea of the realms also intrigued me. I mean, it was a similar concept to Ready Player One. I'd totally want to be a Mole.
Sorry, got distracted again, back to the review; The first half of the book was hard to slog through because most of it was 'smarteye's, Bliss, realms, rendering' all these terms that I didn't quite understand, and wasn't being given enough information about. But, at 49% I started to get more into the story. Why at 49%, you ask? Well, that's because it was at that point that Perry and Aria were figuring out that they were falling in love with each other and that aspect of the book was really sweet. Perry especially. (Stacia, I'm totally with you! Roar was an awesome dude, but there's just something really special about Perry's shy sweetness!) I smiled and swooned, I giggled and grinned... it was adorable. Perry is adorable.
Aria on Perry:
"Is it twilight?"
"Dusk," he said.
She glanced at him. Wasn't twilight the same as dusk? And how did he manage to drawl such a brief little word? Dusssk. Like the word could go on all day.
Perry on Aria:
"Aria," Perry said. He surprised himself by using her name. He decided it suited her. There was a curious sound about it. Like her very name was a question.
Annnnnnd, there was humor which is always a bonus in a book. Roar was particularly funny:
Roar leaned across the table and smiled at her seductively, his dark hair falling into his eyes. "When you say everything happens in the Realms, do you mean everything?"
Aria laughed nervously. "Yes. Especially that. There are no risks in the Realms."
Roar's smile widened. "You simply think it and it happens? And it actually feels real?"
"Why are we talking about this?"
"I need a Smarteye," he said.
But even the early banter between Aria and Perry was funny:
"The boy who was taken," She said. "Is he your son?"
"How old do you think I am, Dweller?"
"I'm a little shaky on the fossil record, but I'd say fifty to sixty thousand years."
"Eighteen. And no. He's not my son."
In the end I'd give the plot 3.5, and I give the romance 4.5, bringing this to a solid 4 star book.
I can't wait to read the first scene of the next book. It had better pick up exactly where it left off, for real!
