Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

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 abarbarian, 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

The first book in a captivating trilogy, Veronica Rossi’s enthralling debut sweeps you into an unforgettable adventure.

 
Sometimes your book reading experience comes down to one single factor: Do you like the MC?

That character can make or break a book.

Name the biggest praise and the biggest complaint about J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.  If you said they're both Holden Caulfield then you get the gold star. 

This book was teetering on a precipice for me.  It could either land back on solid ground or go toppling off into the deep end.  eventually, the main characters, Aria and Perry, are what stacked it back to being a great read.

There's a lot to like about Rossi's futuristic dystopian novel.  The world building is fascinating and vivid, yet simplistic enough for most audiences to grasp reasonably well.  The writing is fair enough and I felt that it was reasonably tight and serviceable. It wasn't a perfect novel but I feel that it achieved what it was meant to and that was inspiring me to invest in Aria and Perry's story.

Mostly I'm just impressed with Rossi because she clearly is a badass.

I can just imagine how her meeting with the editor went:

"Ms. Rossi, thank you for coming.  We love your first copy but we're concerned about this Aether thing.  What is it?  Where did it come from?  How does it work?"

Rossi sits back in her chair and kicks her feet up onto the editor's table.  She pulls out a raw falcon egg and starts eating it. 

"So?" she asks between bites.

"Well, you never clarify how it works?  Why it's there?  How did it come to be there?"

Rossi shrugs casually.  "Meh.  I don't give a shit.  It's there.  YA takes it for granted that a 108 year old vampire would fall in love with a teenager.  They'll figure out this Aether shit.  They have google."

"But-" the editor tries to continue.

Rossi pins the editor with a withering gaze.  "I could devote ten boring pages to giving some lameass sciency explanation of the Aether or I could add in 20% more awesome.  Also, I know how to falcon punch.  I learned it from the mother of this egg I stole before I gave a right hook and uppercut to a shark."

The editor decides that surrender is the better part of valor and everyone learns an important lesson that day. Especially the wild life. 

The End.

So basically, I like this book, and even if Rossi does eat raw falcon eggs, I like her characters and I like her style.

And hopefully you will too.  If you know what's good for you.

  Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi by KatKennedy