Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Title: Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2)
Author: Veronica Rossi
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: ATOM (8th January 2013)
Blurb:
WORLDS KEPT THEM APART. DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.
Aria has struggled to build a life for herself outside Reverie. It hasn’t been easy adjusting to life in the wilderness, but the struggle has been worth it with Perry by her side.
But Perry has other challenges. His people are looking to him for answers. Answers about what happened to his nephew, and what’s happening to their world. And they don’t trust the privileged Aria, one of the enemy, in their midst.
Soon Perry’ll be forced to choose between the tribe that looks to him for leadership and the girl that looks to him for love.
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:
THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT is the second book in Veronica Rossi’s fantastic UNDER THE NEVER SKY trilogy. It continues the story of Aria and Perry, that started in UNDER THE NEVER SKY (review), as they struggle to find and fit into their place in the world. Both have obligations that threaten to tear them apart.
THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT is the middle book in the UNDER THE NEVER SKY trilogy, but don’t worry it doesn’t suffer from middle book syndrome. Rossi appears to have a clear plan where she is going to take the series and the characters, and it really shows in this book. There is no slump in either development of the plot, or in development of the characters. It was really easy to fall into this book, and back into the world of Aria and Perry.
THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT starts not long after the events of UNDER THE NEVER SKY, and both Aria and Perry are caught up in different obligations that threaten to tear them apart. I think Rossi did a really good job at bringing things to a head in this book, so that (hopefully) we’ll see some resolutions in the final book. There is a LOT going on this book, but I found it really easy to keep track of all the different plots and characters. This is particularly easy as Rossi again split the narration between Aria and Perry, as they see different events unfold which allows a bigger world view than could otherwise have happened.
One of the things that I most enjoyed about this book, of a number of reasons, was how Rossi handled the relationship between Aria and Perry. It acts as an interesting mirror to the relationship between the Dwellers and the Tides. I also really loved the fact that although in many ways Aria and Perry’s relationship haunts the narrative of the book, Rossi very cleverly chooses to make it a minor plot point and in going so makes both Aria and Perry greater than their relationship. At least, that’s how I read it. I also enjoyed being reunited with some of my favourite characters from the first book, and meeting some new ones who we didn’t get to meet in UNDER THE NEVER SKY.
If you enjoyed reading UNDER THE NEVER SKY then you won’t be disappointed by this book. If you haven’t tried this series yet, even if you’re not a fan of dystopian fiction, then you should add it to your to-be-read pile. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Rossi draws this series to a conclusion in the final book INTO THE STILL BLUE which will be published in 2014.
