Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

I reviewed the first book in this series, Under the Never Sky, here. Be careful, as there are some minor spoilers in my review.

Previously on Under the Never Sky, a girl who lived in a protective dome and a savage boy from the outside fell in love while escaping danger at every turn. Now, Aria and Perry are separated. After killing his brother in the last book (I know, right?!?), Perry is the new Blood Lord of his tribe. He is having some minor issues with getting the people to respect him. It's also difficult for him to get used to having people rely on him. Perry is very impulsive, and has to learn that he can't just think of himself, but of his people as well.

Aria must find the Still Blue, a promised land where there are no aether storms, in order to get Perry's nephew, Talon, back from the dwellers. The people of Reverie have been attacked from the aether storms on the outside, and from residents suffering from a disease called DLS that makes them crazy from spending too much time inside. Perry decides to introduce her to his tribe, but only as a friend, so they can acclimate them before finding out that the Blood Lord is hooking up with a dweller. The tribe hates her, even though she isn't a dweller anymore, even though she is an audile (She has super-hearing because her father was an outsider). The poor girl even saves a lost baby and people still hate her!

There's actually a lot of developments in this installment. We get lots more Roar, and we get to meet Liv (Perry's sister, and the love of Roar's life). We get some surprises from Soren, the instigator of the events that started Under the Never Sky and son of Consul Hess from Reverie. He still has a tiny scar from that night, which is enough to ostracize him in a society where everyone is perfect. Soren communicates with Aria through her Smarteye (A device that people use in Reverie to escape the real world, like the internet in your head), except he tells her the truth while his father just threatens her.

I love these books. Aria and Perry are some of my favorite young adult characters, and their story is always exciting. Perry is amazing because he can and will straight-up murder someone to protect the people he loves, but he's also very sweet and kind. Aria is one of the awesome and tough female characters. I feel really bad because my words might do a disservice to how amazing this series is. Even if you can't follow my rambling attempts to describe the plot, just understand that this is a book series that you should be reading.

I received my copy of Through the Ever Night from Edelweiss, courtesy of HarperCollins. It's available for purchase now.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

It starts with four teenagers breaking the rules. They want to experience something real for the first time. Everything is virtual in the city of Reverie, the people spend their time in the realms where anything is possible. But it's not real. Aria just wanted information about her mother, who was abroad and hasn't been in contact for days. Then the boys started the fire and they started to attack.

Aria is saved from the fire by an Outsider. Unfortunately, she is blamed for the fire and the security breach. They drop her off in the outside, known as the Death Shop (How awesome is that, by the way?). The Death Shop contains horrors ranging from the savage people to cannibals to the deathly aether storms. It should be a death sentence.

In the meantime, the Outsider is named Perry. Perry is trying to save his tribe by convincing them to move to this fabled land where there aren't any aether storms. He is constantly undermined by his brother, Vale, the current Blood Lord of the tribe. Perry would love nothing more than to defeat Vale and become Blood Lord in his place. He will never do that because he took an oath to his nephew, Talon.

One day, some Dweller (Aria's people) ships attack and kidnap Talon. Perry sets off to save his nephew. He encounters Aria, and it is hatred at first sight. She fears he is a savage, as all outsiders are. He doesn't know how to deal with her and the strangeness of her smell (He can smell what people are thinking, it's super-hard to get all these details in!). Regardless, they soon see how a partnership can be advantageous, and they set off together.

On their epic journey, Perry and Aria learn to like, and eventually like like each other. It's adorable as heck. Perry is gruff, but does incredibly sweet things like make her some shoes after her feet are wrecked by walking so much. Aria is an admirably tough girl who never complains about her blisters. I expected a romance from the get-go, and this was one of the sweetest, most lovable romances I have ever read.

As with pretty much every Teen book I read lately, this one ended way too soon. I would love to be able to actually have some closure with a book, without waiting for the next installment. That's more of a general gripe for the industry. Under the Never Sky was an exciting quest story, a lovely romance, and an all-around good read. I'm looking forward to the next book.

I received an ebook of Under the Never Sky from Netgalley. It will be published January 3rd, 2012.