Into the Still Blue (UtNS #3) by Veronica Rossi

Synopsis: "The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do—and they are just as determined to stay together.

Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival--he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her earth-shattering Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close."

Title: Into the Still Blue
Series: Under the Never Sky #3
Genre: dystopian, romance
Pages: 389
Ages: 14+
My Rating: 5 stars
One Word: crying
Fave Quote:

"Perry's ribs ached. "Why were we laughing?" Roar gestured to the south, where Aether funnels scored down to the earth. "Because of that. Because the world is ending." "That shouldn't be funny." Apparently it was, because it got them started again" (262).

Review

Ya'll don't understand the pain I feel right now that this series is....is...OVER.



Whenever I finish an "okay" book, it takes all of my willpower to write a review about it just because I want to move onto another book. However, I don't want to move onto another book. I want to hold onto this book until I can't stand Aria and Perry anymore (which would be a long while). I want to hold onto it because if I go onto another book it means that Dwellers and Outsiders, Aria and Perry, Roar and Soren, Aether and the Still Blue will no longer exist and I just can't take that separation anxiety. I mean, Veronica Rossi, I don't know how you do it, girl, but you have got me so attached to this world of yours.

Into the Still Blue...ahhh... yet another book with heart -wrenching, -twisting, -yanking, -melting moments. This is the type of book where every 100 pages there is a great looking happy ending and you know everything will turn to hell until it resolves again slightly. I was thinking to myself "alright, this is the ending" and then noticing another 75 pages to go. I mean, how frustrating and enticing is that?! No but seriously, it actually killed me (in a good way) when this happened.

I can't describe to you how well crafted this plot is. The reader can easily see how much Rossi put into this, every detail was intertwined in this story strategically. (view spoiler)["That's an inflatable boat, Outsider. And if that's what you're wearing, I'm out of this operation" (hide spoiler)] Mrs. Rossi also created multiple climaxes/mini resolutions to get the reader a little reprieve after every crazy moment which made me so grateful (especially those Aria/Perry moments). Every action packed part got my heart racing, with Rossi's amazing descriptions and vocabulary.

The characters were stellar. I fell in love with Aria and Perry all over again and of course I hated Sable. Soren and Roar increased the drama, but especially the comedy throughout the novel, and Brooke, Talon, Cinder were great additions. The thing that really created my love for the characters, however, is the fact that each one (excluding Sable) really has a heart, even if they haven't realized that in the beginning. This got me thinking that it could really relate to the real world, where some people may not know that they actually care before someone else realizes that they do. Aria and Perry really brought that out of people throughout the novel. Their chemistry with each other is also brilliant and raw. Some physical moments, yeah, but being able to read their thoughts for one another had my heart melting.


*sigh* everything reminds me of them.

The ending was both sad, brilliant, and making want more. I was hoping for some sort of epilogue to the future, but after reading Rossi's ending, it made sense to end it the way she did; giving the readers a sound resolution but also making us raise questions and possibilities to what may happen. It just sucks to think that I won't be able to read any more Perry and Aria:(.

Well, this marks the end of a crazy and beautiful journey. I will forever miss the characters and conflicts of Rossi's crazy world, but hey, maybe I'll pick it up again in the future when I want to relive the adventure :)
  
★★★★★

Through the Ever Night (UtNS #2) by Veronica Rossi

Synopsis: "It's been months since Aria learned of her mother's death.
Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.

Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It's a moment they've been longing for with countless expectations. And it's a moment that lives up to all of them. At least, at first.

Then it slips away. The Tides don't take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry's control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist?

Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?

In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and sci-fi elements to create a captivating adventure-and a love story as perilous as it is unforgettable."

Title: Through the Ever Night
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Romance
Series: Under the Never Sky #2
Pages: 341
Ages: 13+
My Rating: 5 STARS
My Word: Emotional :(:
My Fave Quote: (throughout review)

 

Review

“Aria stood. She wanted to hold him and sob with him. Give it to me, she wanted to scream. Give me the pain. Let me take it from you” (285).

Jesus.

This book held my heart. In the beginning of the book, it pounded gently and evenly with pure love. Then, nearer to the end, it would pound faster and faster, getting out of control, until it eventually fell out of grasp and landed on the floor, in a million pieces.

My heart is in pieces, and the ending was like a meager attempt of sewing it back together.

Two main reasons why this book was amazing: LOTS of suspense (even more than the first book) and LOTS of beautifully written romance once again.

God. So much sadness and love and life and confusion and happiness all in one book. One minute I was bawling with Roar and Aria, and the next I was laughing with Perry. I was so bipolar when reading it, my mom must've thought I was crazy (sorry, I'm not sorry).

The suspense throughout it just made me grip the book harder, turn the pages as fast as I could to read on. What could possibly happen? Who's going to die? Will the succeed? I needed to know those answers. Also, all of the things in this book connected, and it explains everything, with Cinder, Liv, Hess, everyone. At the end, my mind was blown, everything just fit together.

And god that ending. Seriously Rossi? Leaving it at a suspenseful moment. I have a stack of library books that I just checked out yesterday, but I'm tempted to go back and get my hands on the next book. The "Dwellers" and the "Savages" are so completely different, that I'm so curious as to how Rossi has written the last book.

Now I can't forget about the romance. Beautiful once again.

“Aria laughed. That was attractive. She smelled like horse.
‘Do you ever miss anything?’
Perry smiled. ‘You, all the time’” (99).

“’We’re together now,’ he whispered against her forehead.
‘The way we should be.’
She closed her eyes and relaxed her breathing, seeking calm. He was rendered to her. Maybe he’d feel it too. ‘Sleep, Perry.’
‘I will,’ he said. ‘With you right here, I will’” (121).

“’Love is a rebellious bird that nobody can tame,’ she said. ‘It’s from an opera called Carmen.’
Liv narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you the bird, or is my brother?’
Aria smiled. ‘I think the bird is the connection between us…I’d do anything for him,’ she said, and realized that it really was that simple” (233).

“Aria kept her gaze on his face. On the blond stubble across his jaw, and the bend in his nose. She could look at him forever. She could spend her life watching him just blink and breathe that close to her” (321-322).

“Aria watched, silent in his arms. His gaze trailed over the curve of her shoulder, the slope of her cheek. The dark flick of her eyelashes as she blinked. His heart filled with hurt. Hers. His. Her understood exactly what she felt” (333).



Never have I been more serious when I say that I wish I had a relationship like Perry and Aria. They love each other so much and so intensely that it makes me want to tear up whenever I read about their feelings for each other. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BE SO PERFECT?

This book was simply amazing. It earns a true five stars and I will read the last book very soon.

★★★★★



Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Synopsis: "Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered.

This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland--known as The Death Shop--are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild--a savage--and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile--everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky."

Title: Under The Never Sky
Series: Under The Never Sky #1
Genre: Romance, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 374
Ages: 14-17
My Rating: 5 Stars
My Word: Incredible, Fascinating, BeautifulWriting
My Fave Quote(s): (put in throughout review)

Review
Can I just say that the romance part of this book is one of the most beautifully written pieces that I've ever read?
BECAUSE IT IS.

"In the afternoon, they stopped to eat on a rocky outcrop. Perry brushed a kiss on her cheek while she was chewing, and she learned that it was the loveliest thing to be kissed for no reason, even while chewing food. It brightened the woods, and the never sky, and the everything.
Aria embraced this tactic, calling it the Spontaneous Kiss, and soon learned how difficult Scires were to surprise. Whenever she tried the Spontaneous Kiss in return, Perry smiled with heavy-lidded eyes and opened his arms" (327).

I love how Under the Never Sky gradually brought the romance, not all at once, and it's also a perfect blend of romance and dystopia, so it's not a sappy love story or a depressing dystopia!

The three reasons why this story earned my 5 star rating were: the characters, the plot, and the romance.

Characters
Let me get this straight: THE CHARACTERS=PERFECTION. I rarely get any books that the characters are so well-developed and unique, and you also like them. Seriously, Perry, Aria, Roar, Vale, Talon, and Cinder were so amazing and totally different which definitely kept the story interesting.

Even the contrast between Perry and Aria was amazing, yet they molded perfectly together. Perry, the scavenge and serious guy whose smile is a rare sight to see, and Aria the sweet, smart, and strong girl who can keep her feelings of guilt and sorrow in without anyone noticing (except Perry of course ;) )

Every story also needs that awesomely funny and you can picture-him-hot guy. In this story, Roar fits that description perfectly. His fun and energetic personality was definitely one of the biggest reasons why I loved this book. Cinder was also a great attachment because I know he foreshadows something in the next two books with his abilities.

Plot
The plot was so creative and original. Aria, a Dweller, lives in technological Realms and once she is kicked out into the real world, (AKA the "death shop") she comes across Perry, a Savage who lives in the real world. She is forced to create an alliance with him in order for them both to get what they want. In addition to that awesome plot, Rossi makes the "Savages" have certain marks which determines what sense they are special in. For example, Perry is a Scire because he has a great sense in smell and can even smell people's feelings/emotions which just made the book so much more sexy ;). Not only that, but to add to the suspense, there are these Aether Storms that are fatal and dangerous.

This plot isn't like any other dystopians I've read because it isn't like those "realistic dystopias." It has a mix of fantasy, romance, and science fiction all wrapped into one heavenly awesome book.

Romance/Writing
One of the most utterly fascinating and beautiful things that I have ever read was the romance in this book and the way Rossi described certain things. This review won't do it justice how beautiful it was. Every little detail Rossi put in fit so perfectly into the book. I love how Veronica made Aria and Perry so completely different, yet they each have a little bit of the other's personality. I couldn't even comprehend my feelings when I read the beautifully pure writing that Rossi created. You could tell the romance had a zen-like simplicity with a touch of desperation the two characters were feeling towards each other. So perfect.

"She absorbed the terror and beauty of him and his world. Of every moment over the past days. All of it, filling her up like the first breath she'd ever taken. And never had she loved life more."

"Roar is very handsome. In Reverie most people look like him. Or close'
'And here you are. Holding hands with a crooked-nose Savage who's been burnt and beaten in-how many places did you count?'
'I've never seen anyone as beautiful as you" (335).

"Your voice sounds like a midnight fire. All warm and worn in and golden. I could listen to you forever.'
'I could never do that.'
She laughed at him. He brought his lips to her ear. 'Your scent is like violets in early spring,' he whispered" (336).
★★★★★