Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky, #1)

by Veronica Rossi

[ladygrey]

I may not be entirely fair to this book, because I read it while traveling and read other books in between which I never do. But, at the same time, I think it says something about this book that I was able to set it down and get into another story because I wasn't sucked into this one.

And it's not a bad book. Though it is kind of what I say about a lot of YA books: really interesting world, decent characters, eh writing. It's the very definition of a three star book.

I liked the Aether storms and the idea of these people with Aether in their blood. I wanted more of that.
Aria was annoying for about 2/3 of the book, for authenticity's sake. I get it, this is a girl who's lived in a very sheltered world and doesn't understand a lot of things. But even though she's lost and afraid she doesn't have to be so relentlessly mean. There's a line, I think, between authenticity and likability and you shouldn't sacrifice one for the other.

But it's always easy to think well of books when they end better than they started. Perry was a good enough character and being a Scire made him interesting, but Roar definitely breathed some necessary life into the story.

Mostly, I think my biggest complaint is that the story didn't feel like it had much purpose. There's movement and sort of things happening but it's all very slow and doesn't seem like it's ever going to really resolve the main conflict of this book because there's only 75 pages left (it does, but just barely). And while I applaud books that take the time to delve into their characters and really let you get to know them, that doesn't negate the need for things to happen, for some sort of narrative propulsion in the midst of character building. Walking through the forest (or running) and talking (or a lot of not talking, but some sensing) isn't really enough to be interesting.

Which is why, even half way through this book, I was able to put it down without blinking and read [b:Finnikin of the Rock|4932435|Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles #1)|Melina Marchetta|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1227961623s/4932435.jpg|4998084]. Which isn't a fair comparison because Finnikin is brilliant. But it's still the truth.