Under the Never Sky, by Veronica Rossi
This is a series I had never heard of until a professor recommended it to me a few months ago. It has become one of my favorite contemporary young adult series, and I think other fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent will also enjoy it.
The story is set in the future, in a time after massive solar flares decimated earth, leaving a dangerous substance call "The Aether" as a permanent fixture in our sky. The main character, Aria, has grown up in one of the sealed off dome cities that were founded right before the natural disaster. Inside this shelter, Aria enjoys all the comforts of the virtual worlds that her home provides. That is until one day an accident gets her labeled as a trouble maker, and she is kicked out into the Outside, the "Death Shop, where there are a hundred ways to die."
She is found by an Outside "savage" named Peregrin, the son of a tribal leader who, as a result of genetic mutation caused by the centuries old natural disaster, has a heightened sense of sight and smell. Thrown in together, the two of them are forced to find a way around their differences, and work together to achieve their goal to save both her people and his from the ever more dangerous Aether.
One of the things I really liked about this series, particularly the first book, is the contrast between Aria's very science fiction world and Peregrin's iron age world. I think Rossi did a good job of building the separate cultures, and then of giving the characters very realistic biases and stereotypes against the group which was not their own. I also like how well the tribal society of the Outside, as well as the rest of this fictional world, was thought out.
Another thing I loved are the characters. I thought everyone, from Aria to Peregrin, to Roar, to Hess(one of the antagonists), was well developed, with a clear personality, backstory, motivation and flaws. I like that they behave like real people and I loved watching them interact as their relationships and the storyline developed.
Which brings me to the third thing I enjoyed. I thought the story was well done, and quiet interesting, taking me places that I hadn't expected to go with this series, but in good ways. It definitely took a different spin to the young adult, futuristic dystopia. I really enjoyed following the characters as they strove to save their people from the Aether and over all I was pleased by how everything played out.
I will say that the last two chapters of the third book, Into the Still Blue, did feel a little rushed. I would have liked a little more out of the last chapter especially, but other than that I don't really have any complaints.
I really enjoyed reading this series, and I would definitely recommend it.
