Review: Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi

Date Read: January 9 - 11 2013
Release Date: January 8th 2013
Publisher: Atom
Source: Bought
Genre: Dystopia
My rating: 

Synopsis:
"Aria has struggled to build a life for herself outside Reverie. It hasn't be easy adjusting to life in the wilderness but that 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 priviledged Aria, one of the enemy, in their midst.

Soon he'll be forced to chose between the tribe that looks to him for leadership and the girl that looks to him for love."

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“Days were darkened by clouds and the blue cast of Aether. Nights were brightened by the same. They flowed together, the edges blurring into an endless day. An ever night.”

It’s very rare that the second book in a short series/trilogy is actually good; even rarer that it’s better than the first book. I had extremely high hopes and expectations going into Through the Ever Night because well… come on how amazing was Under the Never Sky? And then there was the hype around it. Well, TtEN exceeded ALL my expectations and was simply outstanding. I felt ALLLLLLL the emotions reading this. I felt giddy, happy, sad, raw, heartbroken, mad, nervous and just the whole emotional rollercoaster.

Let me start my saying that, again, HOW AMAZING WAS VERONICA IN COMING UP WITH THE TITLE? I mean we had “A world of nevers under a never sky” for UtNS – a phrase so simple, yet so eloquent and held such power and meaning I was blown away when I read it. Now we have “Days were darkened by clouds and the blue cast of Aether. Nights were brightened by the same. They flowed together, the edges blurring into an endless day. An ever night.” This phrase too was put together so perfectly; it was poetic and flowed and again explained the title (and story). I loved loved LOVED it. She just has a way with words. On that note, it was so obvious that Veronica’s writing had improved! I thought she was really good as a debut author in UtNS but I was just wow’d in TtEN. The way things were described were so detailed and exact I really felt it. And I think that’s the hardest thing for a dystopian – creating a world previously unseen and unimaginable.

Examples:

“Funnels struck down, each one louder, closer, sending searing waves across his skin. A sudden shriek exploded in his ears; then a flash of light blinded him.” There were lots of suspenseful moments like this throughout that had me biting my lip and holding my breath.

“The way was tight, shadowed as a tunnel and crowded with people, their voices echoing off stone and stone and more stone. Gutters were strewn with filth, and a fetid scent carried to her nose.” I loved the imagery used – the “stone and stone and more stone” really gave off the echo effect.

I loved all the characters – old and new. We can see how Aria has grown into such a strong, young woman with so much fight in her. We see Perry struggling between choosing love and leadership – trying to balance the two and how his love for Aria has made him softer and more compassionate. Roar was simply amazing here. He went through so much losing Liv in UtNS but there’s so much he had to face in TtEN; I felt so many emotions reading about him and what he had to endure. I just want him to be happy ya’know? *SOBS* But despite love being a major theme, it’s hard to come by – loyalties are questioned and it seems everybody gets hurt at some point. And I loved that it wasn’t easy – it’s not some instalove-happily-ever-after.  “There was nothing more painful than hurting someone you loved.”

The whole book was a journey and a journey for each character in finding themselves. Faced with issues of sacrifice, family and belonging (I can’t believe I just wrote that but yes, belonging), nothing is easy. “She’d been seeking the comfort of a place. Of walls. A roof. A pillow to rest her head on. Now she realised that the people she loved were what gave her life shape, and comfort, and meaning.” We think home and belonging in a place means a physical place, but a lot of the time home is wherever the people we love are. I loved all their realisations and their growth <3

“… love was like the waves in the sea, gentle and good sometimes, rough and terrible at others, but that it was endless and stronger than the sky and the earth and everything in between.”