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."

---

“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.”

2012 End of Year Book Survey

I don't regularly book blog but I thought I'd give this a go since I've read so many great books this year and experience so many feels ;_____; I'm still a newcomer to the book blogging community (not really part of it - yet) but maybe I'll be more active in 2013.

This was something started by Jamie aka The Perpetual Page Turner aka @brokeandbookish 3 years ago and bloggers have taken to using her survey :D I'm hopping on the band wagon! Questions are by Jamie, responses by me c: 

Commence reflection of my 2012 reads!

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout and The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo

Contemporary YA: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Easy by Tammara Webber, My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick, Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover, If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman (old I know but I only found out about them this year!)
Dystopian YA: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Insurgent by Veronica Roth, Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Paranormal: Onyx and Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Endless by Jessica Shirvington, Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson, My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris
Fantasy: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead - don't get me wrong I loved this but it wasn't as great as all the built up hype made it out to be

Rapture by Lauren Kate - this was the best book in the series and the final one but honestly the series was a real let down and I kept expecting it to get better. It did get better by the final book but it just didn't hit that note I wanted to hear.

Breathe by Abbi Glines - I'd heard such good things about Breathe and so many people recommended it to me. But the writing was pretty bad (so many useless, short sentences that were telling rather than showing) and the two main characters were cheesy and lacked depth :c

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi - I always have doubts about dystopians and friends had been bugging me to read this for ages

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - it sounded a tad weird but it was hella awesome!

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century - I was worried this was like some Mary-Kate and Ashley book but the reviews were good so I hesitantly bought it and it's been one of my favourite reads this year.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

Definitely The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Also The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa, Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover, Divergent/Insurgent by Veronica Roth

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

It's a tie between The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and Covenant by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Also:

Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Lila by Sarah Alderson

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

Eep so many:

Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha Trilogy - stunning fantasy world, extremely unique and omg those characters)

Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux, Covenant, Cursed - how did I only find out about this legend this year?! Everything she writes is AMAZING)

Sarah Alderson (Lila - only just found out about the Lila series this year and it's amazing)

Veronica Roth (Divergent - the world she creates is amazing; I usually don't get sucked into dystopians but I fell right into this one)

Colleen Hoover (Slammed - her debut novel was like she's been writing award winning poetry and prose her whole life)

Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky - awesome dystopian world)

Rachel Harris (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century - I'm a sucker for European history and Rachel painted it in a beautiful and accurate way)

Tammara Webber (Easy) - woah just WOAH. I want me some more Lucas!

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

My friends and I all know I don't like dystopians/sci-fi - the amount I've picked up and tried to read but put down is quite large: Delirium, Across the Universe, Uglies, Inside Out, The Immortal Rules (I'll hopefully get back into this because I do love Julie's writing).

So when I was recommended Divergent I was EXTREMELY hesitant to read it. I actually put it off for a good 2 months. Then I bought a cheap $5 copy at Basement Books. Then I finished it in 1 sitting in a matter of hours and had to get Insurgent the next day. Divergent definitely made me like dystopians again.

Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me was also really good too!

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson (and the sequel Losing Lila) - holy crap this was so action packed it was like Heroes without the fillers. Loved every moment of it!

Also Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The things this book did to me. I laughed, cried, screamed and nearly chucked things through my laptop.

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout and The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?




Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout! My favourite colour is blue (I'm biased I know) and the rose just fit so perfectly with the story. It was also so simple yet so elegant - none of those girls-in-dresses or girls-and-half-naked-guys-with-wings-in-the-air covers.

That being said, my favourite Girls in Dresses cover would have to be none other than Kiera Cass's The Selection.




11. Most memorable character in 2012? 

Hands down the Darkling in Leigh Bardugo's The Gathering Dark (The Grisha Trilogy).

She's created a dark, seductive, troubled, damaged, sexy, hot, handsome, eloquent, I-know-there's-more-to-you-deep-inside-than-the-scheming-evil-villain-you're-made-out-to-be secondary love interest for the love triangle <3

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

It's a tie (again) between:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - my favourite line “French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.” The voice Stephanie created for Anna is beautiful, realistic, relatable, paranoid and so like me it was stunning. The way this was written was UGH love.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - need I explain myself? Anybody who's read this book (any of John Green's books really but ESPECIALLY TFiOS) will vouch for this. Your argument is invalid.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman - Adam's voice and the lyrics used are amazing. The raw emotion conveyed is heartbreaking and bone chilling - utterly captivating.

Slammed by Colleen Hoover - the use of poetry to tell people's back stories and explain their feelings is an amazing technique Colleen used in this book and I just kgd;fkjsdhfsdfsd -squirms excitedly in chair- LOVE

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris - Rachel's descriptions are so beautiful, her imagery so detailed ; the words she chose were so vibrant and rich I was catapulted back into the 16th Century with Cat.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick - witty, funny and just plain adorbs I loved the writing style of MLND.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - having had an immediate family member battle cancer, this book basically hit close to home. Poignant, heart-wrenching, raw, this book had the honour of breaking my heart.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?

Divergent by Veronica Roth. Fk me dead lol I'm always inwardly bashing myself whenever I think of how much I missed by not reading this earlier.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?

"That's the funny thing about trying to escape. You never really can. Maybe temporarily, but not completely." - Jennifer L. Armentrout, Onyx

"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world... but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

"The problem with wanting is that it makes us weak." - Leigh Bardugo, The Gathering Dark

"Love is not the absence of logic

but logic examined and recalculated

heated and curved to fit

inside the contours of the heart" - Tammara Webber, Easy

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?

Longest — Hallowed by Cynthia Hand or Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff I think? Endless by Jessica Shirvington looks long (it's the same size as Hallowed and Stormdancer) but I don't think it is...

Shortest — I'm assuming e-novellas and POVs don't count *cackles* so... Everything Left Unsaid by Jessica Davidson and Breathe by Abbi Glines - I'm not sure which is shorer

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

The ending of Endless OMFG THAT ENDING. I NEED BOOK 5 DAMMIT.

When Clara finds out about her father in Hallowed I choked.

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

THIS IS SO HARD ERMAGHERD.

Alex/Aiden in Deity are so amazing but but Tris/Four in Divergent AND AND Lila/Alex in Hunting/Losing Lila...

My favourite friendship would be Grace and Tim's from My Life Next Door!

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

Everything I read this year was either a debut author or an author I'd just discovered *sighs*

So I'm going to cheat and say Endless by Jessica Shirvington coz that's book 4 in The Violet Eden Chapters LOL.

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

THIS IS LIKE 1/2 OF MY 5 STAR RATED BOOKS ON GOODREADS O_O

Divergent by Veronica Roth :3