Tag Archives: dystopia

Review: Under the Never Sky

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Under the Never Sky
by Veronica Rossi
4 stars

It’s the year of catching up! My reading goal for this year is to read books that I’ve intended to read or series that I’ve intended to finish, and so far I’m enjoying it! One of those reads was a New York Times bestseller back in 2012, the dystopian trilogy Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi.

The trilogy tells the story of life after Earth has been ravaged by Aether storms. Aria, a Dweller, has group up in a pod, where she has been sheltered from the world outside and lives a primarily virtual life (think virtual reality built into your eye). When she tries to reach her scientist mother who may be missing, a tragic event occurs and Aria is banished from her home into the terrifying outside world. There she meets Perry, a harsh, savage Outsider (and your next fictional boyfriend) who is trying to save his nephew from Dweller kidnappers. They agree to help each other find their loved ones and together trek across the wilderness.

Check out this oldie-but-goodie for a little scifi, romance, adventure, and a little everything in between. You’ll fall in love with the characters (Roar is my favorite) and definitely have a “book hangover” when you finish reading!

Read-alikes

Matched by Ally Condie

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Partials by Dan Wells

Review: The Book of M

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The Book of M
by Peng Shepherd
4 stars

The Book of M is a story about losing your shadow. When you lose it – you forget all your past memories including your name and you even forget to eat. Then you die. This phenomenon first starts in India when Hemu Joshi loses his shadow. Then the affliction spreads across the world and those left with a shadow must try and survive. Told around a post-apocalyptic future, author Shepherd weaves her debut story by following four linked characters. Orlando “Ory” Zhang and Max, a husband and wife couple, Mahnaz Ahmadi (Naz) who was an Olympic archer and the Amnesiac (never given a name) who still has his shadow, but lost all his memories from an accident before the Forgetting took place. They try to figure out how to survive in this new world were the shadowless acquire a strange new power in which they can alter the physical environment conjuring up some pretty intense, scary and magical happenings. Mythology and legends from India play apart in explaining the story which I enjoyed. I thought I knew how all this ended, but Shepherd gives you a surprise twist and some unanswered questions, but I still loved it.

 

Read-alikes

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim