Review: Under the Never Sky

UNDER THE NEVER SKY by Veronica Rossi is a book that builds slowly, as a book should. By the time it ends, you simply wish it wouldn't

I was going to read it a while back, but when I downloaded the sample, the first chapter reminded me a lot of READY PLAYER ONE, which I had just read and I didn't want to read two similar books right after each other, so I passed. Boy, was I wrong.  Yes, the beginning is set in a similar "alternate reality" sort of environment, but that's really where the similarities end.

Another in the ever-popular dystopian YA genre, this book presents a fusion of future and primitive cultures and it's fun to watch them collide.  The characters are well drawn and fun to get to know, even if we've seen it before (girl starts out weak & scared, but becomes strong and confident while finding herself along the way; boy is a loner who discovers he really does need "someone" to make him feel complete). 

Yet, it doesn't feel like a story you've read before.  There's plenty of action to keep you pulled along and reasons to want to keep reading. 

Some bits were definitely unbelievable, if not laughable- not the least of which was Aria's athletic feats on the journey, injured feet & all, after living a life in which she'd never had to exert herself in the slightest.  I recognize what Rossi was trying to show us about Aria's character and strength, but it was still somewhat ridiculous.

None the less, watching Aria and Perry grown and develop into a team is what makes this book so special.  When I read, it's always about the characters for me, and these characters are great fun to spend time getting to know.  

Overall, it was a fun book and a great way to spend a few hours.  I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Book Review: Fifteen Digits

You know, I'm really good about posting my book reviews on Goodreads & Amazon, but I have no excuse for not posting them here as well, so I'll try to be a bit more diligent...

In an attempt to get the ball rolling, the latest book I read was Fifteen Digits by Nick Santora.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked the writing a lot, I really liked a lot of the characters, however I was frustrated because about a fourth of the way through (if not sooner) it became very obvious where the book was heading. Shortly after that, Santora started telling us what was going to happen before it happened such as, "that was the last time they ever spoke" and other bits of foreshadowing. I hate when authors do that. How about letting us get to the part when one of them dies before we find out that one of them is going to die? 

So, the book had promise, was certainly interesting, but was also extremely frustrating and not very surprising in the end since Santora had already given it much of the story away.

Overall, I gave 3 out of 5 stars.  

Jack-in-the-Boxes

We had a big discussion at home the other day about my dislike of Jack-in-the- boxes. I think they are creepy (along the lines of Pennywise- Stephen King just never got around to writing about them). But I just found out they get their origin from some bizarre "devil in a boot" story and in France are called Boxed Devils so I'm feeling a little more justified in my mistrust of the little creepers.