Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Through the Ever Night
by Veronica Rossi
Series: Under the Never Sky #2
Published: 08 January 2013
HaperCollins, Hardcover, 352 pages
Source: Library

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WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK.

It’s been months since Aria learned of her mother’s death.

Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.

Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It’s a moment they’ve been longing for with countless expectations. And it’s a moment that lives up to all of them. At least, at fi rst. Then it slips away. The Tides don’t take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry’s control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist?

Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night? In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and sci-fi elements to create a captivating adventure—and a love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

Rating: ★★★★

Colour me shocked. Through the Ever Night surpassed my expectations and was much better than its predecessor. Although still not on my favourites list, the story and characters were far more interesting and the world captivating. I saw increased depth to Aria’s character and growth to Perry’s. However, my favourite characters are actually Roar and Liv even though there was little of them as compared to Aria and Perry and I have not read their novella as of yet.

Initially, I was slightly taken aback by the change in Aria that took place in the months between Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night. She went from a helpless Dweller to a capable and independent Aud and that was quite a change. Obviously, I ended up liking the new Aria better due to her new found strength without losing her kind and sensitive original self.

As for Perry, I think Veronica Rossi did an amazing job with his journey of becoming the Blood Lord of the Tides not only in title, but in action too. His struggle to do what’s best for the tribe was always seen as foolish and childish at first. This portrayed perfectly that respect, trust and loyalty must be earned, which was beautifully realistic.

I don’t usually touch on sub-characters in my reviews, but as Roar and Liv are my favourites, I’ve just got to. The first I’ve seen of Liv actually left me pretty confused. It wasn’t her awesome fighting skills (that was expected), it was the way she treated Roar. However, like all couples in love, there’s a reason for the way she was acting and I found that reason utterly justifiable. It was sweet, really. Unfortunately, something happened towards the latter half of the book, concerning these two, which left me… despairing to say the least.

One issue I had with both Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night though, is the world-building, or lack thereof. There wasn’t enough history to explain how the world ended up the way it was, with Aether storms. Most of the details of the world were only superficially touched on and that really pulled the book down. Hopefully, this aspect of the trilogy would be more developed in Into the Still Blue, the last installment, out January 2014.

Concerning the cover of the book (which does not affect my opinions of the story, I just needed to express my thoughts on this), I understand that authors have little to no say on their book covers as it is in the sphere of the publishers. So it would have been better if the publishers had made a more accurate cover. Because the male model, who I guess is supposed to be Perry, is way too clean-looking. Shouldn’t he be more rugged and well, savage? But that’s just my opinions.

All in all, I enjoyed Through the Ever Night though I wasn’t completely hooked due to the lack of world-building. However, the characters are absolutely lovely so those who prefer character oriented reads should definitely pick this up.