Book Rant: Under The Never Sky
This rant will be a little different from most of my others because my experience reading this series was a bit unique. But I have said it before and I will say it again, everything after the jump is a spoiler for the entire Under The Never Sky series, including novellas. So if you have not read all three books and two novellas, now is your chance to turn back. Beware!
OK, so let's start off with what made this reading experience different from others. Like in some other series I have started, this one was a complete trilogy when I picked up the first book. I was warned that the beginning was slow, but the rest made it worth it. Going in, I underestimated the truth behind that slow beginning.
I started Under The Never Sky in August. AUGUST. Slowly, (VERY slowly) I forced myself to read the first hundred or so pages. And yes, I say forced myself, because it was not interesting to me. I was not connecting with the characters and started to get annoyed the plot had not yet picked up. So when two books I had been waiting for came out in October, I put this book aside and started reading other books. Then other series. Pretty soon, it was two weeks into January and I had finished almost 20 books without touching this one again. But it was sitting there, unfinished in my "currently reading" list on Goodreads. I decided it was time to give it another try.
As it turned out, I seemed to have stopped reading the book RIGHT before it got good, because I had no trouble once I hopped back in. I think Roar changed everything. From the moment Roar shows up, the entire story took off. I finished that book in about two more days and immediately had to start Through The Ever Night, which I finished two days later, then Into The Still Blue, which I read in one day. Then I read a novella a day from there, which leads me to yesterday. I read Brooke yesterday, but now I'm getting way ahead of myself.
Like I said, the story really picked up when Roar got there. I didn't really understand Cinder at first (except I was in the middle of the Lunar Chronicles in audio book form, so that was weird), but I will come back to him later. But Roar was just awesome. I loved how light and humorous he was. Training sessions with him was great-- though not as great as failing to train with Perry. When they finally stopped hating each other and started loving each other, it was so much easier to enjoy the book-- the series.
I'm going to try not to go into too much detail on the plot, because if you're reading this you've already read the series (I hope!). Plus, I don't remember that much from the first half of the first one, because I read it so long before I finished it. But I will say once I got into the book, I REALLY got into the book. I will say that, like in a lot of books I've read recently, I was NOT planning to pick up the next book right away. But when it ended with that very general "I heard the footprints and saw him and heard the words I wanted to hear" I just needed to keep reading.
I found the timeline of the ending of the first one interesting. I can't pinpoint the climax, because every time I think I know what it was, I realize something important that happened after that point, that I refuse to believe is part of the denouement. Perhaps there are multiple, since the story follows multiple characters.
But then there's book 2. Perry brings Aria to the Tides and most of them hate hurt. I loved Molly and I hated Brooke. I felt for both Perry and Aria and got so frustrated when he misunderstood Aria's choice to leave. Did he really think it was because she felt like he failed to protect her? I think he was just making excuses because he felt that on his own. Then we meet Liv and I wanted to smack her. She seemed to go against everything we had learned about her, and Aria seemed just as confused as me. But then she let the truth out and... well... I'm not even going to talk about the heartbreak after that. Poor Roar. I can't even...
OK back to Perry. This Kirra girl showed up and I immediately wanted her to be evil because I so wanted legitimate reason to hate her guts. Perry had spent years determined to end up with a Scire, but then he meets Aria. "You've changed the way I think about a lot of things." But then she leaves on this mission and in comes a freaking pretty scire. I don't understand why SHE wasn't with Sable. There was that "she knows what she is to me" line in book three, but I DON'T. It would have solved so many problems. And when Perry almost kissed her, I wanted to smack him. But then he started to regret every second he spent with her and THAT'S MY PERRY. Until he runs after Cinder and runs into Roar and Aria, sees the regret and ATTACKS HIS BEST FRIEND WHO JUST LOST THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE.
I loved the way Soren grew on us throughout the second book. Obviously, I hated him in book one. But then he shows up in book 2 and he's working around his father and realizing his father kinda sucks. And he's playing this game with Aria to help her and it's great. So by the time we see him again and Perry's like WTF, I just think it's so cute. And then there's his bonding with Talon, which is just wonderful. Talon is wonderful. That's all there is to it.
Book 3 starts with Roar MIA, which really sucks because he's the greatest person ever, though he wasn't really himself at this point anyway. But at least Aria and Perry were being honest about being together now, because that was just stupid to hide it the first time. I also liked that Aria was kind of a bridge between the Dwellers and the Tiders. But then Roar gets back and everything hurts. Ugh... the issues between Perry and Roar probably hurt more than anything in the series. I was with Brooke on that one. That was terrible.
And then Perry chose his team for the mission. And I know his reasoning, though I will say the REAL reason was DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. There was Perry and the love of his life. Then the guy that attacked her and ended up attacked by Perry. And the one that he's currently fighting with and for a second though Aria might be into. Then there's his ex girlfriend who Aria hates. What a team! Though the moments between Brooke and Soren were priceless!
I cannot even get into everything that happened because it hurt and I was on the edge of my seat. But poor Perry, poor Cinder, poor everyone. I really thought Perry was going to figure out a way to get to the Still Blue without using Cinder. So when he had that conversation with Hess about always knowing Cinder would have to do it, but wanting him to make the choice on his own, in completely tore my heart out. Then I got SO EXCITED when Hess turned against Sable and wanted to work with Aria and Perry instead. BUT THEN IT ALL WENT TO SHIT.
I'm going to jump to entering the Still Blue because CINDER AND PERRY. When Cinder gave Perry that look, my heart broke. I wanted him to make it. I so wanted him to make it. AND THEN THEY WERE GOING TO SAVE PERRY BUT SABLE TOLD THEM NOT TO AND I WANTED TO MURDER HIM MYSELF. AND THEN HE LIED AND SAID THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF LIFE. I thought Soren was going to jump out of his hover and go save Perry by flying the hover. And in a way I was right about Soren saving Perry in two different ways, but not quite the way I wanted.
Why was Sable trying to seduce Aria? Was that just about wanting what was Perry's? That was ridiculous. But I loved when her father-- OMG HOW HAVE I NOT TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER YET-- came in and warned her about Roar and Soren. And then she saved them, and they found Perry and yay!
My one big complaint since the first half of book 1: the ending was a little anti-climactic. The actual fight between Perry and Sable was over WAY too quickly. Oh, and I kind of wanted Perry to lead everyone, though I understand the point in having the counsel, especially since there were three different groups coming together now. The people on the counsel made sense, of course, and I DID like the bit about Perry spending his mornings with Aria, then a portion of every day with Talon. I was just the kind of ending I liked-- enough information to show that everything was going to be OK, but not overwhelming us with details of the future.
Next up, I read Liv and Roar. It was so cute, but it made me hate their brother even more. Perry had talked about how they used to be close, and Roar mentioned remembering him standing by Perry when they were little. But we've only seem him as evil and corrupt. I want a flash of the kids when they're little, so I can understand why Perry cared about his brother at all. But the ending hurt so much, knowing how it would end up, and seeing just how in love Roar and Liv were. And I was not a fan of the Brooke/Perry in this (and especially how much Roar liked them together), though I DID just the mentions of Perry trying to break it off all the time.
And finally, I read Brooke. And I had started to like her in Into The Still Blue but the novella made me really appreciate her. I enjoyed watching her slut it up a bit in her attempt to get over Perry. But I also find it funny that the three guys she kissed (only two sincerely) in that time were all the brothers. But her relationship with Cara was wonderful to see, and I loved her growth throughout the novella. As Aria lay unconscious, Brooke went from "I hate you for stealing everythingI love" to "thank you for my sister, I never really had Perry, and he and Roar still in my life". She also kicked some serious ass in the novella, which Aria never finds out about. It made me see why Perry still needed her nearby in the books.
Overall, I loved this series, despite its VERY shaky start. I had been starting to doubt that I would ever really enjoy it, but I certainly did!
Sorry for yet another long rant! Hey look! This one's just under 2000 words, too!
OK, so let's start off with what made this reading experience different from others. Like in some other series I have started, this one was a complete trilogy when I picked up the first book. I was warned that the beginning was slow, but the rest made it worth it. Going in, I underestimated the truth behind that slow beginning.
I started Under The Never Sky in August. AUGUST. Slowly, (VERY slowly) I forced myself to read the first hundred or so pages. And yes, I say forced myself, because it was not interesting to me. I was not connecting with the characters and started to get annoyed the plot had not yet picked up. So when two books I had been waiting for came out in October, I put this book aside and started reading other books. Then other series. Pretty soon, it was two weeks into January and I had finished almost 20 books without touching this one again. But it was sitting there, unfinished in my "currently reading" list on Goodreads. I decided it was time to give it another try.
As it turned out, I seemed to have stopped reading the book RIGHT before it got good, because I had no trouble once I hopped back in. I think Roar changed everything. From the moment Roar shows up, the entire story took off. I finished that book in about two more days and immediately had to start Through The Ever Night, which I finished two days later, then Into The Still Blue, which I read in one day. Then I read a novella a day from there, which leads me to yesterday. I read Brooke yesterday, but now I'm getting way ahead of myself.
Like I said, the story really picked up when Roar got there. I didn't really understand Cinder at first (except I was in the middle of the Lunar Chronicles in audio book form, so that was weird), but I will come back to him later. But Roar was just awesome. I loved how light and humorous he was. Training sessions with him was great-- though not as great as failing to train with Perry. When they finally stopped hating each other and started loving each other, it was so much easier to enjoy the book-- the series.
I'm going to try not to go into too much detail on the plot, because if you're reading this you've already read the series (I hope!). Plus, I don't remember that much from the first half of the first one, because I read it so long before I finished it. But I will say once I got into the book, I REALLY got into the book. I will say that, like in a lot of books I've read recently, I was NOT planning to pick up the next book right away. But when it ended with that very general "I heard the footprints and saw him and heard the words I wanted to hear" I just needed to keep reading.
I found the timeline of the ending of the first one interesting. I can't pinpoint the climax, because every time I think I know what it was, I realize something important that happened after that point, that I refuse to believe is part of the denouement. Perhaps there are multiple, since the story follows multiple characters.
But then there's book 2. Perry brings Aria to the Tides and most of them hate hurt. I loved Molly and I hated Brooke. I felt for both Perry and Aria and got so frustrated when he misunderstood Aria's choice to leave. Did he really think it was because she felt like he failed to protect her? I think he was just making excuses because he felt that on his own. Then we meet Liv and I wanted to smack her. She seemed to go against everything we had learned about her, and Aria seemed just as confused as me. But then she let the truth out and... well... I'm not even going to talk about the heartbreak after that. Poor Roar. I can't even...
OK back to Perry. This Kirra girl showed up and I immediately wanted her to be evil because I so wanted legitimate reason to hate her guts. Perry had spent years determined to end up with a Scire, but then he meets Aria. "You've changed the way I think about a lot of things." But then she leaves on this mission and in comes a freaking pretty scire. I don't understand why SHE wasn't with Sable. There was that "she knows what she is to me" line in book three, but I DON'T. It would have solved so many problems. And when Perry almost kissed her, I wanted to smack him. But then he started to regret every second he spent with her and THAT'S MY PERRY. Until he runs after Cinder and runs into Roar and Aria, sees the regret and ATTACKS HIS BEST FRIEND WHO JUST LOST THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE.
I loved the way Soren grew on us throughout the second book. Obviously, I hated him in book one. But then he shows up in book 2 and he's working around his father and realizing his father kinda sucks. And he's playing this game with Aria to help her and it's great. So by the time we see him again and Perry's like WTF, I just think it's so cute. And then there's his bonding with Talon, which is just wonderful. Talon is wonderful. That's all there is to it.
Book 3 starts with Roar MIA, which really sucks because he's the greatest person ever, though he wasn't really himself at this point anyway. But at least Aria and Perry were being honest about being together now, because that was just stupid to hide it the first time. I also liked that Aria was kind of a bridge between the Dwellers and the Tiders. But then Roar gets back and everything hurts. Ugh... the issues between Perry and Roar probably hurt more than anything in the series. I was with Brooke on that one. That was terrible.
And then Perry chose his team for the mission. And I know his reasoning, though I will say the REAL reason was DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. There was Perry and the love of his life. Then the guy that attacked her and ended up attacked by Perry. And the one that he's currently fighting with and for a second though Aria might be into. Then there's his ex girlfriend who Aria hates. What a team! Though the moments between Brooke and Soren were priceless!
I cannot even get into everything that happened because it hurt and I was on the edge of my seat. But poor Perry, poor Cinder, poor everyone. I really thought Perry was going to figure out a way to get to the Still Blue without using Cinder. So when he had that conversation with Hess about always knowing Cinder would have to do it, but wanting him to make the choice on his own, in completely tore my heart out. Then I got SO EXCITED when Hess turned against Sable and wanted to work with Aria and Perry instead. BUT THEN IT ALL WENT TO SHIT.
I'm going to jump to entering the Still Blue because CINDER AND PERRY. When Cinder gave Perry that look, my heart broke. I wanted him to make it. I so wanted him to make it. AND THEN THEY WERE GOING TO SAVE PERRY BUT SABLE TOLD THEM NOT TO AND I WANTED TO MURDER HIM MYSELF. AND THEN HE LIED AND SAID THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF LIFE. I thought Soren was going to jump out of his hover and go save Perry by flying the hover. And in a way I was right about Soren saving Perry in two different ways, but not quite the way I wanted.
Why was Sable trying to seduce Aria? Was that just about wanting what was Perry's? That was ridiculous. But I loved when her father-- OMG HOW HAVE I NOT TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER YET-- came in and warned her about Roar and Soren. And then she saved them, and they found Perry and yay!
My one big complaint since the first half of book 1: the ending was a little anti-climactic. The actual fight between Perry and Sable was over WAY too quickly. Oh, and I kind of wanted Perry to lead everyone, though I understand the point in having the counsel, especially since there were three different groups coming together now. The people on the counsel made sense, of course, and I DID like the bit about Perry spending his mornings with Aria, then a portion of every day with Talon. I was just the kind of ending I liked-- enough information to show that everything was going to be OK, but not overwhelming us with details of the future.
Next up, I read Liv and Roar. It was so cute, but it made me hate their brother even more. Perry had talked about how they used to be close, and Roar mentioned remembering him standing by Perry when they were little. But we've only seem him as evil and corrupt. I want a flash of the kids when they're little, so I can understand why Perry cared about his brother at all. But the ending hurt so much, knowing how it would end up, and seeing just how in love Roar and Liv were. And I was not a fan of the Brooke/Perry in this (and especially how much Roar liked them together), though I DID just the mentions of Perry trying to break it off all the time.
And finally, I read Brooke. And I had started to like her in Into The Still Blue but the novella made me really appreciate her. I enjoyed watching her slut it up a bit in her attempt to get over Perry. But I also find it funny that the three guys she kissed (only two sincerely) in that time were all the brothers. But her relationship with Cara was wonderful to see, and I loved her growth throughout the novella. As Aria lay unconscious, Brooke went from "I hate you for stealing everythingI love" to "thank you for my sister, I never really had Perry, and he and Roar still in my life". She also kicked some serious ass in the novella, which Aria never finds out about. It made me see why Perry still needed her nearby in the books.
Overall, I loved this series, despite its VERY shaky start. I had been starting to doubt that I would ever really enjoy it, but I certainly did!
Sorry for yet another long rant! Hey look! This one's just under 2000 words, too!