Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Title: Through the Ever Night
Author: Veronica Rossi
Series: Under the Never Sky, book #2
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 8, 2013
Source: from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

It's been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don't take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe's precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.

Threatened by false friends, hidden enemies, 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 dystopian elements to create a captivating love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

Leave it to Veronica Rossi to remind me that, yes, sometimes a sequel can surpass the first book in awesomeness.  After reading Roar and Liv last month, I was absolutely dying to read Through the Ever Night.  I've been anticipating this sequel since I turned the last page in Under the Never Sky, and I couldn't be more impressed with how this series is progressing.

There was a lot of crazy in the first book, and Rossi has kicked it up a notch with this second installment.  My heart may have skipped a beat a time or two during the course of the novel...or stopped completely, I can't be sure.  Suffice it to say, this book was intense.  Unbelievably, gut-wrenchingly intense.  Loyalties will be tested, and new alliances will be forged.  Bad times are ahead, so prepare yourself.

But alongside that action and adventure is equally great character growth and development.  If Roar wasn't my favorite character before, he most definitely is now.  New layers are even added to Cinder, despite the fact that he doesn't vocalize much.  The friendships between the characters, be it Roar and Aria or Cinder and Perry, were so genuine and proved to be further development for each character as they deign to learn more about each other.

Perry and Aria have a lot to overcome in this story, not just from their lives prior to their chance encounter but also with respect to how others are going to respond to their relationship.  They come from two different worlds, after all.  It isn't easy going for them by any means, and sure, my heart was in my throat at times, but I never lost hope.  Though, I did have to catch my breath.

I continue to find the romance realistic and fulfilling, but I also love that it doesn't take center stage.  The environment is becoming unstable, the Tides are in a weakened state, and there's still been no word from Liv.  So many other obstacles in the forefront of this storyline, and they all take precedence over the love story.

Through the Ever Night picks up where Under the Never Sky left off, with tensions mounting between the Dwellers and the Outsiders.  And though it may not be the biggest threat Aria and Perry face at the moment, I loved how the differences between the sects were further explored in the sequel, especially because of Aria's appearance with Perry when he returns to the Tides.  There will always be dissenters who refuse any kind of change, but there are also those who are willing to accept it.  This simple fact was perfectly portrayed and expanded upon in Through the Ever Night.

I could never have predicted the turn this story would take.  I was prepared to be gutted one moment and then completely giddy the next.  It's a fast-paced read, much like Under the Never Sky, and it's full of all the feels.  And that ending!  It was just so utterly, completely satisfying.  There was never a moment when I considered not finishing this series, but if there had been, this sequel would have removed any lingering doubts.

Favorite Quotes:

"What?" she asked.
His hands slid to her hips.  "You're incredible."
"That's not what you were thinking."
"Was so.  I always think that."  He leaned in, twisting a strand of her hair around his finger as he kissed her bottom lip.  "But I was also wondering what you were doing around Butter today."
Aria laughed.  That was attractive.  She smelled like horse.  "Do you ever miss anything?"
Perry smiled.  "You, all the time."

He surprised her by taking her hand and threading his fingers through hers.  "You already are an Outsider.  You fit everywhere.  You just don't see it yet."
She stared at their hands.  He'd never done that before.
Roar gave her a droll look.  "It's just odd having you lay your hand on my arm all the time," he said, responding to her thoughts.
Yes, but this feels intimate.  Don't you think it does?  I don't mean that I think we're being too intimate.  I guess I do.  Roar, sometimes it's really hard to get used to this.
Roar flashed a grin.  "Aria, this isn't intimate.  If I were being intimate with you, trust me, you'd know."

Rating:  

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