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 first.

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.

While Through the Ever Night was much more enjoyable than Under the Never Sky, it still fell flat for me. Rossi’s writing is still gorgeous and her plot is still intriguing. I still love the science and genetics, as well as the technology. But the characters – for the most part – were flat and there were huge chunks of the book that were just boring.

I still really liked Aria… But I still don’t know why. She’s definitely not a damsel in distress; she pulls her weight and she even took initiative in Through the Ever Night, which is more than she did in Under the Never Sky. But she also seemed to make some silly decisions and took action without thinking at times.

I tried so hard to like Perry. I know so many people who swoon over him. But it just wasn’t there for me. All he does is complain that he’s a bad leader and and how he wishes he wasn’t. And every decision he made seemed selfish – like he was doing it JUST to gain favor with his tribe… Yet, the tribe hated most of his decisions. So.. shouldn’t a good leader have done what was best for the tribe? If the tribe disagreed, shouldn’t he have done SOMETHING to compromise or.. I don’t know. I feel like I’m going to babble here because I just can’t describe it. I just didn’t like him. And his sections of the book were SO boring, I wanted to cry.

I still think, despite my dislike of him, that Perry and Aria make an adorable couple and I definitely ship them. But they spend most of the book apart! I just can’t… I don’t know how I feel about that. It was kind of disappointing and – maybe – one of the biggest reasons why I found Perry boring. He did nothing! Aria was off chasing leads and trying to solve Perry’s problems. Aria tried to save Talon. Aria tried to find the Still Blue. What did Perry do, besides make mistake after mistake?

We are introduced to a huge slew of characters – so many, my head felt like it was spinning. It was so hard to keep track of everyone. Brooke is a bitch – and I had heard great things about her character from people. Heck, she was given an eNovella! So I was disappointed with her in this book. I wanted more from Liv’s story and we didn’t get it – and it was disappointing! Kirra was awful. I got sick of everyone giving Perry a hard time – although I agreed with some of what they said/did to him.

Roar was still my favorite character. He was amazing and lovable and I felt sooo bad for him at times, I just wanted to cuddle him and make him feel better. I definitely would have liked more Roar in this story – though we did get a decent amount of him, more than we did in the first book.

Despite all that complaining, Through the Ever Night was still way better than Under the Never Sky. It had some really intriguing revelations, some interesting character developments and some shocking twists and turns. My biggest complaint, besides not connecting with the characters, is that there was just so much wandering around. All Aria and Perry do in Under the Never Sky is wander around and walk and try to get places (Like from Reverie to the Tides, with stops in between). Well.. there was a lot of that in Through the Ever Night, too, except it was worse because Aria and Perry were apart so often. So that was frustrating.

Overall, despite the fact that I rated both books 3.5 Stars, I still say I liked Through the Ever Night more than the first book in this trilogy. The first two books just seem like a lot of filler and background, in an attempt to move us into the third book without needing filler and background in the third book. So I still can’t wait to read Into the Still Blue because I have a feeling it’s going to have action – something the first two books lacked. I have a feeling Into the Still Blue will answer MANY questions.

Would I recommend Through the Ever Night? Yeah. I seem to be a black sheep where these books are concerned, because most people LOVE them. So just because I found them to be just okay, doesn’t mean someone else won’t love them.

Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered.

This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland--known as The Death Shop--are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild--a savage--and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile--everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky

I went into this book (and series) with very high expectations. So many people had given it rave reviews and so many of my blogger friends had told me I NEEDED to read it – that it was a must-read and I wouldn’t be disappointed.

Well, I was a little disappointed.

I’m not saying it was bad.. It was still a really interesting book. The plot felt unique and it really held my attention – The science/genetics and technology were really fascinating. The Realms sound very cool! The Aether storms are creepy and feel as though they could happen in a not-so-distant future. The writing was gorgeous, too. Rossi can definitely write! And for me, really great writing can make or break a story. I could despise the story, but if it’s well written and captivating, I’m sold. That’s not to say I’ll jump all over it and recommend it to people left and right – But it makes a slow plot or iffy characters more tolerable.

Things went down-hill, for me, with the characters, mostly. I’m very character driven – if you’ve read a lot of my reviews, you can tell that I focus a lot of my review on discussing the characters. And the characters in Under the Never Sky were.. okay.

Aria was a complicated character for me.. I really liked her but I have no idea why. There was nothing really remarkable about her that made her stand-out. If you asked me, “Why do you like Aria?” I’d shrug and say, “No idea! I just do.” Now.. I really did like her. But.. If I liked her that much, shouldn’t I have AT LEAST one solid reason why? Shouldn’t I be able to say something about her? I mean.. She held her own, but she also didn’t really do anything to help or assist. She was kind of just .. there. But I didn’t dislike her. And she never really had a moment where I was like, “Ugh, she’s getting annoying!” – Nope, that didn’t really happen. Or if it did, it was so insignificant that it didn’t faze me. So.. Yeah. I’m torn on how I feel about her.

Perry.. Guys, don’t hate me, please. While I didn’t dislike Perry, I certainly didn’t like him. The sections of the book that were told in his POV were kind of boring and I just couldn’t connect with him. I did love him with Aria and I can absolutely see them as a couple. I just wasn’t his biggest fan. I’m definitely not swooning over him. Sorry, Team Perry! But maybe he’ll be better in Through the Ever Night?? *Hopeful smile*

One of my absolute favorite characters was Roar. I loved him so much, from the minute we were introduced to him. I love his playful personality, his slightly cocky attitude (which, he’s mostly cocky in a cute and funny way). I’m SO RELIEVED he’s not a part of a love triangle with Aria and Perry, but I love the friendship he has with Aria. Also, as a side-note? I’m relieved that Aria and Perry weren’t all insta-love-ish. There relationship definitely had a slow build-up.

Overall, the story was very slow-moving – and, at times, borderline boring. It came in waves – a huge chunk of the book was slow and boring, then a huge chunk was interesting, etc. Most of the story was just build-up and back-story meant to get us from book one into book two. Which was weird, because usually it’s the second book in the series that does all that, in an attempt to build up to an “epic” conclusion in book three (if it’s a trilogy). It’s called Second Book Syndrome. Yet.. book one had that this time. So.. Kinda weird. I would still recommend this book and I’m definitely pushing ahead with book two (which I’m currently reading) because I’ve heard it’s amazing and way better than book one. And supposedly Into the Still Blue (book 3) really IS an epic conclusion.