Under the Never Sky -- Veronica Rossi
In a far-future world, people live out their entire lives enclosed in bubble-like pods. Through their Smarteye devices, people spend most of their time in the Realms, a virtual reality that's "better than real". (Or... is it?)
At least, that's Aria's perspective. And why would she think anything different? She's grown up on the inside, and she knows full well—it's common knowledge—that not only is the outer world peopled by Savages and cannibals, but that the air itself is poisonous. I mean, they call it "the Death Shop" for a reason.
Perry, who's lived his whole life on the Outside, wouldn't entirely disagree. Even though the environment isn't poisonous to Outsiders like it is to the Dwellers, there are a million and six other ways to die out there: aether storms, starvation, sickness, murder, childbirth, wolves, fire, cannibals. (Yep, the cannibals are for real.)
What neither of them ever would have predicted is about to happen: if they want to find their lost loved ones—let alone simply survive to see another day—they're going to have to trust each other and work together.
I admit it, I was ready to be unimpressed with this one. I mean, the basic premise is a little bit of Logan's Run, a little bit of Feed, and whole a lot of people-in-the-far-future-from-different-backgrounds-join-forces-to-save-the-world-and-fall-in-lurrrve-along-the-way, which is a story that we've seen a few times over the last few years. But Under the Never Sky has, brings, and delivers the goods. The basic storyline sounds familiar, sure, but the fun is in the world-building, the character arcs, and in the details.
For instance, neither Aria nor Perry does the oh-s/he-is-so-different-and-weird-but-wowee-I-sure-do-find-him/her-attractive-at-first-glance thing. At first, and for a good long while, Aria sees Perry as a dirty, brutish animal, and Perry sees her as a chattering, clueless weakling. They genuinely dislike each other. But, time passes, they begin to respect one another, and that respect changes the way they see each other and the world. An alliance based on necessity slowly becomes something much stronger. It's a much more satisfying arc that Ye Olde Lurrrve At First Sight routine.
Although it's pure sci-fi—no magic at all, though some of the Outsiders have mutations that resemble magical gifts—I'll very definitely be talking it up to fans of Graceling and other action-packed fantasy-romance journey stories.
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Book source: Netgalley.