Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

Review:
There will be spoilers from book 1!

At first, I wasn’t quite expecting to like this one. I almost liked book 1 as is, as a stand alone. I was even postponing reading this, dreading a cliché/blasé book 2. How could anything compare to the awesomeness that was the first book? But, I eventually gave in because I loved Aria, Perry, and Roar too much!

And I’m so glad I gave in. Because I got so much more Aria, Perry, and Roar! Though, I think out of everyone, Roar is my favorite. I love Perry and Aria, I really do. It’s just sometimes I get a little tired of the storyline of two soul mates who have everyone and everything going against them. And this couple literally has no one on their side in this sequel.

Aria is gossiped about, made fun of, not trusted, and then eventually poisoned (almost to death) by Perry’s tribe, and that is with the whole tribe under the impression that Aria is just an ally and not actually Perry’s soul mate. So of course, Aria leaves Perry’s tribe. Technically, she has a mission to accomplish. At the end of book 1, she made a deal with her prior leader that she would find out where the mysterious Still Blue was in trade for Perry’s nephew, Talon. She also wanted to find the Still Blue so her people (who weren’t exactly her people any more) could have safe place to go to.

Aria ends up leaving with Roar (whose received some new information about Liv) and the two friends don’t even say goodbye to Perry who has a new tribe to worry about and take care of from an onslaught of new attacks, tribesman abandoning camp and his leadership, and terrifying storms that are getting worse and worse.  The book goes back and forth between Perry’s hardships and Aria’s. The two characters are constantly thinking of each other.

And it all comes down to a rush for time against evil leaders, against apocalyptic storms, against the utter collapse of both Aria’s and Perry’s societies, and the ability to save as many lives as humanly possible. This book had all the harshness of book 1. But, it also had a lot more sadness. There’s a lot more death. There’s more battling for survival. There’s more hunger and more explosions. It ends with some smart thinking, a clever deal, a narrow escape, and a small smidgen of hope. I almost gave away the epic ending, but I stopped myself just in time.

I loved the mission that Aria and Roar went on! They have such a wonderful and entertaining friendship! And I love that there was never any awkward love triangle things to worry about. For once, there was just a boy and a girl in a YA book that were actually just best friends! Thank you, Rossi for doing this!

I also loved getting to see Perry as a leader. He has grown so much in this book. Every time he dove in to save someone, I was biting my nails, hoping his heroic actions would turn out okay. And Aria is stronger now too! She takes needles in her arm like a pro. She jumps off cliffs and fights for her friends. And really, I guess she and Perry are very much alike.  I loved the action in this one. I loved the suspense and the rush for time, and I really didn’t feel like this was too much of a blasé book 2 because of this storyline.

The only slightly not awesome element of this book was the heightened cliché “all things are against us” romance. And normally, I’m a sucker for romance. Seriously, I love the stuff. I just kind of felt like Perry’s and Aria’s relationship in book 1 was a little more real, a little less Romeo and Juliet, and a lot more interesting. I’m interested in seeing though where things go for them in book 3. And I’m definitely interesting in seeing the Still Blue, and actually learning if it’s all it’s cracked up to be. I give this one a 9/10.