Roar of the Tides (Under the Never Sky #4) by Veronica Rossi

Amy     
Lynnie 

young adult, fantasy

 

This fourth novel in the Under the Never Sky series was just published nine years after the original trilogy's final installment. Our reviews for the original trilogy can be found here. Since we both loved the trilogy, we read this one with mixed opinions. 

The community has been living in their new territory in the Still Blue for about a year when they receive an SOS from someone back on the other side of the aether curtain. A small group (which excludes Aria and Talon) travels back to their old land to attempt a rescue. However, upon their arrival, situations have changed and they run into misunderstandings, failing technology, and political struggles which need to be worked out before they can attempt to return to the Still Blue.

Amy's Review

Although the premise of Roar of the Tides felt unlikely to me, I went along with it to spend more time with these characters. But I felt much of the novel was overly contrived and a few of the characters I loved were acting very differently or were absent from the story. I found it very easy to put down after a chapter or two and then would forget about the book for a few days. Perhaps it was just a bad time for me to read it. But this one lacked the luster of the original three for me and never grabbed me.

I never really got behind Tempest. And it took a good portion of the book before Roar seemed interesting. So, while I enjoyed seeing Roar get a happy ending, I don’t feel this installment came close to the quality of the trilogy. Veronica Rossi had never intended to write it when she finished the trilogy and, sadly, it shows. It had some good moments which is why I’m being generous and giving it 3 stars. But if I hadn’t enjoyed the other three novels so much, I probably wouldn’t have finished this one. However, looking at the ratings, I'm in the minority opinion here.

Lynnie's Review

I was very happy to learn this book was being released as I really enjoyed Veronica Rossi’s Under the Never Sky series. Roar was one of my favorite characters so I was very happy to spend time with him as the main character. I was not disappointed.
I enjoyed the story from start to finish and being back with these characters didn’t fail to put a smile on my face. Rossi did a great job of recapturing their voices (something that doesn’t always happen with so much time between books), and her writing style was fun to read. That said, there were definitely a few things that had me rolling me eyes to the back of my head and kept me from giving this book five stars.

The main thing was the Aether. The entirety of Into the Still Blue was about how to get through the Aether. They literally sacrificed a character to get through the Aether, but now just one year later they just find an easy way through all of a sudden and then poof! It’s never a problem again. Seriously?

But, the good absolutely outweighed the bad in this book. I loved revisiting so many characters and getting to know new ones, and I love that Rossi imbues these characters with loyalty, friendship, found family, and love for one another.

Rossi leaves plenty of loose ends if she wants to write additional sequels- it’s been long enough that the thought of it doesn’t even make me mad. But talk to me three sequels from now and I may feel differently.