I read Maria Snyder’s teen sci-fi, Inside Out last year and reviewed on my blog. I enjoyed the novel and looked forward to the sequel. I’ve finally have had a chance to read it! I checked out the book from the library, unfortunately having to use Interlibrary Loan (my local branches didn’t have it!). I devoured the book over this past weekend.

In Outside In, Trella’s world has been shaken up after the recent rebellion. A Committee has been formed, consisting of scrubs (the lower class) and uppers (the upper class), and while all should be well now that power is distributed equally, there are still many problems. The Committee is so large that no decisions are ever made, and the scrubs are still unhappy with their situation, citing their jobs and living quarters as unfair, as compared to what the uppers have. On top of all this, Trella is having issues with her possible birth-mother, Dr. Lamont, and her boyfriend, Riley.

Factions form, and people, both scrub and upper alike, begin to get hurt or killed in the ensuing explosions and fires. Loyalties are tested and Trella doesn’t know who to trust. But when it comes down to the line, who is the enemy, and how can she put her fears aside to become a leader and put things, finally, to right?

In most ways I love Trella, and in others I want to shake her and say “what are you doing!” She’s equally admirable and frustrating. Stubborn and reckless, but very loyal and smart. Her character growth throughout this book is gradual and clear and also very believable. She comes to terms with her role in the past rebellion, as well as how she is seen as a leader for the people of Inside. Her relationship with Riley isn’t very prominent in this book, and that’s OK, as you get more time with Dr. Lamont, her supposed birth mother, as well as other characters. This book is again fast-paced and suspense-driven. The events of the novel unfold very quickly, even though a span of many weeks pass. It’s a very gripping read that I think most readers will find consuming.

Outside In contained quite a few twists and surprises which kept twisting in on themselves, leaving me wonder who I, as the reader, could trust, as well as who Trella could believe in. Common assumptions and loyalties from the previous novel were tested, and I felt this book took the story of this world to a new dimension. I enjoyed it and look forward to more work from Maria Snyder!

Copy borrowed from the library!

Years in the future, humanity is slowly reaching extinction. The human race has perfected the genetic code, with a horrible price: the children of the “perfect” generation die early, females at age 20 and males at age 25. No cure can be found, and the “virus” hits all without exception. The world is in chaos, and the vast majority lives in poverty, orphaned, struggling to survive. In order to help prolong the human race, the wealthy pay for people called Gatherers to kidnap young women, forcing them into captivity and polygamous marriages.

In Wither, Rhine has been kidnapped, along with two other young women, one really just a girl, and sold to a wealthy man named Linden. The three women adapt to the situation in very different ways. Rhine, determined to make an escape the first chance possible, Jenna, the eldest, resigned to her fate, but desperately angry, and Cecily, only 13, eager to please her new husband and become the wife he expects. While Rhine plots her escape, she gets to know a servant, Gabriel, as well as her sister wives, learning many unexpected things about them, and herself, along the way. Her goal is to fight for her freedom and be reunited with her twin brother, but one main thing stands in her way, Linden’s father, Vaughn, a man that will do anything to find an antidote and ensure his son lives past 25.

I drank this book in one solid gulp and couldn’t put it down as soon as I picked it up. It’s dark, depressing, tear-inducing, but intensely hopeful. Every time I turned the page I eagerly awaited to hear what would happen next for Rhine. DeStefano creates a building pressure throughout the novel, that meets several boiling points throughout as Rhine, and the reader, discover even more dark secrets about the world, Vaughn, and what exactly is going on in this household. Rhine’s passion for her freedom, and her kindness and love toward her sister wives is admirable, but I found her character realistic, at times unsure, but steadfastly holding to her memories of a life before. While these characters live in a world extremely unlike our own, readers will enjoy this new twist of a dystopian novel, and hope beyond all hope that the next novel will be soon forthcoming!

4Q, 4P, S

ARC received from Simon & Schuster – thank you!

For More: Learn about the author, Lauren DeStefano, at her website!

The Declaration by Gemma Malley

Anna Covey is a ‘Surplus’. She should not have been born. In a society in which ageing is no longer feared, and death is no longer an inevitability, children are an abomination.

Like all Surpluses, Anna is living in a Surplus Hall and learning how to make amends for the selfish act her parents committed in having her. She is quietly accepting of her fate until, one day, a new inmate arrives. Anna’s life is thrown into chaos. But is she brave enough to believe this mysterious boy?

A tense and utterly compelling story about a society behind a wall, and the way in which two young people seize the chance to break free. [Summary from Gemma Malley's website]

I can’t believe that I haven’t read this book until now–and it has a sequel, The Resistance already out, and a third book to complete the trilogy, The Legacy, out this fall. Dystopian futuristic novels are my favorites, especially when elements of science fiction are involved. In The Declaration, adults take Longevity drugs to prolong their lives forever–and if they choose to take these drugs, they are not allowed to have any children. Thus, surpluses–these forbidden children are taught that they don’t belong in this world, and are brought into slavery to serve the “Legals.”

The Declaration had a grip on me from the very beginning, from disbelief that Anna could think that her parents were to blame for her being a Surplus, to surprise and suspense when Peter arrives and challenges all that she had ever held to be true. This book had quite a few twists to it that were unexpected, yet very intriguing, setting the stage for the next novels to come. Fans of Neal Schusterman’s Unwind or Collins’ The Hunger Games will be particularly drawn to this trilogy!

Borrowed from the library!

For More: Visit Gemma Malley’s website to check out her blog and other books!

Keep Your Head Down. Don’t Get Noticed. Or Else.

I’m Trella. I’m a scrub. One of thousands who work in the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. The Trava family who rules our world from their spacious Upper levels wants us to be docile and obedient, like sheep. To insure we behave, they send the Pop Cops to police us.

So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? Not like it’s all that dangerous–the only neck at risk is my own.

Until a lower level prophet claims a Gateway to Outside exists. And guess who he wants to steal into the Upper levels to get the proof? You’re right. Me. I alone know every single duct, pipe, corridor, shortcut, hole and ladder of Inside. It’s suicide plain and simple. But guess who can’t let a challenge like that go unanswered? Right again. Me.

I should have just said no…

Synopsis from Maria Snyder’s web site, release date April 1, 2010, Harlequin Teen

Inside Out is Maria Snyder’s first foray into true science fiction and I think many people will find it a success. The world of Inside Out is filled with mystery and complete otherness. The people of this world live in what they call “Inside,” a huge metal cube where they exist. On the lower levels, the people called “scrubs” maintain the systems of living, air, waste, water, etc. and in the upper levels, the “uppers” live in what the scrubs believe to be relative luxury. The scrubs are given very few rights, and live in crowded quarters, working long hours. The uppers have families and maintain more of what we would know to be careers. The scrubs have no choice in their every day living, while they uppers have more freedoms and privileges.

In Inside Out, Trella, a scrub known as “Queen of the Pipes,” gets by day-to-day, living out her life as a loner. She has few friends, and most of the scrubs regard her with resentment because of her skills. She’s content with her existence in Inside, until the day her friend Cogon brings her to hear a prophet called Broken Man. Broken Man tells Trella and Cogon there is a way to reach Outside, through something called Gateway, which is a sort of portal to Outside that most Insiders believe will be found someday. Trella isn’t a believer in Gateway, but Cogon is, and his belief convinces her to take on a task that will lead to an even greater, yet exceedingly dangerous, journey. The path she takes could lead to redemption for the scrubs, or utter destruction of all she’s ever known.

Inside Out is an interesting, complex sci-fi story with a world similar, but unique from, many other future worlds. Trella is a complex character that you’ll simultaneously love, but occasionally be annoyed by. For me, I find that a great skill in an author–it’s easy to make characters that you’ll love or hate, but not always so easy to make characters that are realistic, with the qualities of a real human being (despite being in a completely “other” world). Inside Out will make you laugh and make you feel. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

Digital ARC received from publisher via NetGalley

This Wednesday I am waiting on Inside Out by Maria Snyder. I’m a big fan of her Study series (Poison Study, Magic Study, Fire Study) and have started her Glass series (Storm Glass, Sea Glass). I’m very excited about Inside Out, and was actually lucky enough to have a galley to read on NetGalley, so I’ll be reviewing that title soon in the weeks to come!

Inside Out
Release date: April 2010

Summary (from Maria Snyder’s Website):

Keep Your Head Down. Don’t Get Noticed. Or Else.

I’m Trella. I’m a scrub. One of thousands who work in the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. The Trava family who rules our world from their spacious Upper levels wants us to be docile and obedient, like sheep. To insure we behave, they send the Pop Cops to police us.

So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? Not like it’s all that dangerous–the only neck at risk is my own.

Until a lower level prophet claims a Gateway to Outside exists. And guess who he wants to steal into the Upper levels to get the proof? You’re right. Me. I alone know every single duct, pipe, corridor, shortcut, hole and ladder of Inside. It’s suicide plain and simple. But guess who can’t let a challenge like that go unanswered? Right again. Me.

I should have just said no…

Opened up my RSS reader and found this delightful news via The Compulsive Reader: The third Hunger Games novel will be called Mockingjay, and above you can see the lovely cover. This is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year–can’t wait!

Leviathan is the first book in a trilogy, telling the story of an alternate past–instead of World War I being a war fought by infantry, mine fields, and air raids, this Great War is fought by fabrications and machines. The War is between the Darwinists, nations that follow the teachings of Darwin (and in this alternate world, he has discovered how to “fabricate” many type of unique beings, including the Leviathan, a great airship composed of a whale and multitudes of other creatures), and the Clankers, the nations that fight using machinery and great metal Walkers that roam the land.

The story is told through the alternate stories of Deryn (also known as Dylan), a girl that pretended to be a boy to join the Darwinist air service, and Alek, heir to the Austria-Hungary (a Clanker nation) throne. As you can probably suspect, their stories become intertwined on the great ship of the Leviathan, which becomes in jeopardy of destruction.

Leviathan is a superb tale of adventure and suspense, a fantastically thrilling novel that is completely unique and refreshingly new. In a genre full of the paranormal and romance, a steampunk, warmongering novel is sure to rock the boat!

I recommend this novel for fans of Westerfeld, for young girls and boys, alike, and for anyone of any age that is intrigued by the story–it can be confusing at first, but by the end you are fully immersed in this alternate telling of one of the most famous stories of our world’s past.

The maze changes every night.

The doors to the maze close at dusk.

And during the night, mechanical beasts the boys call Grievers inhabit the maze, killing or stinging any boy they come across.

But Thomas is the catalyst for change, and his arrival at the Glade brings confusion and devastation the boys have yet to experience.

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, is a thriller for teens–suspenseful, exciting, and terribly confusing (in a good way). A few of the many questions I had in mind throughout: How did the boys get in the maze? Who put them there? Is this an experiment? WHY?

A few questions are answered by the end of the book, but not nearly enough, which is why this is part of a trilogy. I wish some of the overlying questions had been answered further. I haven’t encountered many books in the YA genre that end on a cliff-hanger, even ones in a series, but this novel definitely leaves you wanting more. A great book for young boys and girls alike with a very unique story that will keep you intrigued.

For More: Check out James Dashner’s blog and visit here for a great trailer for the book!