14288998Title: Into The Still Blue

Author: Veronica Rossi

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: January 2014

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fantasy

Series or Stand Alone: Series, Book Three

Synopsis can be found here.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review:

Wow. A great ride.

Perry and Aria are put to the test, uniting the Dwellers and the Outsiders into one family. Only then can they fight a common evil and usher everyone into the Still Blue. But the groups barely get along, and Cinder has been kidnapped by Sable who plans on using him to get him and his people to the paradise instead. What follows is a rescue mission, a revenge mission, an impossible mission to get Cinder back and save everyone. And not everyone will survive.

Overall, Into The Still Blue is a wonderful third book. The plot moves along quickly and smoothly, throwing the characters into dangerous situations and emotionally jarring moments. I loved Roar even more by the end of the book, especially his unique friendship with Aria. Their warmth and understanding was beautifully detailed and shows a very strong and equally supported friendship. I love Perry. I do. But through the book, fights with Aria seemed forced or strained, like we knew they should fight about this topic but the motivation wasn’t really enough to constitute that reaction. Of course I love them together, but of all the relationships in book three, I might have to say that Roar and Aria was my favorite. Roar especially became front and center during this book as his character had a huge obstacle in front of him- getting over the a great loss and coming out the other side.

I love the world and physical dangers in Into The Still Blue. I can imagine the colors of the skies so vividly and Rossi does a great job of instilling upon the reader the dangers of each setting. We move from Perry’s childhood home to caves and beyond. Sweeping settings and strange lands await.

Sable is pretty evil, but I found him to be a great bad character. A bad man is always more interesting when he feels justified for his evil actions and Sable is no different. He’s a war lord, a tyrant, a king. And a great opposition for Perry who could have been like him but chose not to be.

And suddenly, it was over. The ending was quick and I felt myself jarred from the tale. I wanted to know what happened. I wanted more romance at the end, more closure, more of everything. I like the final scene well enough, but I feel like there was still so much left to touch upon. Now, I’m not talking about Lord of the Rings ten endings here, but another few scenes between the main characters would have helped me.

Overall, a great end to a popular and fast paced series. I’m sad it’s over and it is one that I will be reading again!

Rating 8 Cookie Worthy