Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Note: this review contains spoilers for the first book in the series, Under the Never Sky.

I’m sure most of you have heard of the second book slump in one form or another, that literary phenomenon that seems to plague so many trilogies: book two lags, weird love triangles develop, and the whole thing is often a huge disappointment. Well, I’m happy to report that Veronica Rossi’s Through the Ever Night does not suffer from the second book slump in the slightest.

The story picks up right where we left off in Under the Never Sky, as Aria and Perry are reunited after their separation. Major obstacles to their relationship are addressed in this installment, the most significant being Aria’s hybrid status as both Dweller and Outsider. Raised in Reverie, Aria’s sophisticated manner and speech are markers of difference that isolate her from Outsider communities like Perry’s, but she is also valuable to them because of her gift as an Audile. The love between Aria and Perry is met with great resistance, but they work together as equal partners to overcome it. Aside from one annoying instance of mistrust, these two have a rock-solid foundation for a lasting love. It’s nice to see a couple in YA who are such good communicators and so mature.

Because Through the Ever Night is so character driven, world-building is put on the back burner. While I didn’t mind this, some may find the lack of information about the Aether or the Still Blue frustrating. My hunger for world-building was sated by Rossi’s portrayal of life among Perry’s people, the Tides. Through the Ever Night brings Perry back to his community and his home by the ocean in a leadership capacity as Bloodlord of the Tides. His leadership style is quite different from any they’ve had, and it definitely causes some strife. Every time a member of the Tides reprimanded Perry for not being better, stronger, smarter, different, I wanted to rage at them and explain how overwhelmed the poor guy was with it all. Turns out I didn’t need to, since Perry was able to prove his usefulness all on his own.

Although there are many beautiful moments between the three primary characters, in many ways this is a novel driven by loss. Aria is still grappling with the news of her mother’s death, Perry is traumatized by his (justifiable) role in Vale’s death, and Roar continues to suffer in Liv’s absence. Through missing her, Roar and Perry both create an idea of Liv’s personality for readers. I think it does Rossi’s writing credit that Liv’s absence is felt so keenly considering that we don’t see her in the flesh until halfway through book two of the series. Finally meeting Liv is worth the wait, trust me. That girl is a legitimate badass. I’m excited to see how Rossi will handle the fallout from Liv’s last scene with Aria and Roar.

The final book, Into the Still Blue, is going to be explosive. I can’t wait!