With her weak eyes and useless lungs that often leave her gasping for air, Nere feels more at home swimming with the dolphins her mother studies than she does hanging out with her classmates. Nere has never understood why she is so much more comfortable and confident in the water than on land until the day she learns the shocking truth—she is one of a group of kids who have been genetically altered to survive in the ocean. These products of the “Neptune Project” are supposed to build a better future under the waves, safe from the terrible famines and wars and that rock the surface world.

But there are some big challenges ahead of her: no one ever asked Nere if she wanted to be part of a science experiment; the other Neptune kids aren’t exactly the friendliest bunch, and in order to reach the safe haven of the new Neptune colony, Nere and her fellow mutates must swim across hundreds of miles of dangerous ocean, relying on their wits, their loyal dolphins and one another to evade terrifying undersea creatures and a government that will stop at nothing to capture the Neptune kids … dead or alive.

Fierce battle and daring escapes abound as Nere and her friend race to safety in this action-packed marine adventure.

 

Every now and then it’s inevitable that you’ll come across a book that you just can’t get into. That’s exactly what happened to me with The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke. There were three things that really turned me off of this book: the writing, the characters, and the storyline.

The writing in this book is really going to appeal to younger teenagers, but I found it to be very choppy. It didn’t help that I didn’t like the book itself. The writing is actually the key element here, because I’m finding myself wanting to talk about certain things that bothered me but they pertain more to the characters and the storyline. So, ultimately, it all comes down to the writing itself…so I’m just going to move on to the storyline.

I feel a little silly, because I have always wanted to read a book that surpassed the get to know you part and jumps right into the action scene. Well, that is what The Neptune Project did. It started out with an action scene, but it bothered me a lot. I had no time to get to know these characters or the world that they lived in. I had no background information at all. Instead, I was just placed into the middle of the story it felt like. I really needed that background info to get my up to date.

Moving on to the characters….I couldn’t stand Nere. I only read this book for 50 pages, but I HATED her. She was weak, whiny, a follower, and just not someone that I wanted to read about. The book may have gotten better, especially since it started out all action packed….I’m betting that it got even more so. However, what I read just didn’t appeal to me. There were a few supporting characters who didn’t bother me nearly as much…but, again, I didn’t fall in love with them.

Overall, I probably would not recommend this book. I’d like to point out, though, that I usually do not like books about water creatures. I can’t even think of one that I fell head over heels in love with. So, some people really might end up loving this book. It just wasn’t for me.

 

Pages: 340

Publication Date: May 21st, 2013

Publisher: Disney/Hyperion Book

Source: ARC

Rating: N/A due to DNF

On Earth, seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander was taught to never peek, but if she hopes to survive life on her new planet, Loge, her eyes must never shut. Because Zeus will do anything to save the Ancients from their dying planet, and he has a plan.

Thousands of humans crossed over to Loge after a poisonous neurotoxin released into Earth’s atmosphere, nearly killing them. They sought refuge in hopes of finding a new life, but what they became were slaves, built to wage war against their home planet. That is, unless Ari and Jackson can stop them. But on Loge, nothing is as it seems…and no one can be trusted.

 

About a year ago, I read Gravity by Melissa West, and I fell head over heels in love with it. Aliens, Dystopia, and Sexiness all rolled into one book? Yes, please, sign me up! It’s been quite awhile since I’ve read Gravity. I remember that it ended with Ari going to Loge with Jackson and finding out that she was part alien now. I remember thinking then that the second book might run into some problems now that it was totally shifting to the alien’s side. That kind of stuff is a lot tougher to write about. It’s so out of an authors’ comfort zone. They have to write almost 100% of things they don’t know about, and it can be tricky. My fears were right. It didn’t work for me in Hover. I only ended up getting about 70 pages into this book before I had to stop /=

Part of my problem with Hover is that it came practically no background information. Like I said, it had been about a year since I’d read Gravity, and I needed just a little boost of information in Hover to get my brain back on track. There wasn’t very much of that, and it was almost impossible for me to know what was going on. I started to catch up a little, but I had a hard time remembering who anyone was or anything that happened in the first book.

I need to point out to everyone that I had a very choppy ARC of Hover. words were misspelled or over lapped each other. Some words were left out completely. So that might have contributed to the fact that I just could not get into this book. Not only that, though, but I could not find any connection with any character. I remember loving the characters in Gravity, and I tried so hard to connect with them in this book, but I couldn’t do it. I was just not feeling anything for this story.

I’m not going to rate this book, because I don’t think that’s very fair. I didn’t like what I read of it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good book. I didn’t even finish it, so how the heck do I know? I do know that Gravity was amazing. And maybe if I had read it right before Hover, it would have made more sense. But I didn’t, and I didn’t much care for it. I hope that everyone researches this book and gives it a fair shot. Who knows…maybe you’ll end up loving it!

 

Pages: 250

Publication Date: August 13th 2013

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Rating: N/A due to DNF

Goodreads

WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.

DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she’s never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He’s searching for someone too. He’s also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other’s best hope for finding answers.

 

My experience with Under the Never Sky was sort of funny, because I knew nothing about the book when I bought it at Barnes and Nobles. I’ve heard about that book, and I knew that people LOVED it (and Perry!), but I really just had no clue what it was about. When I was in B&N, I decided that I was not in a dystopian kind of mood. The thought brought me down. I just wanted something paranormal. When I was browsing through the new YA section, I ran across the second book in the series, Through the Evernight. Again, I knew nothing about this series. Honestly, the second book looks like a paranormal book. I didn’t even consider reading the back of it, because I’d heard such great things and it was OBVIOUSLY a paranormal book cover. Uhm. No. I was wrong. It ended up being a dystopian book!

I wish that I could join the crowd and say how much I loved Under the Never Sky. I want to be one of those girls who gushes over how awesome and hot and spectacular Perry is! I wish that I was gaga over Aria and Perry and craving the next book. Now, I didn’t DISlike Under the Never Sky. There really was nothing THAT wrong with it. Here comes the but…..I found it boring. I didn’t care for any of the characters. I wasn’t fascinated with the world that Rossi created. I wasn’t even blown away by a single scene. I was just bored. I don’t know if this happened because I was in such a dystopian funk. I really didn’t want to read a dystopian book. It actually got to the point that I set Under the Never Sky down around halfway through it and picked up Burn Bright by Bethany Frenette. I just wanted something paranormal. When I eventually went back to Under the Never Sky, it didn’t get any better for me. I stayed bored throughout the entire thing. It got to the point that I just skimmed probably the last 25% of the book. I had read it consistently up till then, but by that point, I just didn’t care what happened anymore.

The thing that bugged me most about this book was how unrealistic everything was. Now, I know that dystopian is supposed to be unrealistic, but that’s not what I’m talking about. First complaint: some things made absolutely no sense! How did Perry get into Aria’s world in the beginning of the book? They unlocked a door to let themselves out. How did that let Perry in? And how did Perry miraculously run across Aria when she was dumped off in the desert? Because he’s really just going to stumble on her and know who she is RIGHT. AWAY. Not. No. Also, Aria and Perry HATED each other. I mean…they didn’t have a single cell in their bodies that liked each other. Normally that’s fine, because there’s a progression of feelings over time. Not in this book. It literally went from them hating each other all throughout the book. And then BAM! A page turned and all of a sudden Perry had feelings for Aria. A few chapters later, Aria had feelings for Perry. WHAT?! No. That just doesn’t work for me.

Veronica Rossi’s writing is very beautiful and smooth. There was a lot of detail….probably too much for my personal taste. She’s obviously a great writer. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t rock my boat. It was okay. It wasn’t bad by any means. But….I don’t think I’ll be reading the second one. I barely even know how the first one ended, because I just didn’t care. I think that a lot of dystopian lovers are going to enjoy Under the Never Sky, and I would encourage everyone to read it based on how popular it is right now. It sucks that it wasn’t for me, but I gave it a shot!

 

Kiona previously reviewed Under the Never Sky and gave it 5 stars! Check out what she had to say here.

 

If you liked Under the Never Sky, you should check out:

Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Gravity by Melissa West

The Ward by Jordana Frankel

 

Pages: 374

Publication Date: January 3rd, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Rating: :

 

Teaser Quote “She looked up. “A world of nevers under a never sky.”
She fit in well then, he thought. A girl who never shut up.”