Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3) – Veronica Rossi

Title: Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3) by Veronica Rossi
Publishing Info: January 28, 2014 by HarperCollins
Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: December 15, 2013
Related Posts: Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1), Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2), Roar and Liv (Under the Never Sky #0.5), Brooke (Under the Never Sky #2.5)

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.
    The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.
   Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.
   Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.
   In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close

INTO THE STILL BLUE was the perfect finale to the Under the Never Sky trilogy. If you haven’t started this series yet, after having finished all three books (and two novellas!), I can tell you to GO BUY THEM. I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve had such a positive outcome on a series as a whole and the last book in a series so to say that I fell in love all over again with INTO THE STILL BLUE is really saying a lot for me!

Veronica Rossi’s writing grows leaps and bounds throughout the series. UNDER THE NEVER SKY was absolutely gorgeous but the plot arcs, character development, and overall beauty of her writing amazes me with each sentence of hers that I read. Her words make me feel emotional, ethereal, and makes me say things like “my heart is floating” because that’s honestly what I felt like. I stopped several times just to admire the way she strings words and phrases together, not to mention the amazing relationships and friendships that she creates between the characters. Speaking of which…

It will be hard to say goodbye to Aria, Perry, Roar (<3) and the rest of the characters I’ve grown to know and love in this series, but I’m also 100% satisfied where everyone was left at the end of the book. I remember feeling relatively lukewarm about Perry and Aria’s relationship in UNDER THE NEVER SKY because I just hadn’t fallen into their rhythm yet. I had always liked the two of them as characters (well, Aria had to grow on me JUST a bit) but their relationship really started to mesh for me in THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT and I absolutely melted in INTO THE STILL BLUE. Everything about their relationship, their love, their struggles just felt so real and I really made a significant connection with both of them.
We all know that I love Roar so of course I loved seeing more of him in INTO THE STILL BLUE again. We see a much different side of him and I won’t go into detail since that would be a major spoiler for THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT, but it’s quite interesting to see his interactions with his friends and tribe based on the events that happened in that book. And can I just say… *stands up and applauds Veronica Rossi* THANK YOU SO MUCH for NOT making an Aria-Perry-Roar love triangle!!!! I LOVED the friendship between Aria and Roar. They have a real connection with both of them being Auds and they really form a bond over that in addition to their already easy friendship. Roar wasn’t quite brotherly but he also was not a romantic interest and I am so happy for it because while I wouldn’t say a love triangle would have ruined the series, it would have definitely not been the same. I appreciated that friendship so much and it’s absolutely one of my favorite parts of these books.

INTO THE STILL BLUE really kept me hooked the whole time. Things were always happening, the action was always moving forward, and there were some really neat plot developments that surprised and impressed me! I actually didn’t even brush up on the series before I picked this one up but the fact that I read THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT about a year ago (almost exactly a year ago, actually!) really didn’t make it difficult. It was easy to pick up where book two left off and of course I didn’t remember ALL of the details, but Veronica Rossi does a great job at helping the reader pick up the little things that may have gotten lost over the year gap between books.

I was actually really worried about the ending! Nervous, excited, panicked… It was so excited and yet so scary and all of my emotions were right on the surface! I was reading with little glistening tears in my eyes, afraid for what was going to happen to the characters in this series finale! With it being the last book, you just never know what might happen so I was nervous but the book wrapped up perfectly and I couldn’t imagine it ending any other way.

Aria // Character Obsessions: Finding the Still Blue, helping Perry, regaining strength, strengthening her friendships.
This was definitely the most I’ve liked Aria. Admittedly in book one, I had a little trouble with her from time to time but she really grew SO MUCH throughout the series and by the end, I wanted her to by my best friend. She was a bit immature and very sheltered when she lived in Reverie and she grew into a beautiful young woman who was strong, proud, loyal, and determined. I think it made it even better that I didn’t get along with her 100% in UtNS because that really allowed me to see how much she grew.
Perry // Character Obsessions: Protecting his tribe and friends, comforting Roar, getting everyone to the Still Blue.
PERRY. I know everyone loved Perry and really, I liked him, but I didn’t swoon like most. INTO THE STILL BLUE had me swooning. There were a few lines that just floored me and I just loved seeing the maturation of his relationship with Aria. He also really stepped into his role as Blood Lord and totally owned it, maturing in that position as well. I think it was the hardest to say goodbye to Perry’s character once this book was over because I really started to fall in love with him and how his character developed.

Kept Me Hooked On: This beautiful dystopian/post-apocalyptic/fantasy mix. It’s hard to say exactly how I would classify this series in terms of genre but I always felt it was a bit of a mix between dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and it carried a big fantasy feel for me as well. I loved how everything sort of blended so well that I couldn’t even pin a genre on it. It had such a unique feel and I really loved every minute of INTO THE STILL BLUE.
Left Me Wanting More: Aria and Perry. I finally got HOOKED into their relationship. After liking it, then loving it, then totally falling in love with it, I just wanted to read so much more of it!

Addiction Rating
BUY IT! Read this series!!!

I feel like there have been a few series lately that I have been really disappointed with the last book. INTO THE STILL BLUE is NOT that series. This was the perfect ending to a trilogy that just got better with each book. The plot, the characters, the writing, the FEELS. Everything grew and got better from one book to the next. I don’t know of Veronica Rossi’s future plans, but anything she writes will now be on my auto-read list and I feel absolutely confident now that the series is over to recommend it to people and tell them that they won’t be disappointed!

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(Click the cover to see my review!)