Into the Still Blue

Into the Still Blue

By: Veronica Rossi

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.

I have so much love for this book, for this series, for these characters and this world. And it's all the more welcome for not expecting it. I'm so sad that I've reached the end of this story, but it had such a satisfying ending. This book was beautiful and fantastic and perfect.
I have been putting off writing this review for about four days now. I don't know how to sum up how much I loved this series and I don't want it to be over.

Characters:
Aria: Throughout this book I was overwhelmed by how proud I was of Aria. Her character development was so wonderful through this series. She's compassionate, but passionate. Fighting for the people she loves is a huge part of her. Particularly her relationships with Perry and Roar are so amazing to read. I love it when a book can convey the varied types of relationships that exist. As well as when it can show that a person can remain themselves even while being different depending on who is around them.
Perry: Oh wow. I really liked Perry before this book, but he was sort of tiresome. But toward the end of Through the Ever Night he finally took up the mantle of leadership that being a natural lean toward leading put on him. I loved him in this book, because you can see how far he has come from the kid he was at the beginning of Under the Never Sky. Particularly I love how he finally started showing the people in his life how he felt, what they meant.
Roar: Roar is such a well-crafted character. He's quick-tempered and emotional and funny and caring to those he loves. I loved his protectiveness over Aria, his brother-like relationship with Perry, even his slowly evolving friendship with Soren. I think his characterization was always executed perfectly. Every line of dialogue he spoke had his name written all over it.
Cinder, Talon, Willow: I honestly loved all of the kids in these books. They behaved like actual kids would. I loved each of their relationships with Perry and with the other adults of the Tides. It might be a small detail, but I thought it added a sort of realistic depth.
Sable: A convincing villain if there ever was one. Seriously this guy gave me the creeps, in the way a villain should. He's cold and calculating, manipulative, cruel. Yet he pretended to himself that he had some sort of moral code that he stuck to. You never knew what he was going to do next, but you were always reassured of all that he was capable of.

Plot:
HOLY WOWZA. Yes. This plot was so phenomenal. It kept the reader engaged and guessing, while also providing a clear goal to be met. There were so many different groups with different agendas all working around each other trying to meet a common goal. There were rebellions and agreements broken and fights that broke out. It was thoroughly engaging in a way that kept your focus on the characters as well.

Writing:
Somehow I have failed to say this in my review of Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night, but the writing in these books is lovely. It creates the tone of the story that matches the themes and the world. The dialogue is always spot-on. The descriptions aren't overly done, but are really well-done. The characterization is beautiful. Veronica Rossi knows exactly what she's doing.

THIS is how you end a series. All the loose-ends were wrapped up I walked away feeling satisfied and couldn't stop thinking about the expansive story of this series. These characters will stay with me because they were so realistic, so heroic, so thought-provoking.
 
I am going to miss these characters. But this ending was exactly what they deserved. Pain, loss, love, strength, triumph, family.

Quotes:

“We have to tell each other the little things, the bad things. Maybe they’ll hurt for a while, but at least they won’t become big things. If we don’t, we’re just going to keep hurting each other. And I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“We all have the potential to do terrible things, Soren. But we also have the potential to overcome our mistakes. I don’t know… I need to believe that. What point is there otherwise?”

“The feeling of incompletion—of wishing he could have done more, or differently, or better—wasn’t new. But he was tired of bashing his head against the past. He tried to do right—in every situation. Sometimes that wasn’t enough, but it was all he could do. The only thing he truly had power over. He was learning to accept that.”