Tuesday 15 February 2011

Inside Out Review

Inside Out
-       Maria V Snyder
Publisher: UK – MIRA Ink
Keep your head down. Don't get noticed. Or else. I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? Not like it's all that dangerous - the only neck at risk is my own. Until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution...
Trella is a scrub – a maintenance worker in the crowded levels one and two of the Inside. There is little space for the scrubs while the uppers have the luxury of space and families. So from a young age she learned to escape into the pipes and conduits and earned herself the name Queen of the Pipes. Trella is a loner by choice – at the beginning she has only one friend, Cog who acts as a big brother to her. And while she may not be happy, she doesn’t have any hope that things will change. It’s always been like this and it will probably always be like this. Probably. Somehow Trella ends up learning more about the Inside than anyone else and perhaps even the existence of a mythical Gateway to Outside...
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Maria V Snyder’s work – I adored her Study and Glass trilogies and here she offers a very different novel, moving from fantasy to science fiction. However, she still manages to pack in a lot of action, relationships and some surprising twists into this YA novel. I have to admit I was swept up with Trella and loved the way she really didn’t have a plan but was making it all up as she went along. She acted on instinct and had to learn to trust others. She had no big ambitions – she just wanted to be left alone. Yet, by the end she manages to make numerous friends and explore parts of Inside no-one had ever been to before.
There is a sweet romance in the story with an upper, Riley, but it doesn’t really become the focus. I loved the way Maria Snyder manages to convey different personalities in just a short space and even manage to include a variety of twists and turns. There are a few that genuinely startled me and along the way Trella learns that if you want things to change, you have to do something. There are lessons learnt about freedom and propaganda throughout. There’s enough action, conspiracy and discoveries to keep you reading and enjoying the journey throughout. Great fun and where can I get my own sheepy?

And stop by again tomorrow for my Inside Out Giveaway! :)
Recommended for fans of Richelle Mead and Rachel Vincent. 9 out of 10.

4 comments:

  1. Yep... another series I need to read. Haven't read the first, but I will! This sounds so good. Thanks for the great review!

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  2. I'm reading this right now! And I'm really enjoying it, the only problem I got is that its hard for me to keep track of time and age in the story since its so different from ours.

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  3. I'm really loving what I'm seeing about this book. It sounds like such an amazing read. Now I have her first book, Poison Study, here to read and so badly want to get to it, but have to get through the review books first. And I never seem to get through them. ;) Thanks!!!

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  4. I really want to read this one, as I love her Study and Glass series (still need to read Spy Glass though) and I'm really curious to see what she does with an SF setting! Your review only made me more corious :D

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