Will capture your imagination and your heart. Justine

Aria is a memorable protagonist as she battles her own shortcomings with the same ferocity as she fights for the lives of those she loves. The world itself-sharply divided into garishly surreal Realms, cozy Pods, and harsh, unforgiving outside-is as creatively and lavishly developed as the characters themselves. The Horn Book

An unforgettable dystopian masterpiece. Examiner.com

An incredibly original plot. You won’t be able to put this book down…we can’t wait for the next installment in the trilogy! Seventeen.com

Fans of The Hunger Games will cheer Aria’s gradual, warrior-like transformation over the course of the novel. Perry is an enigmatic figure whose past emerges slowly and whose strength of character is only amplified by his flaws. Booklist

Will capture your imagination and your heart. Justine

Refreshing. Exhilarating. Rossi unravels the world’s secrets, perils, and wonders with a sure hand. The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books

Refreshing. Exhilarating. Rossi unravels the world’s secrets, perils, and wonders with a sure hand. Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Savage” tribesman Perry rescues the effete Pod-dweller Aria in Rossi’s dystopian debut about an ecological apocalypse. Earth is now ravaged by Aether storms, from which the Dwellers are insulated—at the cost of all freedoms. Aria is cast out of this refuge after a venture into a forbidden greenhouse, where she first meets Perry. The Outsider tribes live exposed to the horrifically magnified elements and suffer from mutations as well as the privations of their Stone Age culture. Predictable culture clashes ensue as Perry introduces Aria to his primitive lifestyle, though Rossi does have some interesting ideas. The Dwellers are kept passive by an elaborate virtual construct called “the Realms,” but aside from a few brief scenes, the Realms are merely referred to, not depicted. The focus is on Aria’s response to life in “the real” (and, of course, to Perry), and it’s hard to warm up to either. Violent death is endemic to both cultures, and in the tradition of H.G. Wells, neither the Eloi-like Dwellers nor the Morlock-like Outsider tribes are terribly appealing. Agent: Adams Literary. Ages 14–up. (Jan.) Publishers Weekly

Gr 7 Up—Aria has lived her entire life in the domed city of Reverie. As the story opens, she is sneaking into a restricted area with the security chief's son, Soren, in hopes that he will be able to help her reach her scientist mother, with whom she has lost contact. The son turns strangely violent and Aria only survives his attack by the timely intervention of Peregrine, one of the "Savages" from outside the dome. In order to keep her quiet, Soren's father casts her into the outside world to die. She is saved again by Peregrine, who is on his own quest to rescue his nephew from dome "Dweller" kidnappers. Though from different worlds, the two must work together if they are to prevail in the wilderness. Rossi's novel transcends the bleak category of dystopias to which it technically belongs. There is a luminescence to her characters and world that denies the grim realities of environmental degradation, domed cities, genetic disease, and roaming bands of cannibals. The almost-magical senses that Peregrine and Aria possess allow Rossi to expand her descriptive palette beyond the mundane spectrum to create truly wondrous images. Her action sequences are cinematic in feel while her romance builds from tentative feelings to a powerful bond between Aria and Peregrine. The hopeful ending leaves room for but doesn't necessitate a sequel. Although this is a first novel, it comes across as the work of a master craftsman and should appeal to both teen and adult readers far beyond dystopia fans. Film rights optioned by Warner Bros.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI School Library Journal