Something has happened to the sky, something that makes it deadly and dangerous to live outside. Some of the population (Dwellers) lives in Pods, underground cities, where interactions are conducted through the Realms, Matrix-like computer simulations. The rest of the population lives outside, struggling to survive, always worried that the next Aether-storm will destroy their towns or kill them. When Aria is (accidentally) involved in the deaths of several Dweller teens and the possible social ruin of another, she is kicked out, her access to the Realms removed, sent to die under the never sky. But nobody counted on Peregrine, the Outsider determined to rescue his nephew, who was abducted by Dwellers. And nobody counted on Aria's unique heritage and her sheer determination to discover what happened to her and why. 
 I've been seeing really good reviews of this book for close to a year now, and just never got around to reading it. But when one of the ARC distributors I follow offered copies of Through the Ever Night, I decided to catch up. And it was definitely worth it. 
 In many ways, this isn't a young adult novel so much as what they're calling "new adult." The main characters are anywhere from seventeen to twenty-five years old, they have very adult worries and responsibilities, and there's even sex, though it's presented in a blurry watercolor rather than the bold strokes you'd find in an adult novel. The relationships are complicated--there's no insta-love here, thank goodness. Everything takes time and trust and care to build; nothing is easy or quick. 
 The only gripe I have about the book is the pacing. The initial adventure, characters meeting, trust being established, etc. takes roughly 3/4 of the book, and then everything speeds up and a couple of months passes in the rest of the book. Suddenly, jarringly, we're sped ahead with much less detail, skipping weeks at a time in a couple of sentences. I suspect that Rossi (or her publisher) didn't want the book to be too long, but felt that the setup was really important. I, for one, would have read the extra 100-150 pages that the last bit of the story deserved without complaining one little bit. 
 That gripe aside, however, this is a very well-written novel, with endearing characters and a really interesting premise that reminded me of Waterworld meets The Matrix meets Mad Max.