Inside Out
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Series: official name unknown; Queen of the Pipes series
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
How Received: publisher ARC
Summary from Maria V. Snyder's website.
Keep Your Head Down. Don't Get Noticed. Or Else.
I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. One of thousands who work in the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. The Trava family who rules our world from their spacious Upper levels wants us to be docile and obedient, like sheep. To insure we behave, they send the Pop Cops to police us.
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 a lower level prophet claims a Gateway to Outside exists. And guess who he wants to steal into the Upper levels to get the proof? You’re right. Me. I alone know every single duct, pipe, corridor, shortcut, hole and ladder of Inside. It’s suicide plain and simple. But guess who can’t let a challenge like that go unanswered? Right again. Me.
I should have just said no...
Buy | Borrow | Brush Off
I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy reading Inside Out. Actually, I kind of loved it. The characters are interesting - Trella is your typical kick ass snarky heroine, but I always adore that. The world is rich and new, and I got sucked into the plot line.
I just kept mentally comparing it to some strange combination of City of Ember and WALL-E.
Don't get me wrong - it's a fantastic book. But the whole concept seemed some twisted combination of Maria's imagination, the basic idea from City of Ember with some WALL-E thrown in for a little spice.
However, I did enjoy reading it - the character growth was amazing. I noticed the change-in-character without the character ever losing sight of who she was. And the romantic plot line was pretty amazing. Considering most of the HarlquinTeen novels so far have been right out, for the romance part, 'Oh, look, this is the romance plot line. It's predictable. Here's an epic fantasy novel surrounding it,' it was nice to see one where I still had to guess a little on which way it would go.
I feel like this review is all over the place. XD But that's what this next section is for, isn't it?
Overall Rating & Final Comments: 9/10. WALL-E and City of Ember reminders aside, it's a fantastic novel.
City of Ember or Inside Out? I know I'm going to distinctly remember the Queen of the Pipes, whereas the characters from C.O.E. I barely remember. Inside Out for the win.