21 January 2011

Book Review: Inside Out by Maria V Snyder



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? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution. - Goodreads



My Review:


Having never read any of Maria V Snyder’s works in the past, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book when I bought it from Amazon. However, what I found was an epic dystopian novel packed with a fast paced plot and fun, interesting and well developed characters. 


The world in which the novel is set was brilliantly described by Snyder, and I felt so absorbed in the book it was as if I was actually there in the Inside, living through Trella’s eyes. There was history behind everything, and I loved delving deeper and deeper and learning so much about the scrubs and the uppers. The division of the classes was brilliantly done, along with the descriptions of the levels and just the Inside in general. 


Trella, our main protagonist, is a scrub who lives on the lower levels, earning her living through cleaning the pipes that are all over the Inside. She’s a fantastic main character, I really loved her voice and her personality, and I felt she was the perfect choice to lead a rebellion against those who control her. Usually I dislike female lead characters as they tend to have a very annoying voice, and are extremely whiney. However, Trella has neither of those qualities which is why I loved her.


As with every teenage novel, Trella also has a love interest whose name is Riley. Their connection is clear from the start, and Riley was a great character and was fun to read about.


There were plenty of secondary characters, which would normally be overwhelming, but Snyder pulls it off very well and I found it easy to differentiate between all of the minor characters, and they each had their own distinctive personality. My favourite secondary character was Jacy, and although we didn’t see as much of him as I would have liked, I was kind of ‘shipping him and Trella. *Grin*


The ending was a huge surprise, which I did not see coming, and it left me wanting so much more! Luckily I had a galley of the second book, Outside In, waiting for me to open and start reading! 


Rating: 5/5










  • Series: Inside Out #1
  • Paperback: UK edition; 320 pages
  • Publisher: Mira Books (1 Jan 2011)
  • ISBN-13: 978-0778304111

6 comments:

  1. Oh, Oh, OH! My copy just arrived in the post a few minutes ago! I am so excited to read it, especially after coming across your review and seeing how much you enjoyed it :)

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  2. I just finished reading this one. I haven't seen this cover design yet.
    I really enjoyed it. It was everything that I hoped The City of Ember would be, but wasn't.
    Great dystopian science fiction.

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  3. Slowest Bookworm - What great timing! I can't wait to see what you think of it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

    Madigan - This is the UK cover, I think I prefer it to the US one. I haven't read The City of Ember yet, but I plan to. I've heard mixed things. I'm glad you loved Inside Out so much!

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  4. l love being drawn into a book so much l feel like l am there.
    So want to read the two in this series.
    Thanks for the review.

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  5. You're welcome Jodie, thanks for reading!

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  6. I saw your guest post on The Reader Room, and wanted to come check out your review for myself.

    This seems like an amazing book, and definitely one I would enjoy as I love the dystopian genre. It reminds me a lot of the book Worldshaker by Richard Harland. You can check out my review for Worldshaker on my blog, as well as my interview with Richard Harland! Great review!

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