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Inside Out by Maria V Snyder (view source)
Revision as of 11:01, 18 September 2020
, 11:01, 18 September 2020no edit summary
The host of characters who Trella manages to recruit, provide a range of different personalities with which to work with, though the author chooses to concentrate more on progressing the plot rather than much secondary character development; nevertheless, being the first book in a series, this can easily be remedied in future instalments. In my opinion, the most interesting aspect of the story was the deliberate ambiguity about the setting. What is Inside? We learn that it is a massive self-contained system, with various levels of accommodation, and a population that has been discouraged from asking questions. However, how did such a system first come about? What are the origins to this world? Are they set on Earth? Or another planet? Or something else altogether? Some of these questions are partly answered in the book, but I reckon that the sequel will have plenty more awesome revelations to look forward to. The gradual eroding away of the misinformation caused by the propaganda utilised by the militarised controllers, the Travas, is also an interesting aspect that makes the interactions between Trella and a sympathetic Upper all the more compelling.
I am tempted to go into a lot more depth about the fascinating premise, but half of the fun of reading the novel came in the gradual understanding of the true nature of Inside, and so I'll leave that for you to enjoy. The story is confusing in the first quarter, due to the intricate nature of the author's world, and the rather erratic pacing, often too fast, does not help with this; ''Inside Out'' is by no means an easy read, and readers will find it takes a bit of perseverance to grasp understanding during the many short rapid segments, especially near the conclusion of the story. Furthermore, I had a few issues about how convincing some of the aspects of the complicated mission to find Gateway were. Nevertheless, Maria V Snyder has created an engrossing narrative through the point of view of Trella, a very strong protagonist, whose gradual shift from bitter pessimism to new understanding and a wary hope, makes the events of the novel all the more emotive. The author's well -directed, action -packed plot with twists aplenty, coupled with engaging dialogue kept me reading late into the night. Furthermore, stunning revelations littered like confetti throughout the last quarter of the novel, answering some questions while simultaneously creating many new ones, ensure that great anticipation for the sequel, ''Outside In'', will be guaranteed.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag. We also have a review of [[Outside In by Maria V Snyder]].
While reading ''Inside Out'', a number of notable similarities came to mind with [[The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins]], which provides a very visceral dystopian depiction of society, with a similarly embittered and tough female protagonist. I would also recommend [[The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness]], the first book of the Chaos Walking Trilogy that is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of teen dystopian fiction.