Review: Inside Out

Title: Inside Out
Author: Maria V. Snyder
ISBN/Publisher: 978-0-373-21006-0/Harlequin Teen
Age Group/Genre: Young Adult

Trella lives Inside, which is basically a building that has everything. And the Outside is a mystery, possibly a myth. Inside contains two groups of people, the Uppers and the Scrubs. The Uppers are the high class that basically run things and the Scrubs are the hard laborers.

Trella's a teenager and her job is to clean the pipes in the walls. And where she basically keeps to herself and explores the Insides without the Uppers knowing. She's a loner and perfectly content with keeping to herself and the pipes. But she does have one best friend, Cog. And Cog believes that there is a Gateway to the Outside and asks Trella to help him and the supposed prophet, Broken Man.

Now, Trella finds herself as a front runner in a Scrub revolution which leads her to living a double life in the Inside. How will she deal with such changes in her life?

Just like a few fellow book friends, I had low expectations for this book. I haven't heard much praise for it. But maybe that's good for the book in a way because in the end I loved it. I'll admit, it was slow to start, but as soon as the middle hit...woah!

This dystopian novel really had me curious to what type of structure they were living in and where it was. But really this books main concentration was on the way their society ran on the inside. It was really interesting to read about these two classes. I'm not sure if it's because I'm taking a class right now on the philosophy of education, but it really made me think about how important education is and who runs it.

Not only is the society interesting, but so are the characters. Trella is a strong main character who I constantly wanted to protect. She's an independent girl surrounded by interesting people. And these people are also characters that I cared for and want to learn more about. Especially Riley...such a sweet guy...awwww. The characters along with their riddles and their brains were wonderful to read.

This book has family relationships and sacrifices made and about hope. It's a wonderful novel and it is part of a series that I can't wait to read in the future (hurry up second book and come out!!!)

I really hope you all pick this one up!!!

A favorite line...

It's called hope. It's called seeing the best in people despite the miserable conditions. page 30

My Rating

(This was downloaded from Net Galley for review)

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***