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BOOK
ILLUMINATIONS
From Debbie Wiley Book Reviews
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Inside Out
by Maria V. Snyder
Trella
is known at Queen of the Pipes for her penchant for escaping from the
other scrubs into the vast pipes and ductworks that make up their
world. She is a cleaning scrub and her life revolves around cycles of
ten, working to clean for ten hours and then sleeping/eating in the
mass community for the next ten hours. She avoids the Pop Cops who
monitor their movements for the Uppers, who live above them.
Life for Trella is simple, if not a bit dull and frustrating. Now,
everything is about to change as she finds herself reevaluating the
world she lives in and seeing everything and everyone in a new light.
How on earth is she going to handle being in the midst of a rebellion
with everyone relying on her?
Trella could have easily been a difficult character to like if it
weren’t for the talented skills of Maria V. Snyder. Trella stands apart
from the other scrubs and it would be simple to mistake that aloofness
for disdain. Heck, she doesn’t even like her fellow scrubs other than
her best friend, Cog! However, Maria V. Snyder shows us the layers
beneath the surface, allowing us to see Trella’s loneliness and her
need for her own peace. Her interactions with Cog, Riley, and Sheepy
humanize her, making even her unlikable traits understandable.
INSIDE OUT is a brilliant story, one in which the world is carefully
built and is a major component to not only how the characters function,
but also into how they view themselves. Scrubs and Uppers never
interact and yet each has their own perspectives on the other class of
people. The world of INSIDE OUT is a harsh, almost bleak one and it’s
impossible not to cheer as the various characters begin to rebel from
the rule of the Pop Cops and the Travas. Maria V. Snyder does a
beautiful job at showing the dangers of putting power into the hands of
a few while writing a tale that is stunning in its complexity. Bravo,
Ms. Snyder!
Publisher: Harlequin Teen (April 2010)
Author
website
Reviewed
by Debbie, Debbie Wiley Book Reviews
Courtesy
of Amazon Vine
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