Review: Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
Published: April 2010

Publisher: Harlequin

Available: Amazon

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

There was something about Inside Out that made me think of Across the Universe. Even as I say that I know that they are completely different stories, characters, etc. but there's just something...When you get to the end of the book, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. That said, I found it just as enjoyable as Across the Universe, and for completely different reasons.

Inside Out tells the story of Trella, a lowly 'scrub' on the 'inside' scrubs are a dime a dozen, living in cramped quarters, breeding, and spending their days cleaning up after the 'uppers'. Trella knows she was born an upper but was given up by her birth parents to live in the lower levels. She knows a scrub can't expect much out of life, and she's determined not to get close to anyone, as too often scrubs are feed to the chomper. When she unwittingly starts a revolution, she has to decide whether she is willing to take the risk on trusting others in order to find the elusive 'outside'.

Trella is an interesting character. She is aloof and unfriendly, unwilling to trust others, but she is fierce in her commitment to her friend Cog. She spends a lot of time telling everyone, including herself that her goal is to disprove the existence of 'outside' yet by the end, I feel like she is the one that needs it the most.

The romance angle was alright. I just didn't feel like it was a necessary part of the story. It's there, but luckily Snyder doesn't try to force it full steam on us. Riley and Trella come together cautiously and it felt more natural than if she had jumped right into love with him.

The ending was great, and leads perfectly to a sequel. I am definitely going to be checking out Outside In.