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    Outside In
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    Outside In
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    Outside In
    Ebook418 pages6 hours

    Outside In

    By Maria V. Snyder

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    There’s something Outside It wants In. And I’m supposed to stop it?

    I’m Trella. I used to be a scrub, cleaning the pipes and corridors of Inside. Then I found a whole world beyond the cube we live in and accidentally led a revolution against the Uppers. Now everyone is trying to figure out what happens next. Except me. The fight’s over and I want my life back.

    I need to explore the new world I’ve found and work out exactly what’s going on with Riley, the Upper who helped me win the war. But there’s something Outside. And I need to step up. Because once a leader, always a leader. It’s coming. Am I strong enough to stop it?

    Featured in Peter’s Gazette Librarian’s pick of ‘What’s Next’ FOR FANS OF THE HUNGER GAMES

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateApr 1, 2011
    ISBN9781408929209
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Outside In

    4/5

    334 ratings49 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The premise: ganked from BN.com, which also happens to be the back-cover copy: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.My RatingWorth the Cash: I've enjoyed everything Snyder's written, and this is no different in that regard. What makes it different from everything else, though, is that this is Snyder's SF debut, so if you're a fan of her work, don't come to this hoping for fantasy or magic. It's magic of another sort, and I think Snyder handles her SF debut pretty darn well. While the setting was a little bland, the themes are strong, the character growth is excellent, and the story really moves along at a good pace. I gotta give props to Snyder too for her character of Trella. I think anyone who's ever been a loner (or who still is), will really, really relate. It's a fun read, with an ending that raises more questions and gets you excited about the sequel, Outside In, which comes out next year. It's not a cliffhanger (not what I'd consider one, anyway), but it leaves you looking forward to more. My only real question about these books lies in the fact that week one million is SO far away. There's no way that's where the story will end, which makes me wonder, if that's the case, what the hell does Snyder have in mind? I'm looking forward to finding out. :)Review style: There's really not a lot I want to talk about, but I do want to discuss Snyder's use of first person POV, how our heroine isn't perfect and why it works, discuss the plot in vague detail and talk about some of the questions that pop up, and lastly, how all of that relates to world-building. Vague spoilers, but I'll try not to say anything TOO revealing, but still, consider yourself warned. :)The full review may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)REVIEW: Maria V. Snyder's INSIDE OUTHappy Reading!!
    • 3/5
      Exciting yet predictable, Snyder created a very dystopian world, but smoothed away some of the hard edges.
    • 3/5
      Whilst I loved "The Study" trilogy by Maria v. Snyder, I struggled to read this book. I never really engaged with Trella, the main protagonist, who lacks the humour and feistiness that Yelena had. Trella is a scrub, a nobody whose life is occupied by work. She is resourceful and clever but she is also defensive and lacking passion, spending too much time crawling through the pipes that she keeps clean. There is the slightest touch of romance throughout the book, but Riley is not a strong character and doesn't seem the right match for Trella. In "The Study" series the author created a wonderful world but in this book I found it difficult to create a clear, mental picture of Inside - the dystopian society where the uppers and scrubs live. I also laboured trying to follow how they measured time in this society. However, I thought it clever when Snyder revealed the location of Outside very late in the book. When compared to books in the same genre such as "City of Ember" and "The Declaration", this book is lacking. I will not be reading "Outside In", the next installment in this series.
    • 3/5
      As others have said it took a bit to get into the book. The Heroine is not a particularly likable person. But that's okay. She stirs up problems and then doesn't follow through but finally "gets" it toward the middle-ish portion of the book. The ending was really great and hooked me for the second book.I always ask myself questions such as- Why didn't other people escape the crowds and hide in the pipes? Out of all the people- was she the only one with curiosity? blah blah but that's just me.
    • 4/5
      This review was originally published on my blog: The Reading Fever.Inside Out was such a great read! I enjoyed all the politics, mystery, and danger. Maria V. Snyder kept me guessing the entire book, and the twist at the end totally took me by surprise.The setting was good, and allowed the reader to really get a feel for the living conditions and suppression of the Scrubs. I loved the layout of Inside, which is pretty impressive if you think about it. The work schedules of the Scrubs, and the way they are forced to live all adds to the knowledge that the Pop Cops like to be in total control. The book was set up very well without giving a lot of back story, which allowed the story to move along, while staying mysterious.The characters were interesting, especially Trella, who was a strong heroine. Despite how the synopsis makes her sound, she isn't just a bratty, rebellious teenager. Throughout the story she shows herself to be physically and mentally strong, cunning, and best of all, brave. Her only flaw was that she was just a little too strong. There were just a few times when I would have liked to see just a little more reaction from her than there was. Although maybe that's not a flaw at all. After all, it prevented her from turning into the swooning heroine who is only strong when the hot guy isn't around. There's too much of that going around.*Spoiler warning: you are subtly told this information in the first chapter of the book, but it is still a spoiler.*Considering everything, my absolute favorite thing about Inside Out, is that the Scrubs fight back. Even before Trella came along, they had been fighting back in their own ways, even if they made little difference. I thought it was very realistic. History has always shown that no matter how suppressed a group of people are, there will still be those who fight back. I think that's missing in a lot of similar novels I have read lately, where the people seem to just accept that they can't change anything. That's wrong, and Inside Out sends that message.*End spoiler*I highly recommend Inside Out for readers young and old, alike. It is original, fast-paced, entertaining, and clean.
    • 5/5
      Really only 4.75 stars. I would have liked a little more "mourning" for Cog - more feelings or something. It seemed like he was just gone and no one was really too worried about it. I also had to keep reminding myself that she was seventeen (and therefore more competant for certain things) and not 14 because it kept saying how small she was so I kept picturing her as younger. Overall I really enjoyed it and will allow this .25 star boost to the coveted 5 stars as it was an entertaining read.
    • 4/5
      I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I'm a big fan of Maria's Study and Glass series but because this is a dystopian novel I worried that I might not like it. That was not the case however, as I absolutely loved this book!The novel is set Inside, which is like a big metal box with all sorts of corridors, rooms and pipework. Trella is a scrub and she works cleaning the pipework. As rumours grow that there is more than just Inside, Trella is roped in to helping discover the truth.I really liked Trella and her friends and I was rooting for them all the way through the book.The setting of this book is obviously a major part of the story. I found that the setting was described really well and you can quite easily picture in your mind what it's like.Although the setting is very different to Maria's other books, the writing is still just as great, and there's another awesome female main character. So if you loved Maria's other books, I highly recommend this!
    • 5/5
      Very, very exciting. Now that I've read a second Maria V. Snyder there's no doubt I'll be completing all three series in the near future. I fully expect to count her among my favorite authors*. Poison study is still my favorite of the two I've read but there's no way I'm giving this less than 5 stars as its definitely at least a 4-1/2 in my mind. There may have been some things that happened in Trella's favor that will seem a bit too contrived for some readers but hey - luck was on her side at those moments. I found it exciting to be near the end of the book and still knowing that there was a very real chance that the ending was going to be failure - I was preparing myself emotionally. Bad/unhappy endings of that nature don't ruin a book for me although they do leave me hoping for a sequel - can't help myself there.

      *My favorite authors list here on GoodReads isn't accurate or meaningful. I didn't realize in the beginning that simply following an author added them to that list.
    • 4/5
      Trella is a scrub, she is one of the thousands who work on the lower levels of Inside desperately trying to stay ahead of the Population Control Police who regard scrubs as disposable. She knows the pipes and hidden corridors of Inside to expore and investigate and she has a lot of questions about what is going on in her world. What she finds out and who she befriends will change her world forever.It's an interesting story and the twists and turns it took too me by surprise, I enjoyed the read and enjoyed the story and look forward to the sequel. Trella had reasons for being as she was and it made sense within the story. The characters were pretty much believable and how they interacted made sense to me. The end made me understand more of what had happened before and made me want to read the next book.
    • 4/5
      Quite enjoyable. The action really picks up at to 50% mark. I did find the sector recitations a bit difficult to keep straight & could have done with a schematic to visualize it. The mention of sector & quadrant designations meant virtually nothing since I couldn't work it out spatially. But in some ways, not having it did help to keep me as in the dark about Inside, Gateway, the Gap areas & how all these pieces fit, as the characters trying to work it out.

      Trella was a great character & narrator who truly grows as the story proceeds. I wanted her to trust earlier but it was easy to understand that given her experiences & world, she was doing so on pace. After I accepted that, I settled right in & went with it. The secondary characters are well drawn for the most part, except our "villans". I'm assuming this is because we are following Trella's POV but I hope that we're given something more than "Travas want ultimate power & are evil" as the ultimate reason for their actions, as the series progresses. Most of the guys in the book are written well, Cog, Riley, Jacy & Logan, but I very much wanted Trella & Anne-Jade to forge at least a closer working relationship. I thought that there was room for more than just one chica doing very plot-relevant things & all the good bits Trella skipped didn't need to be the just domain of the guys. The ending was exciting & the cliffhanger makes me want to read the next in the series.
    • 3/5
      At first I couldn't get into this book, I'm not entirely sure why. I think it might be because in the beginning Trella is not the most endearing character. Trella is a scrub, a lower level worker known as "The Queen of the Pipes". She is standoffish and doesn't have many friends (okay she has one friend) because she prefers solitude which is difficult to get among the thousands of Scrubs she is forced to live with in dorms. But once you see Trella really interact with Cog and she accidentally begins the rebellion, she softens a lot and I really started to like her. I also really loved how everyone came together to help her, so often in a book like this I feel like someone always betrays in a mean spirited way. Yes there was some betrayal but most of it was under duress.

      There were also a lot of really great surprises in this book that made it an even better read (I'm going to be as general as possible so I don't give anything away). Particularly how Trella met her mother. I always knew that she would eventually meet one of her parents but I wasn't expecting it to come about the way it did. I also really liked getting more specifics about Inside and how it actually worked.

      There was so much I going on in this book that we didn't get to know a lot of characters besides Trella, Cog and sort of getting to know Riley. (Although I loved Sheepy and I thought it was a great way of developing Riley and Trella's relationship.) The book was self contained and doesn't need a sequel but since there is one coming out I am hoping we get to know some of the other characters better like Logan and Anne Jade.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I don't need to tell anyone how popular (or perhaps pervasive is a more appropriate word) YA dystopia is right now. But this one really gets it right.

      Trella is a wonderfully strong character, both in body and spirit. Before she gets swept up in Broken Man's scheme, she tends to go it alone, except for her best friend, Cog. But what's so magnificent about Trella is that when her world is turned upside down, she realizes that she can't do everything alone. And not in a whiny girl way either, but a mature, "wow! this is bigger than me" kind of way.

      One problem I encountered was the measurement of time. There's all this talk of centiweeks and what-have-you. It's all explained early on, but it didn't completely make sense to me. I probably should have read it again, but by the time I realized it was confusing, I was a ways away from the explanation. Not being able to determine exactly how old a character is did not diminish my reading experience. But that section might be worth a second look.

      Now the best part, I can't explain, but absolutely love. The novel manages to complete the story while setting it up for the sequel as well. Off the top of my head, I can't think of another example of this, except maybe TV shows. I love this. If I never get my hands on the sequel, I could still feel this story is complete. (Of course, I'm absolutely reading the next one!)

      So, yes, I like this one. I like this one a lot. And even though it has a female main character, there's plenty of action. There's also a dash of romance, but that can be overlooked if you don't like kissing books.*

      ____________________________
      *Of course by "kissing book" I'm referencing The Princess Bride.
    • 4/5
      similarities with Wool and other dystopian novels. I did enjoy the character development and the plot twist was well delivered.
    • 2/5
      I picked this book as part of reading for a read a thon. I wish I hadn't.
      This morning I had read about 21% and was on the verge of quitting but i thought it would be a waste. I wish I had stopped cause I am sure if 'd picked another book my afternoon would have been more enjoyable.

      Did not like the story, and the characters. Main person does one task, but then learns there is another problem and go's on to climb and tries to solve that problem and that go's on and on. yawn yawn.
      Not going to read book 2 cause I do not care what happens to them.
    • 4/5
      The scrubs have it rough. They work strenuous, boring jobs in 10 hour shifts. The food is slop (and not only that but the same slop over and over). There is no personal space. Trella escapes this cramped lifestyle by mostly remaining in the pipes, which she cleans as her profession. She explores every inch of Inside and knows it better than anyone, earning her the nickname Queen of the Pipes. This moniker also references her somewhat haughty and distant attitude. She has one friend, Cog, a guy full of hope that Gateway, the way to Outside really exists. When the next in a succession of prophets claims he can find the answer, Trella does not believe him, but decides to fetch the discs he hid to prove him a fraud. Only...he might not be.

      Trella made a pretty good main character for me. She is not really the heroine sort, but she was someone I could very much identify with and understand the motivations of. She is one of the least trusting people and quite antisocial. Quite unexpectedly, she finds herself the leader of a revolution, someone people look up to and help in any way possible. The attention and the role are not something she relishes, but something she must learn how to deal with.

      It was really awesome to watch her grow a little bit as a person throughout the book. Although I liked her growth, I also appreciated the plodding nature of it. Some characters change so fast in novels right at the very end; this change is much more natural and complete with setbacks. As a result of Trella's self-absorption, none of the other characters is all that well flushed out. Still, I think that is acceptable in the circumstances. And I do want to see more of some of the characters.

      The dystopian society was pretty interesting, especially in the construction of the hierarchy. I don't really want to give anything away, but it definitely makes you think about the impressions one has of the lives of others. The grass is always greener, huh? Except that they're inside, so there really isn't all that much grass anywhere, but you get my point.

      What impressed me the most about Inside Out was that I totally did not see the ending coming. Any of it, really. Snyder did a really good job of coming to an interesting and believable conclusion without doing the obvious. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book, Outside In.
    • 3/5
      Concept looked interesting, execution fell flat to me. Nothing bad, just nothing exceptional either.
    • 4/5
      Trella is an interesting character and one of my favorite heroines that I've read about so far. She's a distrustful self absorbed loner who was bullied during her childhood and is still greatly disliked and treated badly by her fellow scrubs. Her personality traits make the romance slow to develop, realistic, and not mushy. Which is something I appreciate. I was expecting an over load of romance because of who the publisher is, but like Snyder's other works, there is just the right amount in my opinion. I like the characters perception of nature on an actual planet. "A blue ceiling that goes on forever!" lol. The ending was interesting. So I'm excited to read the next book and see how that changes life for the scrubs. As for what's outside: That's what I thought would be revealed at the very end. But it wasn't. The characters figured that out a little earlier. And to be honest, I guessed that's what the outside would be before I even started reading the book. But to be fair, I knew it was a scifi story and the characters didn't. :D This is the first scifi book I've read and I only read it because I like the authors other works. Although I've been obsessed with scifi movies and shows, I've never been interested in the books for some reason. But this book has changed that. I'm definitely checking out other scifi books after this.
    • 3/5
      Trella is a scrub, responsible (like the thousands of other scrubs inside) for keeping things clean, right down to the air and waste ducts. Trella is also a bit of an explorer, and has earned a reputation as Queen of the Pipes, able to travel through the levels and observe in places she has no business being. Her best friend, Cogon, introduces her to a new prophet, Broken Man, who enlists her help in retrieving information discs he'd left in a vent over his quarters, before he'd been sent down to the scrubs. Discs that prove the existence of a gateway--a doorway to Outside. Trella is skeptical, but curiosity gets the better of her and she searches out the discs in a move that will launch her into an adventure she never could have anticipated.

      Dystopian insofar as one family (out of 9) has taken over power Inside. Readalikes: Incarceron, Ender's Game, maybe Across the Universe?

      This scattershot review brought to you by It's Late and I'm Tired.
    • 2/5
      I was looking forward to a matrix-style reality and all kinds of philosophical questions about life, death and whatever... it didn't deliver. I struggled to finish it, I'm afraid.
    • 3/5
      Sometimes 3 stars, sometimes 3.5The first half of the book was a little slow, and Snyder's system of calculating birthdays by weeks rather than years became too confusing at times, so I just accepted it rather than trying to work it out for myself. I found it difficult at times to clearly picture Trella's world of the pipes.Having said that, the idea of living Inside all the time intrigued me, and Trella's character conveyed the impact of that on the scrubs and on her in particular. There was also an interesting twist concerning the Gateway and the Outside. Overall, Inside Out is worth a read.
    • 4/5
      There was something about Inside Out that made me think of Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Even as I say that I know that they are completely different stories, characters, etc. but there's just something...If you've read Across the Universe, 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.
    • 3/5
      Just okay for me. I saw the twist about Inside and Outside coming somewhere around the middle of the book, and that turned me off of it a bit. I like Trella as a character, but the Sci Fi aspect is just not my thing. I also feel like it can be fine to end there, so I don't know if I'll actually read the sequel yet.
    • 5/5
      I was first interested in this one because I've read books by Maria V. Snyder before and loved them and also because of my dystopian obsession at the moment. Then, when one of my friends read it and loved it, I decided that I had to read it for myself! And surprise, surprise, Maria V. Snyder has written yet another book that I love!I really loved the characters in this book, I felt like I was able to form connections and attachments to them. I hate it when you're reading a book, yet you don't quite feel a connection with the people that you're reading about. It makes it really hard to get into and to enjoy the book that you're reading. There was definitely no issue at all in regard to that in Inside Out, the characters were fabulous! I think that a good, strong cast of characters really makes the book!I'm a big fan of kick ass female protagonists and Trella sure fit that bill. I loved that she was kind of rebellious and didn't just fit into the mould that she was supposed to. She wasn't contented with living the boring life that had been layed out for her, she seemed to crave something more exciting. She was very skeptical about a lot of things at first, but once she started to believe that there really could be another life wait Outside, she put so much into making to it happen, risked so much. She was really strong and so freaking smart. I honestly would not have done things nearly as well as she did if I were in the same situation, she had a lot of brains and really knew how to use them.Riley, the love interest was awesome. I liked that, despite what he'd always been taught, he didn't treat the Scrubs like they were nothing. When he first came across Trella, he didn't look down on her, but actually found her very interesting. He didn't really buy into all of the crap that almost everyone else had been brainwashed to believe and he wasn't afraid of bending the rules a little bit (a lot, actually!). Riley was also such a sweetheart. He was so cute and caring. He knew that he shouldn't be interacting with a Scrub, but he risked it for Trella, he felt that she was special from the moment he first met her.This book kind of surprised me; I thought that it was one thing, but it ended up being something totally different. I felt like it almost switched genres at the end, but that was just another one of the things that I liked about this book. The ending sort of came out of nowhere and left me thinking "wait... what just happened?", but in a good way! One thing that I didn't like about the ending though was that I felt like it didn't leave an opening for a sequel. I know that there is a sequel (I have it on my book shelf), but with this ending, it almost felt like a stand alone novel. I have no idea where the next book in this series is going to go, but I look forward to finding out!Overall, I really enjoyed reading Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder! I'm a huge fan of some of her other books and this one is no different, I would definitely recommend it! I really look forward to reading the sequel and to finding out where this story is going, it should be interesting!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this. I was prepared to be blase, as I feel I have read quite deeply in the society trapped in a confined space genre, but I didn't find it cliched, and I cared about Trella.As for the reality of outside, silly me, I didn't see it coming at all!
    • 4/5
      I first started out reading Maria V. Snyder's Study series. I fell in love with the characters and the world she created then. When I happened across Outside In on NetGalley, I was intrigued and wanted to read this series. So I picked up Inside Out.I've been enjoying some dystopian novels lately, and this did not disappoint. The characters in this book have been living in Inside for thousands of weeks. They have been separated into scrubs and the Uppers. The scrubs "maintain" the ship (cleaning, cooking, etc) and sleep in crammed quarters, while the Uppers live and relax in plush apartments... or so the scrubs are led to believe. Trella stumbles upon evidence of a Gateway to Outside, which in turn leads to a rebellion.Trella in a very likable main character. She's strong, spunky, edgy and tough. She tries to stay off the radar of the Pop Cops (Population Control Police) but realizes that she can't when it comes to doing what is right, not only for herself but all the inhabitants of Inside.Riley is an Upper that Trella meets through one of her excursions through the pipes, which are her job to clean. They form a tentative friendship at first, but soon come to rely on one another. Riley is a very sweet boy and a great love interest for Trella.I loved the details about Inside, the workings and the day-to-day life of the inhabitants. I soaked it up and built a mental image of their world in my mind.The overall world was completely different than what I had taken from Maria's Study series, but I highly enjoyed it. I wanted to know what happened between the scrubs and the Uppers and I could not put it down.
    • 4/5
      Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder is a dystopian novel set in a futuristic place called the Inside. Trella's world consists of two classes the Uppers and the Scrubs(which she belongs to) Scrubs exist to make the uppers lives more easy and to ensure Inside's way of life. The Uppers and the Scrubs are both governed by the ruling and cruel Pop Cops who will recycle you and send you to Chomper for the slightest questioning. Trella is emotionally detached from her world, having no reason to care for anyone or anything, she sees the scub way of life as hopeless. When the one person she cares for is captured by the Pop Cops she makes sure he doesn't go in vain. Trella and the band of Uppers and Scrubs she acquires along the way will change the world of Inside forever, in the search for the mythical Gateway. Trella will learn to care and love, expose dirty secrets of her life and the Pop Cops, and see how whe affects those around her. This book shows what happens when knowledge and power is in the hands of the few(elite) and the importance of bonding. Most importantly this book shows that when all is lost, one only needs HOPE to succeed. I really enjoyed this book. I am generally a good guesser in plot twists, but not with Inside Out. The twists weren't far fetched, but were crafted carefully with originality at the forefront. I'm glad that I have finally found a book that I didn't know the ending to half way through.
    • 4/5
      Interesting summary up there. I have to be honest. I put off reading this book for awhile because of that summary. I'm not exactly sure why, but maybe it's because I prefer a little more information than what was given. That's just my preference and I know not everyone feels the same way. Either way, I finally got around to reading it and I'm glad I did. Inside Out was friggin amazing. There is something about Maria V. Snyder's writing that I absolutely adore. I loved the Study series, and if it's even possible, I might have loved this book more. The characters were impeccably written. The story was fantastic and suspenseful. The setting was out of this world. Snyder's writing is perhaps a perfect balance of all the things that matter. Everything that makes a book special was there. She makes you care about her characters and her plots are like a movie on paper. I think I like the settings of dystopian novels the best. They are always fantastic and special. There is great world building to be found in them. The hiding in the pipes and the Pop Cops. And then there was the rebelling of the scrubs and Trella sneaking into the upper-levels. The setting and the events that took place in it were just so vivid and compelling. If I have one complaint, it's that I think Trella and the other scrubs got out of sticky situations too easily. Just when you thought something was over for them, they would get saved in an all too convenient way. This happened more towards the end and I found myself thinking, "too easy!" on several occasions. But it is what it is. It was still a fantastic book. I totally want to read the next one, and I will as soon as I can get my hands on it. If you like dystopian novels, I'm pretty sure this will be satisfying. I thought it was pretty special, and it is one I will likely read again in the future if I ever have time to re-read another book. Unlikely.
    • 5/5
      INSIDE OUT, by Maria V. Snyder, is a fast-paced and unique story that will keep you on the edge of your seat....the entire time! Snyder created phenomenal characters, hair-raising plot twists, and a resolution that will make your head spin. I immediately connected with Trella. She was a bit of a loner who kept one good friend. She kept low key, which enabled her to explore her way through the air ducts all over the Inside, and it earned her the name 'Queen of the Pipes'. But, her extended knowledge of the Inside roped her into a situation that affected the lives of everyone on the Inside. Character-wise, I loved the relationship dynamic between Trella and Riley. Two people from different 'levels' finding more in common than they ever dreamed fueled the rebellion and its leader. I hoped and hoped that these two would get together throughout the whole book. And no, I won't tell you if they did!Snyder is truly a fantastic writer. Her prose is amazing and I was able to visualize everything that Trella saw in the Inside. The book was detailed and very thorough and I found myself tuning out everything else around me while reading. At the end of the book in the Acknowledgement section, Snyder said that this was a 'dream book'. She saw the characters, twists, and ending in her dream and wrote it all down. I am always looking to my dreams for inspiration and I am happy to know that it is possible!It's extremely hard to write an un-spoilery review for this book. I spent all my non-reading time trying to figure out what was Inside and Outside and when it was revealed I was absolutely blown away. All I can say is.. GO GET THIS BOOK!
    • 5/5
      The first in a dystopian duo set in the future. Trella is a scrub working (and living) in the pipes she cleans, as part of an underclass in a mysterious society. Whilst there are similarities with Snyder's previous books (in particular characterisation and cliimbing) this is a much bleaker book. However, it's a thoroughly enjoyable book with plenty of intrigue and you really want to know what's going in in this world and whether the Scrubs will gain any freedom.
    • 4/5
      Trella is an amazing scrub. She cleans the pipes in the lower levels and hides in them to keep out of the overpopulated halls. She has animosity for the residents of the upper levels. There is mistrust and misinformation between the levels.Her friend , Cog, introduces her to a "prophet". Cog wants more than anything to believe in life outside of the place where they live. This prophet goes by the name of Broken Man and preaches to the lower levels about the better life awaiting them "outside." He tells them about the reward awaiting them if they continue on almost as drones. This is an attempt to keep the scrubs calm and working. The prophet is really a rebel and gives Trella a challenge she cannot pass up.This begins an intriguing story about the force of the masses and mankind's desire to have a better life. There are many twists and turns. Snyder has written a wonderful story with a few surprises. I loved the Study series by Snyder and was not let down in this sci-fi book. I look forward to reading the next story "Outside In." I purchased my copy as an eBook on my kindle.