Review: Outside In by Maria V Snyder

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Format: Paperback, 326 pages
Published March 1, 2011 by Mira Ink
First published by HarlequinTeen
More about the author: Website // Blog
Goodreads // Amazon UK

Me? A Leader? Okay, I did prove that there's more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion - between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we're free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again - while still touching base with Riley, of course. He's the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there's outside and then there is Outside. And something from Outside wants In.

This book, I think, was a pretty good follow up to the first in the series, Inside Out. It picks up several weeks from where the first book left off. After a society-shaking rebellion, the people of Inside are starting to break apart again. Trella, her friends, and the Committee are losing control and they have to figure out who they're losing it to.

The action of the book starts fairly quickly, as events began to happen that I can only describe as mini terrorist attacks. As Trella and her friends start to lost control of entire networks and processes, they begin to suspect the people responsible for the oppression the last time. It was super exciting and action packed to read them solving the mysteries of the ship. As the reader already had the arduous task of learning how the world of Inside works in the first book, those who had trouble with the world building previously will be pleased to see how quickly this book gets going in comparison.

The majority of the characters are just as likeable in this book as the first, though I wish we got to see more of Riley. Though when we do read about Riley we're rewarded with some steamy scenes! I find the only character I didn't like as much was Trella herself. The first part (nearly half) of the book I think she's got an attitude problem. I think the notoriety she received had gotten to her head. In the end, though, when she snapped out of it and became her good old self, I think that that attitude change actually made the book realistic. She wasn't expecting to become a leader again and she was one reluctantly.

Overall, this book was a fast-paced and extremely satisfying conclusion to Maria V Snyder's two part series of Inside. In the end, I think I preferred the first one. It just comes down to Trella's character in this book. I'd highly recommend this book to SciFi fans who like a bit of dystopia.