Yelena and Valek’s series is one of my favorites and I like a lot how Maria writes, that’s why I decided to read more of Maria’s books and I chose this duology: 1-Inside Out and 2-Outside In.
Trella is the main character’s name. She lives in “Inside”, a world organized in four levels. The “scrubs” live and work in level 1 and 2. They’re named liked that because of their jobs, they have cleaning, recycling or maintenance jobs. The “uppers” live and work in levels 3 and 4. They have administrative jobs and they work with computers. They have their own places to live while the “scrubs” live in barracks with no space. There are also physical differences between them.
Trella is a cleaning scrub, this means that she cleans the water, heat and air pipes that are all over levels 1 and 2. She enjoys exploring the pipes and she’s known as “The Queen of the Pipes”.
She has only one friend, Cogon. Cog introduces her to a prophet, named “Broken Man” who wants to convince her of the existence of “Gateway”, a door to the outside world. She’s not convinced, but she decides to help them. After this decision, Trella becomes the leader of a rebellion and in the second book, she must face a group of “outsiders” who want to invade “Inside”.
Ok, I enjoyed reading both books and I thought the story was very interesting, but the second book left me with a lot of unexplained situations and wanting to know more. I wanted to know the new administration of “Inside”, why they were in a ship and if they’ll arrive at their destiny and stop traveling through outside space. Also, I felt that the book suddenly ended and I was unhappy with that.
The differences between “scrubs” and “uppers” were important and, for me, it was obvious that after the rebellion, the scrubs will be resentful, but that was no reason for stopping their works and putting everyone in danger. Also, the absence of the Pop Cops and the Trava’s confinement were no reason to abuse of the freedom. And the “uppers” should have been more cooperative.
Talking about Trella and Riley’s love, I think Riley is a lot better as couple. He was always supporting Trella and showing her his love.
Well, I liked these books and it’s a good story but it needs more explanations. Anyway, they’re very entertaining and enjoyable.
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