Inside Out - Maria V Snyder

Summary:

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.


Review:
I really really enjoyed this one.  In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of dystopian literature.  The Giver was one of my absolute favourite books growing up, and I never quite got over it. 

I love the idea that society has created itself in such a way that it believes itself to be perfect, or at least, the only way, only for the characters to find the flaws, and to think for themselves.

Trella is one of those characters.  Raised as a scrub to keep the society she lives in in working order, she is one of the "lowers"--the maintenance people, trained from infancy to do the horrible jobs of cleaning the vents, repairing the pipes, and collecting the waste of those who live above.  They have no families--families are not permitted--and Trella has rebelled against everything around her by having no friends.  In the overcrowded world of the scrubs, all Trella wants is to be alone.

Unfortunatly Cog, a boy who has been watching out for her since she was little, has other plans.  He drags her off to see a prophet--a man recently banished from the upper levels who has knowledge that the lowers do not--and he tells her she's special, and that he needs her help.

And then her entire world changes, and everything gets a whole lot bigger.

I loved the blend of dystopian society, science fiction, and a light love story in this book.  I also loved how Trella was far from perfect, but that she grew to realize that there were things out there much more important than herself.

I really recommend this one.  Try it out.  You'll like it too!

4 stars!

-geekgirl
xoxo.