This isn't really a HUNGER GAMES clone: it stands on its own two feet as fairly innovative, so props for that. I felt like the dystopian world was more well-imagined than I anticipated. INSIDE OUT was simultaneously better and worse than I expected. She also inadvertently becomes a figurehead of rebellion for the people when she accidentally gets involved in a revolution and uses her know-how to further their agenda and disrupt the regime. Trella, a scrub, is known as Queen of the Pipes for her in-depth knowledge of the sewer system, as well as her high and mighty attitude. In the world of INSIDE OUT, scrubs clean and scavenge the pipes and uppers do, I don't know, administrative/bureaucratic-type work. It kind of falls into a subgenre of books that I like to call 'sewerpunk,' in that it takes place in the below-ground, kind of like METRO 2033, ESCAPE FROM FURNACE, and QUEENE OF LIGHT.

INSIDE OUT came out in the middle of the big YA dystopian trend following in the wake of THE HUNGER GAMES'S popularity. As of my writing this, this YA science-fiction duology is on sale for $1.99 each (8/16), which is why I ended up getting both books on the cheap. POISON STUDY is one of my f a v o r i t e fantasy books of all time, so obviously I would jump at the chance to read anything else this author ever wrote because I am all about supporting my faves. Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || Pinterest Readers are welcome to check out her website for book excerpts, free short stories, maps, blog, and her schedule at. Where else can you take fencing lessons, learn how to ride a horse, study marital arts, learn how to pick a lock, take glass blowing classes and attend Astronomy Camp and call it research? Maria will be the first one to tell you it's not working as a meteorologist. When she's not writing she's either playing volleyball, traveling, or taking pictures. Note: She mentions her cat before her family. Maria also has a husband and two children who are an inspiration for her writing when they aren't being a distraction. She loves dogs, but is allergic, instead she has a big black tom cat named…Kitty (apparently naming cats isn’t in her skill set either). She’s been on the New York Times bestseller list, won a dozen awards, and has earned her Masters of Arts degree in Writing from Seton Hill University, where she is now a faculty member. Over twenty novels and numerous short stories later, Maria’s learned a thing or three about writing. Bored at work and needing a creative outlet, she started writing fantasy and science fiction stories. Much to her chagrin, forecasting the weather wasn’t in her skill set so she spent a number of years as an environmental meteorologist, which is not exciting.at all. Snyder was younger, she aspired to be a storm chaser in the American Midwest so she attended Pennsylvania State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology.

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