Outside by Shalini Boland is the first in the Outside series for young adults by the author. The future is divided by Perimeters, high- security gated communities where life goes on as normal if you are lucky enough to live inside the fence but life expectancy plummets if you live on the outside.
When Riley’s sister Skye is killed by an intruder, Skye and her neighbour Luc, go on a journey to find the man accused of her murder. However all is not what it seems and despite the two of them travelling through different communities they end up being rescued and returned home to unexpected news.
The story is continued in book two of the Outside series.
Recommended

Shalini had a great fantasy series that I first read and it drew me in like few of the books that deal with vampires. When this came up as a blogtour I jumped immediately on the opportunity.

On first impression this book has a bit of everything as in a crime and a society that is a dystopian version. I do enjoy that and this is very interesting and it feels like it is a bit young adult like due to the fact of who they are focusing on.

The plot is all motivated by revenge for Riley's sister but there is only one issue that I find hard and maybe it's just the fact that I don't know the story of the dystopian society that has been created.

The premise is amazing and I love the concepts that the author puts forward. I am confused and wanted a bit more backstory of the world and of the parents as well since they are a major part of the book.

As a dystopian young adult book it was pretty good but had some weaknesses that kicked me out of the story at times. However I would read the second book to see if more is divulged.

I didn't really like the family at all. Riley seemed to be over her sisters death way too easily and is replaced with revenge only.

The mother I found had no redeeming qualities as she seemed to forget that she had another child as well and that all she cared about was her grief and her addiction to alcohol.

However even when I dislike a character I can enjoy the book. Characters are meant to be unlikeable as well as likeable. The fact that you can still have an amazing premise and a good quality story without having characters that are well received is great.

Overall this was a solid attempt at dystopian and young adult. It didn't quite hit the mark fully with me but it did have some great ideas. Revenge is a standard trope that we see a lot of. I also think that this story worked well with what we have been given of the world's history.

I tried so hard with these books I usually love those author but i could not keep my mind on these books. It took me so long to complete them I wasn't sure I would make it through. Thos just was not the series for me.

Unfortunatley this book turned out to not be for me. I think the writing style is good and it is easy to follow along however, I did find the characters very one dimensional and I would have liked to see some more character development. Overall the premise of the book is interesting and it feels refreshing for being a YA apocalyptic novel.

Outside
YA, Dystopian
Shalini Boland
⭐️⭐️.5

I was disappointed with this book. Dystopian/YA books are one of my favourite genres to read but unfortunately I wasn't keen on this book.

The writing style itself was good. It flowed nicely and wasn't full of info dumps.

The world building was actually one of the biggest letdowns for me. There was hardly any world building at all. The author describes how the FMC lives in a compound built by her father, surrounded by fences (which is not uncommon in this world) however, there isn't a lot of depth, for example when riots happened, it seemed like they came out of nowhere because I didn't know much about the conflictions or the struggles of the people etc.

Similarly, the characters lacked any real development. I can only remember 2 things about the FMC, Riley. 1) She's very naive and 2) she almost immediately developed a crush on the boy that her dead sister was interested in and then quickly had sex with him. I can't say much about the other characters because, in all honesty, I don't remember them.

The dual POVs did confuse me because I couldn't figure out who the 2nd POV was until quite late in the book.

This book has so much potential. I think this book would've been a lot better if the world outside the compounds was developed more and if there were more plot twists.

*Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC. This is my own opinion and an honest review, which I am leaving voluntarily*

This was a great Ya Dystopian book. Set in the near future in England after attacks, little communities had been set up where people can live safely but not all.
This book is told in two POV’s . The main being Riley a 17 year old teenager who learns her younger sister has been murdered and sets out with her friend Luc to find the murderer.
They both leave the safety of the compound to try and track down the culprit but end up being attacked by bandits and then tricked into a cult like group. Eventually ending up in a safe compound and getting help from family to bring them home. I enjoyed the little twists at the end finding out who murdered Skye and I didn’t no expect it.
I found the book well written and easy to
Follow. I was able to read this in about 2 hours. So it is a fairly quick read
Im looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Thanks to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Outside' by Shalini Boland.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Shalini Boland, Second Sky publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 22nd August 2023.

This is the tenth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'The Other Daughter', 'The Wife', 'The Couple Upstairs', 'One Of Us Is Lying', 'A Perfect Stranger', 'The Family Holiday', 'My Little Girl' , 'The Daughter In Law' and 'Hidden' all of which I highly recommend. It is also the first book in the 'Outside' series.


This novel consists a prologue, 47 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!


WOW!! Where to even start?!? Firstly I must say yet again I was NOT disappointed by the very talented Shalini Boland!!! I started reading this book this morning and finished it in a few hours. Yet again being completely blind sighted by THAT ending!!

It is extremely well written as is every book I have read by Shalini with vivid descriptions that really put you in the storyline. The blurb and cover work perfectly with the storyline. Every single time I told myself I'd finish the chapter and then put it down and every single time I was left with a sort of cliff hanger refusing to allow me to put it down.

If your planning on reading this I would recommend clearing your schedule!!!

Shalini you are an absolute writing legend!! You are one of those very rare and extremely talented authors who can put their hand to anything!! To go from psychological thrillers to fantasy to dystopia and STILL manage to blow it out of the water just WOW!! A MASSIVE WELL DONE!!! If I had a quarter of your talent I would be absolutely landed!!!

This storyline is fantastically written with multiple perspectives as well as multiple timelines giving you a huge insight into everything that is going on. This book is extremely gripping and intriguing and is ram packed with suspense, terror, deceipt, dystopia , red herrings, romance, mistrust, revenge, accusations, history, deceit, humour, escapism, adventure, fantasy, love, suspense and so much more! It really sets up the scene for the second two books in this trilogy while also having its own amazing storyline. Shalini merges the timelines and the characters together perfectly with each part being placed just where they need to be to give the reader a perfect picture of what is going on. As always her evocative story writing skills sucks the reader deep into the book where they become lost within the storyline along with the characters and surrounded with everything going on until they hit the end of the road and come up for air wondering where they are! As always, Shalini also manages to throw in several twists and shocks that I did not see coming. How do you manage to do this to me every time Shalini?? Seriously?? Congratulations for being one of the very few authors who manage to blow my mind every single time!!! There's nothing worse than when you have worked everything out and your not even half way through a book so a massive well done for that!! I would have never in a million years suspected that ending!!! Absolutely mind blown!!! I absolutely love the fact that I know Shalini will never fail and that every time I read one of her books I can guarantee it is going to be an absolute page turner. If you have never read any books by this extremely talented author then you are definitely missing out!! Anyone who loves dystopian books will be glued to pages especially fans of The Selection, The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Legend, Matched and I could go on!!! This is one of these books that had me hooked throughout and there wasn't a chance in he11 I was going to put it down!!! I ended up devouring it in a several hour sitting and I cannot wait to get stuck in and captivated by 'The Clearing' which, judging by Shalini's teasing prologue and first chapter at the end of this book is guaranteed to be just as explosive if not more!!! This is the third book I have read from Second Sky and I decided on this one as Shalini is one of my favourite authors and it has definitely got me wanting to sink my teeth into more of Second Sky's fantasy books!!! The first book I read was also by Shalini and was another fantasy book and a first in a series called 'Hidden' which I would also highly recommend!! Shalini always manages to create such unique atmospheres and surrounding and this one has got to be one of the best!!

Clear your schedules and get ready to lose several hours of your day getting hooked on this absolutely explosive start to an epic series!!!

It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.


It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but also any characters that may make repeat appearances during the series too.


The characters were all well rounded and strong with their own personality traits, strengths and weaknesses. It was very interesting watching how the bonds strengthened and weakened between characters throughout the storyline. I loved getting to know each and every one of them and loved all the different personalities!!! The main protagonists are Riley who's protagonist is speaking from the 'present' and Eleanor who tells us about 'Before'. Shalini weaves their chapters perfectly together to build up the storyline perfectly and in a way that ensures the reader doesn't get confused. They are both strong female protagonists which is always a bonus for me being female myself. They are both brave and are going through heartache, love, loss, fear, hope and so much more for different reasons and I was rooting for them both throughout. The other characters are all just as important and not one of them is dumped into the book for no reason which I find it many books, unnecessary characters that just seem to be added to build up the pages. I adored Luc and Connor who were large male characters and were also romantic, sweet and strong men. Other characters that jumped out at me for different reasons included Aubrey Rowbotham who made me laugh, Liam, Abigail, Samuel and Denzil (who I definitely hope to meet again!). Each of these characters and more all came to life in front of my eyes thanks to Shalini's evocative writing skills and I cannot wait to meet them all again and see what they get up to next!!!


A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Shalini Boland for YET another absolutely fantastic success!! I cannot wait to read more of your amazing work!! I really would love to see your books on the big screen one day, I can guarantee they will all be a massive success if they are even half as good as the books you write!!! THIS is why you are one of my favourite authors!! Here is to your next huge "blockbuster"!!! 🥂

Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the prologue and first chapter of Shalini's ''The Clearing' which is the second book in this gripping series and which promises to be just as addictive as this book!! I'm definitely looking forward to reading myself and am actually off to start reading it now so watch this space for my review!!

Overall a page turning, gripping, epic and explosive start to a promising new dystopia series!


338 pages

This book £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £9.99 in paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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Outside gives us a glimpse at a fairly near-future dystopian England where the structure of society has fallen apart after widespread terror attacks. Riley was fortunate enough to live inside a Perimeter, one of a multiplicity of safe zones populated by the well-to-do. Walls keep those who have secure, and keep those who have not out.

But when her younger sister Skye is killed–murdered–Riley is determined that she must leave her protected home and go find the killer. Luc, her friend and her sister’s crush, goes with her. They take an armored vehicle and drive off into the unknown.

I do love a good dystopian story! With Outside, Shalini Boland gives us a likable, if somewhat inconsistent, protagonist in Riley. (To be fair, when I was 17, I could be a bit inconsistent sometimes, too.) I love that she’s desperate to find justice for her sister when the official investigation seems to be going nowhere. I want to smack her for running off without even a by your leave to her parents, because as a mom, I can imagine how her parents felt finding out she was gone. I love that she tries to resist her attraction to Luc knowing that her sister liked him. I don’t really care for the fact that, in spite of her protestations, their relationship ramps up fast when it moves past friendship, without a lot of exposition or build-up. Zero to sixty in 5.2 seconds, give or take. But whether I want to hug her or shake her, Riley absolutely evokes strong feelings, and isn’t that what a good character does?

The dual storylines woven together worked well for me. I wasn’t sure who the second character was right off the bat, but the more I read, the more it started to come together. The religious zealotry aspect is realistically creepy, and for me, it was one of the most spine-tingling parts of the book. I can see there being people like that should a scenario like this befall our world.

Without going into much detail, the revelation concerning Riley’s mother and what happened to Skye was a bit of a letdown. I mean, this is the first book in the series. Why do we have this huge question that’s the driver of the book answered already? I can only figure we’re being set up for something else in the other books. and please tell me it’s going to be a humdinger.

Overall, this is a fair description of a future that isn’t impossible to imagine for our society. It’s perhaps not quite as heavy on the threat and danger as some dystopian stories I’ve read, but Boland’s writing style is just so dang easy to read! I’m looking forward to the other books to see where she takes this.

I loved Outside. I have the other two books in the series and am looking forward to seeing how events unfold and the story develops. I’m a huge fan of dystopian fiction. I’ve read a lot of the most common plots – zombie apocalypse and plague / illness. I like the fact the author doesn’t spell out in black and white what ended the world. Oh, there are clues but enough wiggle-room for you to draw your own conclusions. I thought this was original. I also thought the overall plot was very original. Most dystopian books tend to focus on what caused the end of the world and how people survive. This book takes a plot that could happened before the world ended and it’s how the characters deal with events in this hostile new world that is the driving force. I thought this was well-written and gripping from start to finish.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a dystopian type fiction before but I do love to watch it so jumped at the chance of reading this series. I will admit on starting I did question if it was for me but once I got a good run at it I actually couldn’t put it down. Told from the perspective of Eleanor and Riley and initially it has you wondering about the connection but as the story unfolds so does the connection. I was enthralled in Luc and Riley’s adventure and was by their side for every step of the way. Boland has done such a good job creating a really well developed read that had me captivated. I loved the characters and especially Luc and Riley as a duo. The storyline itself is very intriguing and twisty as it unfolds along with an outlook into a world we may not be familiar with. If this sounds like your type of read I’d definitely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review #Outside

A quest for the truth. A fight for survival. A love like no other
.
OUTSIDE is an absolutely gripping dystopian YA novel and the first book in the trilogy
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The story is told from the perspective of two characters and for both, this is a tale of discovery and change. For both it is a tale of discovery and change
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It is a novel packed with enough action to keep the reader interested and wanting more
I am not a dystopian fan but OUTSIDE is so well written that it captivated me and left me with the desire of reading the next two books 📚 The intertwined chapters felt like a puzzle and everything made sense as I progressed with the reading
Thank you to Second sky books for offering me a spot on the tour. I absolutely love Shalini Boland and always look forward to reading her books

This book is book 1 in a series of 3 books, all of which I got free from Netgalley.

This is a YA Dystopian novel and is written with dual POVs. Riley in the present and Eleanor in the past. In the present at the beginning of the book it jumps straight into the news that Riley's younger sister Skye has been murdered and that it was someone who had broken into their perimeter and then fled the scene of the crime. Eleanor's point of view from the past gives us insight from before the world fell apart up till the very end of the book which brings us up to present day.

I really enjoyed the book didn't see how it would end and glad there's 2 more for me to read.

I received a free e-version from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Outside by Shalini Boland follows Riley, a teenage girl who lives inside a Perimeter, a pocket of safety inside a lawless, feral world destroyed by war—until her younger sister is murdered, and Riley leaves to track down the killer.

Outside was a refreshing take on the YA post-apocalyptic novel. Tropes that I believed were required by law in this genre—I’m joking there—were replaced with an unexpected plot. It read more like a (gentle) thriller with the added zing and imagination of an obliterated world.

A secondary point of view on a different timeline added a whole new layer of intrigue. I kept wondering how this second storyline—which was low-action (depending on your preferences, even uninteresting) and felt like it belonged in an adult romance—would affect the primary point of view and timeline, and I wasn’t disappointed. The past had some surprises for our heroes.

Speaking of whom, Riley and her comrade, Luc, were likeable, honest characters, and the beginnings of their romance were endearing and innocent, exactly how I appreciate them.

Yet, while the book’s direction was unanticipated, it felt less of an interconnected, commanding plot than a string of eccentric scenes. Side characters appeared to contribute temporary aid or problems before dropping off the grid, and the main characters’ choices (besides deciding where to travel next) never impacted the grand scheme. And unfortunately, they peaked at an anticlimax that, again, wasn’t even brought about actively by the heroine.

Similarly, while I enjoyed Riley and Luc, I found them to be flat— quite likeable, but flat. Part of that was due to the writing style, which included a lot of summary and factual stating instead of immersion and showing—particularly in the dialogue. Even state-of-mind changes and what I believe should have been major/essential scenes were glazed over in a few sentences.

I’d like to clarify, though, that I didn’t dislike this book. On the contrary, Outside was a fun, quick, unexpected read, a brisk jaunt through a post-apocalyptic world.

CW regarding references to sex and sensuality. I cannot speak to the graphicness of make-out scenes because my reading of those was not thorough.

It has been quite a awhile since I've read a dystopian book and I did enjoy this one. I feel like it was very realistic in a sense that it's entirely possible that our society could turn into this one day. Dual POVs are hit and miss for me, but I really enjoyed this one as we got to see current time with Riley and past with Eleanor, to try and understand how we get where we are. It was an entertaining and fast paced read, and I can see people loving this one and more than likely the rest in its series.

This was an easy to read YA dystopian but there was just something about it that fell flat for me. Things felt too easy and then at the same time they felt too...discombobulated? So much was crammed into a relatively short book but it didn't seem like anything was really well explained. It almost felt more middle grade.

This was a great YA book. Think older teenage range. I liked the plot, wasn’t able to guess what was happening. I found that I wanted to keep reading, and it was an easy read.

this book was simply alright. if i’m being honest, the story seemed like it would be really interesting from how it started, but was kind of underwhelming when it came down to it.

for a good portion of the story, i was SUPER lost with the dual pov, idk if i just missed something or what but i had no idea who eleanor was until finally something clicked and it made sense to me. i also think the characters really lacked depth, like who are they really as people? i have no clue.

the main character, riley, is super naive. that’s all i really know about her. she thinks as a kid that they’re gonna be able to go on some crazy goose chase to find the guy they think murdered her sister and honestly, it was crazy to think they’d make it on such little information to go off of.

the only thing i really liked about this was how i kind of did get surprised by some of the revelations. oh and i liked luc, he seemed chill and just wants to be cared for but riley is afraid so she pushes him away *sighs*

i will be reading the second book because i’m curious to know what happens next but yeah, this one had potential but didn’t really perform.

A thrilling dystopian YA series opener. I cannot explain the chokehold this book had me in, the twisting plot and rapid pace meant I had to stay up late reading. There’s plenty of action, but alongside this there was the exploration of human nature that sometimes dystopian novels don’t get right.
It is also a YA with actual young characters, which is always a winner for me. The characters could have been more developed but the other elements of the book are so well done I didn’t even mind.
The romance was a nice addition and I quite liked this as a subplot.
Overall a really good YA that I would say is up there with the maze runner series, hunger games and divergent.
Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I must stress that this is not a genre or type of book I would usually read or enjoy. I simply read it as I am a fan of the author and I cannot praise this trilogy highly enough. It was suspenseful, exciting and showed the potential frightening depths of human nature. I enjoyed the trilogy that much that I finished all three books in three days and although I raced to finish them, I was left with that disappointing feeling when they were done. When worldwide terror attacks take place, civilisation as we know it ends and the survivors are forced to create and protect their own communities. It is survival of the fittest and left me with chills imagining that this could really happen to our world. I cannot stress enough how brilliant this trilogy of books is!

The first in a dystopian trilogy, this is set in Britain after a series of worldwide terrorist attacks and lawlessness leads people to live in secure compounds.

When Riley's sister Skye is murdered, she sets off with her friend Luc (who was seeing Skye at the time) to track down the murderer, known as Ron Chambers. This means leaving the safety of the compound and risking their own lives. Riley then learns more about her own father and the mysterious Chambers, as her own feelings grow for Luc.

I've really enjoyed this first book and am diving straight into the second. Anyone that enjoyed The Hunger Games, you're going to love this!