09 June, 2011

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis



Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)



Title: Across the Universe

Author: Beth Revis
Published: 2011
Length: Hardcover, 396 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Romance, Mystery 

Summary:








Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realies that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.


First Line: 
Daddy said, “Let Mom go first.”



My Rambles:
First something that has been bothering me: 
Across the Universe reminds me of a TV show that I used to watch as a kid, called Silversun.  It's also set on a spaceship with carrying a cargo of 550 cryonically suspended colonists to their new home, Silversun. One of the new colonists, Zandie was illegally re-animatied by a crew member. Any of this sound familier to anyone? 

Nevertheless Across the Universe was a fast and fun read. It opens with an intense, emotional and detailed  first chapter. 

Amy was real, she was a character that I would want to be friends with. She could stand on her own two feet and yet she would accept help when she needed it. She was the type of character that you root for. And Elder - oh Elder, Elder, Elder, I adore Elder. I loved the way you could see him grow as a person. He starts out almost oblivious to what is happening around him and we are with him as his eyes finally open to his world. You could see his views shift and see him start to figure out just who he was and who he had the potential to be. You watched as he tried to break his old ways of thinking .You watched as he started to grow into the kind of leader that the Godspeed did and will need. Sure he has a long way to go but he is a character with so much potential and I look forward to seeing where his character will go in the next two books. Another stand out character would have to be Elder's best friend Harley. He was vibrant, brave, tragic, loveable and awesome. His storyline was heartbreaking but I think it actually suited his character. 

Eldest (one of the main "bad guys") could have far more sadistic and he lacked that true villain quality. But maybe thats how Beth Revis wanted him to be. Maybe she wanted him to be sympathetic and for people to understand some of the things he did. 

Overall good characters, fantastic plot, a breathless read. If you haven't already, go and pick up a copy of Across the Universe and see what everyone is raving about for yourself.

No comments:

Post a Comment