(Review) Across the Universe Trilogy
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 398 (hardcover)
Genre: Young Adult
My Goodreads Rating: 3 Stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
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 realizes 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.
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 realizes 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.
My Review:
I told myself a couple of years ago that I would stop reading dystopian-like stories but...here I am. So, Amy is supposed to be frozen and awaiting the landing on a new planet with her parents but she gets unplugged early. Who wants to unplug a seventeen-year-old girl? Well, you'll have to read it to figure it out.
Elder is training to be the leader of the ship, but he basically knows nothing about it.
Eldest is crazy and so is Orion. The ship is falling apart. Everyone is drugged and no one cares what happens.
Okay, now you're all caught up.
I really liked the simplicity of this book. Most of the scientific stuff was dumbed down (that's probably an insult, but I liked it) well enough that I understood what was going on. There was a nice little mystery regarding everything on Godspeed that kept me interested. Revis did a nice job portraying how humans react when faced with change, especially when they only know one life.
The main character, Amy, was tough and resilient. I appreciated how she didn't fall for Elder immediately and knew that just because he was "the only one" didn't mean that he had to be "the one".
Amy built relationships with people other than Elder, which was nice. I like when a book has good supporting characters and this one had a few good ones. The ship, I feel, is the real story here. It's full of secrets.
Elder is training to be the leader of the ship, but he basically knows nothing about it.
Eldest is crazy and so is Orion. The ship is falling apart. Everyone is drugged and no one cares what happens.
Okay, now you're all caught up.
I really liked the simplicity of this book. Most of the scientific stuff was dumbed down (that's probably an insult, but I liked it) well enough that I understood what was going on. There was a nice little mystery regarding everything on Godspeed that kept me interested. Revis did a nice job portraying how humans react when faced with change, especially when they only know one life.
The main character, Amy, was tough and resilient. I appreciated how she didn't fall for Elder immediately and knew that just because he was "the only one" didn't mean that he had to be "the one".
Amy built relationships with people other than Elder, which was nice. I like when a book has good supporting characters and this one had a few good ones. The ship, I feel, is the real story here. It's full of secrets.
Every chapter brings out a new secret and they just keep getting worse. People are dying or getting attacked around every corner, so you're definitely kept intrigued! I loved finding out everything that Eldest was hiding and Orion was trying to share. Amy and Elder make a good team when Amy lets him in to help her.
This was a good read. Quick and easy. Interesting enough that I moved on to the next one!
A Million Suns by Beth Revis
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 386 (hardcover)
Genre: Young Adult
My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed.
But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to act on his vision—no more Phydus, no more lies.
But when Elder learns shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a mystery that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier. Their success—or failure—will determine the fate of the 2,298 passengers aboard Godspeed. But with each step, the journey becomes more perilous, the ship more chaotic, and the love between them more impossible to fight.
Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.
My Review:
This book was probably my favorite of the trilogy. Elder has tried to do the right thing by taking away Phydus and giving the people of Godspeed their lives back, but they repay him by rebelling. (Seriously, I hated Bartie.) I understand that he's just a kid, but he's trying his best for his people and they're just...terrible.
On top of all that, he and Amy are still trying to figure out all of Orion's clues and OH DID I MENTION THAT THE SHIP ISN'T EVEN MOVING? THAT THE PLANET IS LITERALLY RIGHT OUTSIDE OF IT? THAT THEY HAVE BEEN THERE FOR AT LEAST A HUNDRED YEARS?
No, I didn't mention that? Well, spoiler alert.
I believe I audibly gasped when I read that, which is saying a lot. That, of course, makes me so angry for the people of Godspeed even though they are being horrible to Edler. A Million Suns does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes and guessing around every corner. Orion's clues are difficult to solve, but Amy is getting good at them. She's still building friendships with people on the ship and is determined to find out what happened so they can all go home.
I guess part of me loved this so much because of all the misery. I know that it's a terrible thing to say, but I really feel like that's what makes a great story. The people had a chance at a great life, but it was hidden from them for centuries. There was so much information in this book that it was sometimes hard to keep up with it, but I loved thinking about everything and trying to figure it all out.
Definitely my favorite of the series.
Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 369 (hardcover)
Genre: Young Adult
My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.
But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.
Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.
FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.
My Review:
If A Million Suns was my favorite of the series, then this one was probably the book I liked the least. I was really excited for everyone to be on Centuari-Earth, but I really started to dislike some of the characters. Okay, probably everyone but Elder. I just felt really, really sorry for him. Also, I think I spent most of this series feeling sorry for Elder! Amy's parents are unfrozen and they're absolute jerks. All of the military people (except the doctor) are horrible and Elder's people are terrified of everything around them.
Oh, then there's Chris.
I hate that guy.
Seriously, though. Revis continued to blow me away with the death and the secrets and the terrible things that could happen on a new planet. I can't say I was too surprised considering how little anyone really knew about Godspeed, but a lot of what happened a was still pretty terrible.
I got really annoyed with Amy any time she was around Chris. He was almost like Orion in his infatuation with her and her inner monologue around him was...well, annoying.
His part in the story wasn't all surprising, but it made me SO MAD that Amy's dad AN AWESOME MILITARY GUY didn't notice that he wasn't part of their original frozens.
I do feel like everything came full circle in this book, but some of the drama was just a little too much for me, even though it was interesting to read. I love a good mystery but this one felt like it would never end.
Elder really became my favorite character and I feel that he was the one to grow the most throughout the series. He definitely became a leader and one that was willing to sacrifice himself for his people.
Things just kind of got tied up a little too nicely with the "hybrids" but I don't think the story was really about them. Sure, they were there on the planet first, but it wasn't actually for them. Amy toughness at the end was inspiring. She'd been through so much and she just really kicked ass in the final chapters. That, and what Elder did, made the whole series worth it.
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| I needed a group hug when I finished. |
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