Across The Universe- Beth Revis

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Pages: 398

· Published: Razorbill [Penguin] 2011

· Genre: Sci-Fi/ Fantasy/Dystopian/ Y.A

· Date Finished: January 22^nd 2012

· Format: Paperback

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

For some people admitting that you like Sci-Fi is like admitting that you like to see men in drag. There is so much hype and sometimes hatred for this genre and a lot of highly intelligent material and literature to read. So it’s not surprising, despite being a Y.A reader and hearing many great things about this book and its premise that I let it sit on my shelf, a little intimidated by the prospect that I wouldn’t understand it. Lesson learned, always give everything a try and I am so freaking happy I did because I loved this book.

I’ll admit it did take me a few hours to actually settle myself into the world and after the first few chapters of holding my breath and feeling myself being trapped to in this universe Beth Revis has created I was starting to wonder if I could get through it, not because it was a bad book, but the reaction it stirred in me and the questions that repeatedly popped into my head were sometimes overwhelming. There were many times when I had to put it down and breath, but I enjoyed it even more when I got back into it.

The concept of this massive ship that is a world it its own is promising, but the way in which the Dystopian concepts unfold made this book enthralling. It is like nothing I have read before, but would love to read more of and everything from the world building to the characters [even the villains] were fantastic. For me I know a book is good when even the bad guys make me feel some compassion for them. And while it angered me a lot that people would let themselves be controlled like that, I did see the positives for some of unnatural ways that these people existed. It felt very real to me, and honestly with society and the government going the way it is, sometimes I wonder what hope we have in the future.

This is a funny book because I am not too sure if I exclusively liked any particular character or sided with anyone, I did however enjoy Elder and the Journey that he took realizing that his world was tainted and striving to fight against something when he felt helpless to control it a lot of the time. I also enjoyed Amy, for her past, present and her future that is sealed. If I had to live without ever seeing my family again I am not sure how I would cope, and I really felt for her. I also greatly enjoyed the alternating point of views between Amy and Elder.

Across the Universe is a book to make you think, question and observe. It blends in many genres and the pacing flows so it is effortless to read and I was hooked from page one. When I put it down I wanted to pick it up again. I stayed up way to many nights and late into the morning and when I wasn’t taking my time to savor it my eyes couldn’t read fast enough.

This book took me out of my comfort zone, made me feel uncomfortable and also caused me really look at the life I have and the freedom we are able to express in even the simplest things and be grateful for every minute of my life that I get to choose pathway in life.

I cannot wait to start reading A Million Suns. I am hoping to get around to it in March. [That is if I can actually let it sit there that long on my shelf. If you have not picked up this book I would greatly recommend that you do, it is mind-blowing & fantastic. And if you have read it let me know your thoughts.

★★★★★