Review: Across the Universe

 

Author: Beth Revis 

Pages: 416

Publisher: Razorbill

Source: Library

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge 

Synopsis (from Amazon):  

A Story of Love, Murder, and Madness Aboard an Enormous Spaceship Bound for the Future

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed. She expects to wake up on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is nearly killed.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

Across the Universe is Titanic meets Brave New World.

Across the Universe is probably one of the most hyped up books of 2011, so I was a little worried that I wouldn't like it when I got it. By page 8, I knew I would love it. I actually was crying real tears by the eighth page, which astonished me. I barely know these characters! How can I feel so bad for them? Maybe it was random circumstances, but I would rather believe it's because of how genius this book is. I don't cry a lot when I read. Hardly ever, but at least 3 times I was reading with tears in my eyes. Now I sound like a sentimental fool, but I really am not.

Across the Universe is told in the alternating perspectives of Amy and Elder. Amy is a "nonessential" teen who went through the whole freezing process to be able to stay with her important parents who are essential to the colonization of the new planet Centauri-Earth. However, something goes terribly wrong and Amy is unplugged and awakened 50 years earlier than she was supposed to be while her parents and everyone she loves are still frozen. Amy is an awesome character. She's outspoken and emotional. She has unique characteristics, dreams and hobbies. She's also very likable and strong. I loved reading from her point of view.

Elder on the other hand has been born and raised on the Godspeed as the future leader, the Eldest. He's curious to find the truth, a bit more calm and rational than Amy, and just a nice guy. I was totally crushing on him. During the course of Across the Universe, Elder had to make many hard choices, and I think he made all of the right ones. He's a character who really experienced growth and was also great to read of.

The plot of Across the Universe is filled with twists, turns, and loop-di-loops. Seriously, there was surprise after surprise. There were many questions all through the story and the plot was fast paced. It answered many questions, but then new ones kept popping up. One of my favorite things about Across the Universe is that from the beginning, you don't know everything about the characters. I liked discovering secrets they hid and new sides of them.

The world of the Godspeed is very well thought out. Everything that's described makes sense, even if it's in a twisted way, and the diagram of the Godspeed on the cover really helps picture the ship. There are many new ideas that really interest me and others that make me sick, such as the Season. I won't go further than that for fear of spoilers, but I will say the story ended up being more real and frightening than I thought it would be.

Overall, Across the Universe is the kind of book that makes you cry, and then makes you laugh. It makes you appreciate the world around you, as well as question it. It's categorized as Sci-Fi, but it has much more to offer. I think it's a fabulous book by Beth Revis that I would recommend everyone read. I loved it so much that I'm giving it 5 stars,

*****