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Sunday, May 15, 2011

My Thoughts: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

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.




Across the Universe was an AMAZING book. I am totally surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I love it when I find something to read that is well written. Beth Revis is a fantastic writer. For me she was meant to write. The detail that she put into her work; the details in the way things looked and people's emotions was incredible. I don't know what else to say. It was amazing ( I have a feeling that this word might be over used in the next couple paragraphs).  I am very glad that this book was published and that I had the chance to read it.

The thing I loved the most about this book was how original the plot was. I feel like there isn't a whole lot of sci fi for young adults that isn't totally, completely sci fi. I mean this wasn't so overly technical that I got bored with it. Godspeed-The Ship- is 250 years in the future. A lot can come about in 250 years, not only is  it 250 years in the future it's travelling to a new planet, with people on board who have never seen land. It's so far in the future that there are new technologies, new systems and new ways of living. Revis was able to describe all of this beautifully. I can see, smell and feel this new world.  I would sometimes need to put this book down because I could feel Amy's claustrophobia. I can't imagine being awaken at the wrong time, and know that you are now stuck on a ship. It was scary but it was a thrill to read. 

I loved the beginning for the book. When Amy is describing the process of freezing. It was freaky, and not something that I would have been able to go through with after witnessing such a thing. The fact that Amy did describes the type of person she is. I liked Amy. I liked her because she wasn't this perfect person. She was flawed. She was unreasonable and erratic at times, but at other times she was also very understanding and level headed.  She was also pretty independent, even on a ship where she was unfamiliar with the customs, and didn't know anyone. She wanted to find out about what was going on. This was important to her.  I liked that about her. Elder on the other hand did not stand out for me, but that's ok. I found him to be pretty blah. He was far to passive for me. He didn't really fight for what he believed in. He didn't fight the politics of the ship, even when he didn't agree with what was going on.  He was a little to mute for my liking. He focused far to much on Amy's opinions and feelings then his own.  That was a little annoying. But again, I think that is just proof of good writing.

There are probably tons allegorical meanings in this book. Hidden and not so hidden meanings. But I'm not very good at discussing those (actually, I barely notice them, but they're there). But I feel like I cannot talk about this book without mentioning the political themes in this book. They're there and they're well written and covertly done. It was impressive.

Over all, this was a good book. It was a fun and interesting read. I have SO many theories about what's going to happen in the upcoming books. I really do. So if you've read this book and have theories as well, comment below and share them, because I am so curious. Thanks.

Happy Reading Everyone!

17 comments:

  1. I won this one a little while ago and I really need to get round to reading it!

    Great review

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  2. Haven't read this one yet, but based on the comments and having read the first chapter, I definitely want to.

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  3. I have this one, but I keep putting off reading it. I've been some "meh" reviews, so I am happy to see that you liked it. I liked reading what you thought.

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  4. I usually just read and don't comment, but since I'm so shameless and I badly want a book or two, here I am.

    Read an ebook 'cause I'm so cheap. As awesome as your review describes.

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  5. Why haven't I read this book yet?! I seriously have two copies of it sitting over there on my shelf just silently staring at me. I can almost guarantee I'll love it since I adore scifi, but I for some reason still haven't picked it up. Hopefully your review will be that extra little nudge I've been needing ;]

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  6. I just know I'm going to love this book. :D It's such a shame that they redesigned the covers though, the new ones aren't nearly as nice. :(

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  7. I adored this book! It kept me so interested, and I couldn't wait to read A Million Suns. And I love the covers for the books, but was so disappointed when they changed them all.

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  8. I've heard mixed reviews about this one. I might as well give it a go since the cover looks pretty. Yeah I'm cheap like that. haha~

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  9. Great review! I loved Across the Universe, it was such a captivating read :)

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  10. I love this book. And those covers! I was really disheartened when I found out they are changing it! ;(

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  11. This sounds really interesting! I don't have a particular fondness for Sci-Fi (as in, my interest only extends as far as Wall-e), so I'm not sure I'll be reading it.

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  12. Your review makes it sound really intriguing. I <3 the sound of Amy and... Elder?? ( haha, too bad he wasn't as perfect as you wanted him to be.) GREAT review :)

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  13. Believe it or not but I still haven't read this one. Huh it's even translated into my language and I have the book but every time I plan to read it I always pick another book, don't know why. I must read it.

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  14. I really enjoyed this book. Like you said it's very original (for YA) and I liked that about it.

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  15. I fell in love with the cover when I saw it but I've been sceptical about picking it up thinking the focus was on the romance but I've heard a lot of people be surprised by the sci-fi element. Until I finish The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I'd probably give this a try. :)

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  16. I love sci-fi and this is a great premise. I will definitely put this on my TBR list. Thank you for introducing me to this book.

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  17. I had such high hopes for this book, but I ended up hating it. The more I read, the more I disliked it. I am glad you liked it though.

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