Book Review: Across the Universe

Across The Universe

"Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceshipGodspeed. She expects to awaken 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."

Author: Beth Revis

Year of Release: 2011
Genre: Science Fiction
Sequel(s): A Million Suns & Shades of the Earth

Prequel(s): As They Slip Away (a novella)

What motivated you to read this book?: I honestly cannot remember the first time I saw this book, it's been a long time, but when I read about it, I thought it seemed very interesting. The trailer also looked fascinating! I love science fiction and knew I had to read it. I really wish I had read it sooner though!
Book Version: Paperback
Where did you get the book?: The library I work at
Favorite Character: Elder

Other noteworthy characters: Harley & Amy Martin
Least Favorite Character: Eldest

Thoughts on Cover: This was the cover of the version of the book that I read. I prefer the orginial(?) cover much more than this one. This one would have been better if it didn't look fake. You can tell that the girl in the bubble window obviously isn't really looking out a bubble window. You can tell that it's photoshopped. Again, I almost always hate it when people are on the cover of books and you can see their faces clearly. The original(?) cover is much more fasciniating than this one. I finally understood the two face thing after reading the book!

Recommended to: Science Fiction fans & those who enjoyed Inside Out & Outside In by Maria V. Snyder
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Review: I loved this book!! This book is the definition of science fiction, and science fiction is my favorite genre! I was truly impressed with the entire idea of freezing people from earth and putting them in chambers in the ship that will keep them frozen and alive for 300 years until they land on the new planet. The concept was very unique and eerie. I was also truly surprised with the world that developed overtime on the ship. All the people on the ship are human, but they are completely different from the humans on earth and their society seems completely out of the ordinary. I was fascinated that the society was an attempt to be a utopia and yet there were so many things completely wrong with it.

The characters were very interesting too. Amy was one of the frozen people on the ship and she was mysteriously awaken approximately 50 years early. Nobody knows who woke her or why. She now has to live on the ship in with a messed up society and she feels as though she does not belong for many different reasons. She is definitely a likable character. I admire her love that she had for her parents, and her willingness to sacrifice her life on earth to be with them. I also pity her. I couldn't imagine giving up my entire life for a whole new world to only be vastly disappointed when woken up early and being told that I couldn't be frozen again and that my parents shouldn't be woken up because they are essential to the mission.

I also liked Elder. He is the youngest person on the ship before Amy wakes and yet he is next in line to rule all the people on the ship. Eldest, the current ruler, is attempting to train and prepare Elder for when he will have to rule, but Elder does not always agree with everything Eldest does, particularly the lying part, and I loved how he was so stubborn and does not always listen to what Eldest tells him to do. Harley was also a likable character. He is several years older than Elder and yet he seems to have an air about him that makes him seem younger than Elder, like a child almost. He was very humorous and likable.

I really, really loved this book! This book is fantastic! The story was a bit slow at first, but not so slow that I got bored, and it definitely seemed as though there was only one thing going on for a bit, but I am not complaining. A few of my guesses of what happened/was going to happen next were correct, but I guess I'm just a good guesser! A lot of it was actually a surprise that I never would have been to guess.  Read it! You won't regret it! I even started reading the sequel just hours after finishing this book.