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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I felt a little hoodwinked into reading this novel - the cover does not scream dystopian science fiction, but that is definitely how I would describe this book. Normally, I avoid dystopian novels; I find them depressing, and when I'm reading for pleasure, I don't want to be depressed. However, I'm glad the cover tricked me, because I actually really enjoyed Across the Universe. It is a captivating, well-written story, although I was a little disappointed in the ending - I wanted more closure! I really do think the cover is very misleading - many of my YA boys would enjoy this novel, but they're not going to pick it up because it looks like a romance, not dystopian sci-fi. Likewise, my YA girls who love romances are going to be disappointed when they take it home expecting an epic love story.
Across The Universe was a book that I simply did not want to put down once I started it. Which is a feat, let me tell you, because it’s YA and I don’t usually play nicely with YA. It takes a special kind of YA to hold my attention, and Ms Revis has definitely done that.
The book starts out in a basically modern-day setting with 17 yr old Amy and her parents about to be cryogenicly frozen and placed upon a spaceship for 300 years in route to a new planet. Amy is unimportant but her parents both have special skills that would be put into use once they are on this new planet. Something happens when Amy is frozen however and like some coma or surgery patients, she is semi awake and aware of her surroundings.
16 yr old Elder is the spaceships next leader. Taking over soon for Eldest who has had to lead for twice as long as normal because of a death in the ranks. Elder has blindly followed his leader until he stumbles upon an original blueprint from when the ship first started its voyage some 250 years ago. These blueprints show levels of the ship he never knew existed and so off he goes to investigate. He never expected to find people frozen on the secret level.
When Amy accidentally gets unthawed the pieces of the ships mystery start dropping into place. Lies are all that hold it together and with Amy and Elder uncovering the truth, everything is suddenly at stake.
I truly loved this book. From its dystopian nature to its romance flavor it hooked me from page one. The book had a creepy feel to it that made you think of mind control from the get-go. The way the people acted completely indifferent to anything other than their jobs. The really weird mating habits. The Hitler-esque feel of their leader, Eldest and his hatred for anything even remotely different then their monoethnic looks. Eldest was a character that I hated from his first appearance.
There is also the mystery of why Elder has never been told the truth about the ships origins, what happened to the leader that was supposed to take over before him, who has been unthawing the cryogenicly frozen people and what exactly happens on the fourth floor of the hospital where all the elderly residents disappear.
Of course the budding romance between Elder and his sunset-haired beauty Amy. A girl who is unlike any female he has ever known and one he has only seen in his dreams. She is everything that is right with her old world and he is everything that is right with his. He is strong-willed and willing to stand up to the only man he has ever had around for a father figure. Stand up for the rights of the people that he will one day serve. Amy is intelligent, gentle and her loyalty to her family is genuine.
It’s a world in a spaceship. A world with only a few thousand people who have never felt a breeze, never hiked through a forest, never been given the opportunity to be whatever they wanted to be. The sun isn’t what warms their day, but only a large light bulb in the ceiling. They are prisoners, trapped within metal walls. They turn blind eyes to what their hearts know to be the truth. Blindly following a leader that has no intention of ever telling them the truth.
The only thing I didn’t like was that after Amy get’s attacked during the ships “mating season” that Elder didn’t get more upset about the whole thing. Being that he wasn’t in his “season” and so he was thinking clearly. He got slightly ticked off that there was bruising on Amy but seriously? I wanted him to be PISSED…go kick the guys ass for trying to hurt her. But he seemed kind of indifferent about it. Which could go back to the nature of the ship…but still…
This is the first book from Ms Revis and I am very impressed! I can’t wait for the next book in this trilogy to come out..though I don’t think there is a release date set. Probably sometime next year. I will be eagerly awaiting it’s release that’s for sure!
Across The Universe is truly a unique take on the popular dystopian genre and is thought provoking as well. I would highly recommend this book!
I give Across the Universe by Beth Revis 4 stars!
The book starts out in a basically modern-day setting with 17 yr old Amy and her parents about to be cryogenicly frozen and placed upon a spaceship for 300 years in route to a new planet. Amy is unimportant but her parents both have special skills that would be put into use once they are on this new planet. Something happens when Amy is frozen however and like some coma or surgery patients, she is semi awake and aware of her surroundings.
16 yr old Elder is the spaceships next leader. Taking over soon for Eldest who has had to lead for twice as long as normal because of a death in the ranks. Elder has blindly followed his leader until he stumbles upon an original blueprint from when the ship first started its voyage some 250 years ago. These blueprints show levels of the ship he never knew existed and so off he goes to investigate. He never expected to find people frozen on the secret level.
When Amy accidentally gets unthawed the pieces of the ships mystery start dropping into place. Lies are all that hold it together and with Amy and Elder uncovering the truth, everything is suddenly at stake.
I truly loved this book. From its dystopian nature to its romance flavor it hooked me from page one. The book had a creepy feel to it that made you think of mind control from the get-go. The way the people acted completely indifferent to anything other than their jobs. The really weird mating habits. The Hitler-esque feel of their leader, Eldest and his hatred for anything even remotely different then their monoethnic looks. Eldest was a character that I hated from his first appearance.
There is also the mystery of why Elder has never been told the truth about the ships origins, what happened to the leader that was supposed to take over before him, who has been unthawing the cryogenicly frozen people and what exactly happens on the fourth floor of the hospital where all the elderly residents disappear.
Of course the budding romance between Elder and his sunset-haired beauty Amy. A girl who is unlike any female he has ever known and one he has only seen in his dreams. She is everything that is right with her old world and he is everything that is right with his. He is strong-willed and willing to stand up to the only man he has ever had around for a father figure. Stand up for the rights of the people that he will one day serve. Amy is intelligent, gentle and her loyalty to her family is genuine.
It’s a world in a spaceship. A world with only a few thousand people who have never felt a breeze, never hiked through a forest, never been given the opportunity to be whatever they wanted to be. The sun isn’t what warms their day, but only a large light bulb in the ceiling. They are prisoners, trapped within metal walls. They turn blind eyes to what their hearts know to be the truth. Blindly following a leader that has no intention of ever telling them the truth.
The only thing I didn’t like was that after Amy get’s attacked during the ships “mating season” that Elder didn’t get more upset about the whole thing. Being that he wasn’t in his “season” and so he was thinking clearly. He got slightly ticked off that there was bruising on Amy but seriously? I wanted him to be PISSED…go kick the guys ass for trying to hurt her. But he seemed kind of indifferent about it. Which could go back to the nature of the ship…but still…
This is the first book from Ms Revis and I am very impressed! I can’t wait for the next book in this trilogy to come out..though I don’t think there is a release date set. Probably sometime next year. I will be eagerly awaiting it’s release that’s for sure!
Across The Universe is truly a unique take on the popular dystopian genre and is thought provoking as well. I would highly recommend this book!
I give Across the Universe by Beth Revis 4 stars!
I think it was an interesting concept, but I didn't really like the main characters enough to enjoy the book. I also found the plot quite predictable especially who the bad guy was.
Errrrrr.. Okay so I liked this book. It was obvious that this is a book written for teens and the romance between Elder and Amy kind of dissapointed me. There was no excitement, just some cute sentences coming from Elder. I will read the next book because it did have a fun storyline and I want to know what happens next. It was an easy read, finished it while visiting the beach but not exactly worth the hype. Do still love the cover though.
Do I think this is the best book ever written? No. Did I love it to death? YES.
I had a really hard time getting into this book because I thought Amy, one of the main characters, was kind if annoying and childish. It gets better as the story progress tho
A rip roaring fun read. Space murder & intrigue. Made me want to read the sequel.
Got through less than the first 10 pages (listening to an audiobook, made it through 6 minutes. Assuming this is first ten pages or less.) The scientist tell the main character that they are injecting something to help "keep the cell walls intact." Unless our main character is a plant, fungus or bacteria, the word they were looking for is cell membrane. Humans and other animals don't have cell walls. Couldn't get past that glaring oversight.
Ugh. So I finished this book. Why? Predictable, boring, flat. But I don't quit, so... There ya go.
Ugh. So I finished this book. Why? Predictable, boring, flat. But I don't quit, so... There ya go.
I feel like the only reason I finished this was that it made me angry enough that I at least wanted to see if any of the things I found so infuriating got resolved. Which they did, in a way, although it was a very rushed way of doing so that of course left ample room for the two sequels. I don't read a lot of sci-fi, but that wasn't that put me off--in fact, I kept picturing different elements of the novel as if it were an episoe of Doctor Who instead of a book. One of my main problems, I think (not counting the NUMEROUS issues I had with the running of the ship itself, but that was no doubt the point) was that I felt the author spent too much time developing the plot and not enough time developing the characters. I felt like I didn't really KNOW Amy or Elder except for vague things about them--Amy likes to run and loves her family, Elder accepts Eldest's words as gospel and has an inexplicable crush on Amy,etc. The only character that was really developed, and that I enjoyed, was Harley and even that was cut short. To sum up, I think this book had potential, but fell short of what it might have been. I realize I am in the minority here, but this book just wasn't my cup of tea.