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saruh_12 's review for:
Across the Universe
by Beth Revis
Across the Universe was a decent read. It was fast-paced and intriguing enough that I plowed through it. I predicted most of the major plot twists/reveals well in advance, but I'm still interested in finishing the series.
This book had a few major things going for it:
1. The premise. Girl leaves life to travel 300 years and start a new life with her family. Girl wakes up 50 years too soon. Plot gold right there.
2. The opening scene. I don't know if I've ever been made to feel so strongly about a character so early in a book before. I thought Revis' writing of scenes meant to be poignant was especially strong.
I wasn't exactly expecting the book to be profound or anything, but there were several annoying things that kept this from getting a higher rating.
1. Amy. We started out so well with that first chapter and from there she almost never reconnected with me. I reject the notion that being a Strong Female Character means that you should mouth off to everyone and like, destroy a doctor's office two seconds after you meet him. Almost every major choice she made was irrational, considering that her goals were a) to not get thrown out a hatch and b) to protect her frozen family members.
2. The romance. I hate in general when romances are completely based off of looks, but this one in particular was baffling to me. Elder has only ever known people who look like him. I'm not sure how he was so instantly attracted to Amy. My instinct is that she would've looked weird to him. I would've been into it more had he felt some sort of protectiveness toward her that eventually became friendship and/or attraction.
3.
4.
In conclusion, if you're looking for something a little bit interesting, this is worth a shot. Just don't expect too much from it.
This book had a few major things going for it:
1. The premise. Girl leaves life to travel 300 years and start a new life with her family. Girl wakes up 50 years too soon. Plot gold right there.
2. The opening scene. I don't know if I've ever been made to feel so strongly about a character so early in a book before. I thought Revis' writing of scenes meant to be poignant was especially strong.
I wasn't exactly expecting the book to be profound or anything, but there were several annoying things that kept this from getting a higher rating.
1. Amy. We started out so well with that first chapter and from there she almost never reconnected with me. I reject the notion that being a Strong Female Character means that you should mouth off to everyone and like, destroy a doctor's office two seconds after you meet him. Almost every major choice she made was irrational, considering that her goals were a) to not get thrown out a hatch and b) to protect her frozen family members.
2. The romance. I hate in general when romances are completely based off of looks, but this one in particular was baffling to me. Elder has only ever known people who look like him. I'm not sure how he was so instantly attracted to Amy. My instinct is that she would've looked weird to him. I would've been into it more had he felt some sort of protectiveness toward her that eventually became friendship and/or attraction.
3.
Spoiler
The attempted rape scene. For one, I have no idea what that brought to the plot. We already knew the people were sex-crazed. That was clear. For another, it was a little too contrived. Oh, Harley is reluctant to leave her and warns her to be careful (as an amusing side note, I totally thought he told her he was going back for his pants and was very confused until he whacked someone with an easel) and now there are creepy rape men following her. And even though she runs through a wheat field at random, Harley totally manages to find her right in the nick of time! She's upset about it for a hot minute, and then it is totally forgotten for the rest of the book by everyone. I was also kind of skeeved by the Harley suicide at the end. "We will be sad, but we will totally accept this suicide because he saw nothing to live for and apparently we also see nothing he could have lived for. Cool."4.
Spoiler
The ending. Mostly the explanation surrounding the Plague. One, I find it unbelievable that 75% of the people would have freaked out to the point of death over the news that they weren't going to see the planet. Considering that 12 generations of people successfully lived their entire lives on the ship without freaking out, it seems a little sensational. And then I don't really understand why they went back and racially altered history? Plus it just seems like a lot of hard work went into making sure everyone was getting pregnant at the same time once every twenty years just so they could spring that news on them when they were already super chilled out by the drugs.In conclusion, if you're looking for something a little bit interesting, this is worth a shot. Just don't expect too much from it.