Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Reviewed by: Honorary Sis Beth
Sister Says: Captivating, Curious, and Cosmo-tastic
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. (Summary from goodreads.com)
Over the past few months, this book kept showing up, haunting me, saying, "Read me". I was rebelling against reading it because I typically do not like science fiction and definitely do not like split narratives. But, as I kept seeing more and more people reading it on goodreads and hearing my friends talk about it, I broke down and read it. Let me just say, I am so glad that I did.
Although I am usually not a fan a split narratives, it not only works for this book, but also is definitely necessary. Throughout the book there are things that happen to Amy and Elder that can only be described in their own words. The most descriptive, difficult, and brilliant scene, in my opinion, is when Amy is being frozen. I literally felt like I was be suffocated. Also, Ms. Revis is able to so decisively articulate the differing ship-life norms for each character.
To be completely honest, I was rebelling against enjoying the book for the first 200 pages because I was bound and determine to prove to myself (and my husband) that, "I'm just not into science fiction". Although it took place in outerspace, I did not feel like it was too far out there. The final 250 pages, I read in one sitting and kept telling Matt to stop talking to me because this book is just so good.
The world will leave you thinking about how much do we trust history and our leaders and who controls all the information. The setting made me feel like I was claustrophobic and I could not help but relate to Amy wondering what in the world I would do if I was in that circumstance. The plot is utterly genius! It is a science fiction, murder mystery, romance that will keep you guessing until (literally) the last page.
The emotional roller coaster Across the Universe took me on left me grasping for the sequel. I'm so glad that I got over my prejudice and read this book. It totally opened my eyes and revamped my opinion of science fiction books.
One final thought, after reading this book, I told my husband to read it. He looked at the beautiful cover and said, "It looks like a chic book". But, after a little coaxing, he read it. He devoured it faster than I did. So, the great thing about this book is it appeals to both sexes and challenges traditional book genres. If you haven't read it yet, I would recommend putting it on your TBR list!
Buy it....Read it....Love it!!!!
