Across The Universe - Blog Tour

Across the Universe
by Beth Revis

A Story of Love, Murder, and Madness Aboard an Enormous Spaceship Bound for the Future

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed. She expects to wake up 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.

Across the Universe is Titanic meets Brave New World.

Though I enjoyed this book very much, I was a little disappointed after all the great buzz I had been hearing... This is a well done science fiction tale, very reminiscent of earlier science ficiton classics. For me, that was the problem.

I think that YA readers who do not often (or ever, really) delve into science fiction, this will be an exciting eye opener to a new genre. For someone like me, though, who reads science fiction fairly often, and enjoyed quite a few of the genre classics, it was not a startling leap into the unknown.

However, do not let me give you the impression that I did not like this book. I did. I really enjoyed the concept of a society trapped in space, subdued by one leader convinced that he had to do what was best for his people, whether or not it might be ethical. I really liked the blend of science fiction, murder mystery, and thriller that Revis seemed to create in a fluid and flawless way. I really enjoyed the way that through Amy's literal awakening, Elder's metaphorical awakening began. It was a well done story. I just did not have that gut-grabbing, immediate thrall that many readers did...I had to keep reading until about the halfway point before I was fully entrenched.

I definitely enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more from Beth Revis. I love her style. I also think that this book will do great things to help draw teen readers back into the science fiction genre. Kudos to the author!

2011 Debut Author Challenge title
Full Disclosure: Signed ARC received from author, also received review ARC from Book It Forward ARC Tours