Book Review: Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Publish Date: January 11, 2011
Rublisher: Razorbill
Pages: 398
ISBN: 978-1-59514-397-6
Series: Across The Universe # 1
Source: ARC won from other book blogger

Goodreads Synopsis:
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
 
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.

My Review:
I loved Across The Universe! And I mean loved it! When it first became available in ARC's, I tried so hard to get my hands on one, I don't generally read many books like this one, but ATU really caught my eye. I even did this post, and was part of a secret launch mission for Godspeed, the ship in ATU. It was lots of fun working on this post, and having it post on 11/1/11 at 11:11am. Eventually, after hearing such great reviews of this book, I won myself an ARC. My TBR pile was so backed up, that it sat around for a while until you guys picked it for me to read next. And I am SO glad that this one was picked!
Beth Revis has some ideas of the future that seem so obscure at first, but by the end of the book they just don't seem that way anymore. Revis had me convinced that things could happen that I couldn't even imagine. The idea of freezing humans for 300 years and sending them across the Universe on a ship makes for a great story, and add to that the fact that Beth Revis is a great storyteller - and together we have this amazing novel!
The detail put into the writing is just right. Revis says just enough paint a clear picture in our head and doesn't go on for 2 pages about the colour of the flowers or the dullness of the ships grey metal walls. She knows when to stop writing and move on.
I thought Elder was a phenomenal character. On a ship where the people are like drones, Elder's personality really shines. He has a genuine quality to him, and when he meets Amy for the first time, you'll feel a flicker of hope for him. Another of my favourite characters is Harley. I thought that Elder was sincere and sweet, but Harley took those qualities to the max. He seems like a great friend and even though he was put in the mental ward with the "crazies", you'll wonder if he is actually crazy. Then we have Amy, the young girl who was 'unfrozen' 50 years too soon. 50 years!!! That's almost half a lifetime! I felt so bad for Amy - waking up on a ship that has such advanced technology and being labeled a freak, and then to be around when "The Season" starts, I could not imgaine that at all (if you've read the book, you know what I mean by "The Seaon", if you haven't read it, you'll know exactly what I mean when you read it!)
While reading Across The Universe, I really liked the futristic ways and things Beth Revis has written about, the book really had me thinking for days after, and I talked about this book to anyone who would listen! I definitely recommend this book, it's different, orginal, and Revis has made it her own! I cannot wait to read the next book in this awesome series!
Go read it, I don't think you'll be disappointed!