Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Hardcover, 398 pages

Released: January 11, 2011

Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)

ISBN: 9781595143976

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 Rating: 4 / 5

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that the premise of this one sounded odd but with so many rave reviews, I knew it was something to read. The book is written in alternating points of view and from both a female and male perspective. There's Amy, who is from present day who is woken up in to find herself in the future but not at their destination yet and thrust into what is like a whole new world aboard the ship. Then there's Elder, learning to be the leader of the next generation and finding out the real truth along the way.

Beth's ability to make the ship come alive is phenomenal. After I had gotten about 100 pages in, I just happened to take the dust jacket off the book & discover the ships blueprints 'hidden' on the other side! Let me tell you, it was not needed but boy did I enjoy the chance to see what I had been picturing in my head all along. It has been years since I have watched any sci-fi shows like Star Trek but this is exactly what came to mind.

The beauty in this book is in what you are left thinking about long after you've finished reading. Along the way, we learn a lot about how the ship has 'evolved' over the years. We discover that the roles on the ship have been created, the purpose of having a leader, the importance of having a cohesive group...and just how this is achieved! After processing this, one can't help but think of the nature vs. nurture debate, how does a person really become who they are? Can knowing the effect of something change your beliefs and make you act in a way you never thought you would? Yes, there's a philosophical angle here & I loved it! I'm looking forward to continuing with the trilogy to see just how Amy & Elder handle the information they've been given.