Across the Universe - REVIEW

Lorena's Review of Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Greetings from the mysterious world of college. It's hard, and not what I expected in the least, and on top of that leaves no room for reading. I was asked to read this a few days ago and had been meaning to for the past couple of months. And boy am I glad that I did.

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.

Review

There were quite a few things that sold me on this novel. And by a few I mean a lot but there were some more than others.

Firstly. It's Science Fiction. Okay, come on, when was the last time a major science fiction title geared towards the female population of YA readers was released? It's been fairies, vampires, and fallen angels for the past like five years. Finally something new! Across the Universe had this perfect mix of the "growth" elements that most YA novels have, and the well... the Sci-Fi. It was so unexpected, I dived in expecting the usual YA love story, but I was completely taken by surprise at the complexity of the narrative and the universe. The fact that the narrative was split between the two main characters was also a neat addition. It split the pace of the story and kept it interesting, not to mention it added to the suspense (which is another one of the points that I liked) I mean okay if I had to draw a diagram of the plotline for a typical YA novel it would be a straight line with an angle somewhere 3/4ths along the way that then returns back to the original line. Across the Universe's diagram looks more like if you gave a one year old a crayon and told him to draw on the wall. It's a consistent line and plot, but with more plot twists and cliff hangers than one could possibly hope to get from the everyday YA. Below is an image of these diagrams for your viewing pleasure.

Anyway, I don't know about you, but most things in my mind play like a movie. I read this visualizing certain scenes in my mind. And let me tell you. They looked hot. There's something about the way the text described the cold world inside the Godspeed that made it crystal clear how the environment was laid out, but it also helped describe just how encased the characters felt inside the ship when they had the stars outside waiting for them. This book just totally got me going. I mean I had to start drawing soon as I was done. I needed to have the visual. I immediately fell in love with the characters, I felt such a connection to Amy it's almost comical. Beth wrote in her introduction that writing Amy's experience was almost like her first year in college. Looking back at this past year and comparing it to the text, I couldn't agree more.

Across the Universe is out in stores and more likely than not, in your local library. Go get your hands on a copy! This you will not regret.