Across the Universe - Book Review

Across the Universe

Beth Revis

YA Sci-fic

Synopsis:

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 realises 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 secrets. But on 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 has been a lot of hype about this book and I admit, what with it being a YA sci-fic, it was a story I was expecting to blow me away. However, while it wasn't the astronomical read I thought it would be, it was none the less, a book I enjoyed.

The story begins with seventeen year old Amy. After watching her parents be frozen in preparation for their centuries long journey to find and establish life on a new planet, Amy makes the monumental decision to accompany them - Knowing that when she once again reopens her eyes, she will be reunited with them on a new world. At least, that was what was suppose to happen.

But when she is awoken fifty years too early, she finds herself alone. A stranger and outcast on a starship where the people all look the same, the sane are considered crazy and the sun "rises" with the press of a button. But Amy's early awakening was no coincidence. Someone on board is set against murdering the still frozen members of the expedition, including Amy's parents.

Along with 16 year old Elder, the ships future leader in training, Amy sets herself the task of protecting the frozens. But catching the culprit before he can murder again is another matter entirely. However as Amy is soon to learn, the ship, Godspeed, holds many secrets, each one more unpleasant than the next. Everything she's ever known, the life she once lived, has been lost forever. And although she has yet to realise it, she still has so much more left to lose...

This book has a great concept that is both fresh and extremely intriguing. Beth Revis creates a believable world and an eerie atmosphere on a ship that runs much like a dystopian society. With corrupt leadership and people unable to think freely, these elements combined together to make an intricate plot of lies and deception that made the book a fascinating read.

The characters of Amy and Elder were very well written and both were easy to relate to. While I didn't feel much of a spark between them romantically, I felt like a good foundation was  built for one to grow on. Also I'm interested to see how their relationship will develop, especially given the rather dramatic ending, and Elders obvious interest.

So overall Across the universe was a unique and interesting read that I would recommend to anybody wanting something a little different. Futuristic, spacey and with plenty of thrills thrown in, I would rate this a 3 1/2 star read!