Across the Universe

I was so excited when I picked up Across the Universe from the library, but then I had to set it aside for a few days before I could read it. During those days I couldn’t get the song of the same name out of my head, I quickly realized that I had “Across the Universe” on the brain.* I had to chuckle when I opened the book and saw a quote from the lyrics of the song right before the first chapter. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who made the connection between the song and the book.

Across the Universe is the story of Amy, a girl who is frozen with her parents so that they can be shipped with other scientists through space, with the intent that they would all be woken up upon arriving at the planet some 300 years later. Of course there is a hitch in the plans, and Amy is woken up many years early.

What she discovers upon waking is that the shipboard workers have developed a culture so strange that it is unrecognizable to her. The power structure is very much what you would expect to find in dystopian fiction: a controlling government leader, thought control, criticism of anything “different,” etc. Almost all of the population seems content with their living environment, but not everyone is docile – some mystery person is sabotaging the units containing the frozen scientists and researchers.

The other main character is the “Elder,” who is actually around Amy’s age, but he is being trained to be the future leader (the “Eldest”) of the ship. Seeing things from his perspective lets the reader view both sides of the shipboard society. To him life on the ship is ordered and normal, everything working as it should (at least until the saboteur starts complicating things). Amy’s new perspective acts as a catalyst to help him to start questioning the status quo.

Across the Universe has a brisk pace and should please fans of dystopian fiction and science fiction alike. Some of the mysteries were easy for me to figure out (like who was the saboteur), but there was one major element that caught me by surprise at the end, and I’m curious to see how that will play out in a sequel.

There was a little bit of romantic chemistry between Amy and the “Elder,” but I thought it was realistic in that they were more focused on the problems aboard ship than they were on building a relationship. In fact, it was refreshing that things weren’t taken too far too quickly with their developing friendship. Sometimes it feels like writers of young adult books throw in make-out/sex scenes randomly because they are expected. I don’t mind them if they make sense within the plot, but much prefer a logical progression of relationships over gratuitous sex scenes.

I loved the story, especially the aspect of the passage of time while characters are frozen. I also enjoyed the characters, and I can’t wait to see how they address the problems that are sure to arise in the next book. This is exactly the type of science fiction I like.

For those interested in the sequel, there will be two more books in the series. The title of the second book is A Million Suns. To learn more about her books and to see updates about her writing, visit Beth Revis’s website.

Those who enjoy Across the Universe will probably also like Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder and its sequel Outside In.


*Coincidentally the movie “Across the Universe” was on TV while I was typing up this review (not that I watched it). I didn’t even know there was a movie with that title. I guess it’s just like when you learn a new word and then see it everywhere. ( )

One of the more interesting books I've read of late. Very 1984, disturbing and triumphant. ( )

I was hooked from the first page of this book. Science fiction, mystery, dystopia, space travel, and just a bit of romance told by alternating narrators at a good pace - it had almost everything I could want in a book. Just add some ghostly gothic Victorian stuff and some fantasy/magic elements, and there you go.

I need to discuss with someone if the physics in this book were correct in a certain situation (I know they're incorrect in terms of simple Newtonian physics, but I'm no expert on massive spaceship navigation), but I can't say anything about it here without spoiling something. If they are incorrect, then a pretty major part of the plot just doesn't make sense. Maybe I will ask my husband without relating it to the book. He wants to read this now after I gave him a synopsis of the first 50 pages, and he just cannot take anything whatsoever spoiled for him.

The solution to the mystery wasn't bad, but I didn't love it. I was hoping for something more sinister and involved. I still had to give this book five stars just because I was so absorbed into the book the whole time. There is still a somewhat interesting unveiling at the end, but part of it was kind of obvious from early on in the book. And there are plenty of interesting details revealed throughout the book as the reader discovers the "lies that Godspeed is fueled by." :P

I'm surprised this is going to be a series. The next books should be really interesting though because they could just be about anything. Where the second book might pick up is not obvious as there is not a cliffhanger ending, just an open but resolved ending.

I am happy to add this book to my favorites shelf. I love when I find a book that I can't stop reading. That's usually a 1 in 20 (or more, even) occurrence for me. ( )

Amy is frozen alongside her parents and placed as cargo upon the spaceship Godspeed. The journey is supposed to last 300 years, but when Amy is awakened 50 years early, she finds herself aboard a ship where life is very different from the one she’s known. The spaceship is run by a tyrannical dictator who has spun a web of lies to keep the ship’s inhabitants calm and complacent. When someone on the ship starts unplugging other frozen people on the ship and leaving them for dead, she realizes that her awakening wasn’t accidental, and she has to work to figure out who’s behind it before it’s too late.

Much has been made about the fact that true-blue science fiction is a rarity in the YA world these days, and that Beth Revis’s Across the Universe may exactly the cure for that dearth of genre fiction. Many people are fed up with the paranormal romances that crowd shelves these days, and are looking for other outlets to explore. In that way, Revis’s debut novel offers a fresher perspective, for sure. However, the final product isn’t quite as great as it could be.

The novel is told in alternating perspectives between Amy Martin, frozen-girl-wonder, and Elder, the future leader of the ship. Because Revis is a talented writer, she is able to pull off this gimmick. A less technically skilled writer would struggle with this narrative choice and the story would flounder as a result, but Revis keeps the pace moving along at a clip and the plotting is tight. It’s a long book, but most readers will devour it in large chunks (or even one sitting) because the suspense builds effectively enough to keep readers engaged.

Also worth mentioning is Revis’s ability to create a subtle world of horrors on the spaceship. Her slow unveiling of the seedy underbelly of the ship’s goings on builds tension and disgust within the reader, and it makes for a compelling story. Instead of pulling from other authors who have covered the dystopian genre, Revis manages to go deeper within her own story, carving out a space in the genre and creating a complex world where there are no easy answers. However, there are things that didn’t quite work for me, either.

The voices of Amy and Elder were well-developed, but Elder was the more interesting and complex of the two characters. Amy seemed a little too every-girl for me, and her blandness made her passages less interesting than Elder’s.

Not every part of the story gelled for me, either. There were some issues with characters and realistic actions. These moments required a suspension of belief, which I always have trouble swallowing, but I understand why Revis took the liberties she did in order to make the story compelling and exciting. The book is set to be part of a trilogy, and while I’m sure I’ll pick up the next volume, I don’t think I’ll be in a terrible rush to do so. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: This was a great Sci-Fi filled with suspense, mystery, and a touch of romance. I found the story to be very intriguing and hard to put down.

Opening Sentence: Daddy said, “Let Mom go first.”

The Review:

Amy has spent the last 300 years frozen on a space ship called Godspeed. She decided to leave earth with her parents and travel 350 years to inhabit a new planet. She’s not supposed to wake up until the journey has ended, but something goes terribly wrong and she is woken up 50 years to soon. Amy was 17 years old when her parents decided they wanted to leave earth. She loved her life on earth she had great friends, was in love with her boyfriend Jason, and just all-round loved her life. Her dad gave her the choice to stay behind and live out her life, but Amy couldn’t do that to her parents. She decided to give everything up and go with them, but now all her dreams have been shattered. She has been woken up, but her parents won’t be until they land on the new planet which isn’t for another 50 years. Amy is going to have to adjust to living on the strange ship. Everything is so different from what she has ever known. Most of the people are emotionless, they all look the same, and differences are frowned upon. As Amy struggles to adjust someone is starting to kill some of the other frozen on the ship. Amy has to figure out what is going on before her parents become the killer’s next victims.

Elder has grown up on the ship Godspeed. He will someday soon become the next Eldest and lead the whole ship. Elder is 17 years old and still has a lot to learn about how things run. Eldest is supposed to be teaching him, but he is hesitant in doing so. There use to be another Elder, but he didn’t exactly agree with Eldest. He died a few years ago, and now Eldest has to start over with the new Elder. There was a plague on the ship that killed over three quarters of the people. After the chaos there needed to be a leader and that is how the Eldest system was started. There are breeding seasons that form generations. There is a single Elder that is born a few years before each generation that is designated to be the leader for that time. Elders generation is about to be breed and time is running out for him to learn. Eldest has kept so many secrets from everyone and one of the main secrets is the frozen people that are aboard the ship. As Elder starts to uncover Eldest’s secrets he realizes that everything is not as it seems. There are many mysteries that he uncovers and not all of them are good.

The book is alters between Amy and Elders point of view. First we have Amy. She is a very loyal person. She left everything behind to be with her parents even though they gave her the option to stay on earth if she wanted. She searched for the truth even though it puts her in grave danger. There were times when she would let her past memories bring her down a little, but she usually recovered quickly and always tried to make the best of her situation. I thought she was a great heroine and I really connected well with her.

Elder was an interesting character for me. At times I felt a little disconnected from him, but other times I really liked him. At first I think he was a little bit boring, but once he met Amy, he got more interesting. He is fascinated by Amy because she is so different than anyone he has ever met. She is beautiful, independent, smart, and just different. As he gets to know Amy better, he starts to figure out that things on Godspeed aren’t as normal as he thought. Once he has the motivation he starts to really dig and find out what is really going on. He always tries to be honest and do the right thing even when it’s hard. Overall, I liked Elder the more I got to know him and I am hoping that continues in the next book.

This was really one of my first space books and I really enjoyed it. The plot had a lot of good twists and turns that kept me interested and surprised the whole way through. There was good action, blossoming romance, and an intriguing story line. While I didn’t love all the characters from the very beginning, by the end I really came to care about them. I felt that the writing was very well done and I would love to read the rest of the series. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes YA Sci-fi or space stories.

Notable Scene:

One of the doors is already open. A long metal tray extends from the mouth of the door like a tongue, and on that tray is a narrow clear box filled with frozen water speckled with blue glitter. Floating immobile in the ice, as still and silent as this empty room, is a girl.

It’s her hair that pulls me forward. It is so red. I’ve never seen red hair before, not outside of pictures, and the pictures never caught the vivacity of these burnished strands tangled in the ice. Harley has a book of paintings he stole from the Recorder Hall, and one of the paintings is just a series of haystack, the covered in snow, the one at sunset. Harley went loons over it, saying how the artist was so brilliant to paint stuff with different light, and I said that was stupid, there’s light or there isn’t, and he said I was stupid, on Sol-Earth there were things like sunrise and sunset because the sun moves like a living thing and isn’t just an overrated heat lamp in the sky..

This girl’s hair is more brilliant then the rays of the sun on Sol-Earth captured by an artist Harley said was the most genius man ever to live.

I reach out to touch the glass that traps her inside, and only then do I realize how cold it is. My breath is rising in little clouds of white. My fingertips stick to the glass.

I stare down at her. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, but also the strangest. Her skin is pale, almost translucent white, and I don’t think it’s just from the ice. I lay my hand on top of her glass box, above her heart. My skin is a dark shadow over the luminescence of hers.

FTC Advisory: Razorbill/Penguin provided me with a copy of Across the Universe. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )