Review : Across The Universe

Title: Across The Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Published: January 11th 2011 by Razorbill
Source: ARC courtesy of Around The World Tours

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 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.

Thoughts: I'll admit, when I first heard of this book, I was more than a bit skeptical. I mean, it sounded like Star Trek, mixed in with teen romance and angst. To my surprise, it was much more than that. This book has so many twists and turns, it'll have your head spinning. Needless to say, it really keeps you on your toes.

Amy is just your average 17 year old who's not so average. She's about to be frozen, so her body can sleep on a spaceship for the next 300 years. You see, her parents are important people and with the Earth withering away, they must find key people to freeze, keep safe and launch into space. Since this journey to the new planet will take 300 years, the people and their bodies must be preserved. Amy is very reluctant about this. Leave her life and friends behind, and for what exactly? The possibility of a different kind of future? Sadly, since her parents have no choice but to go, she must as well. Thus, her body is frozen and will not be awakened until they hit the new planet. What Amy doesn't know is someone a couple hundred years later has different plans for Amy.

Elder is the odd ball on the ship. He is, in a way, second in command, next to Eldest. Elder is being trained. He's 16 and has no other peers his age. When the time comes, he will become the Eldest and command the next generation of people on the spaceship Godspeed. For now, he must follow Eldest around and learn from him. One day, while getting into mischief (because that's what sixteen year old boys do) he finds a chamber containing cases of frozen humans. One stands out more than the rest. A beautiful girl (HIS AGE!) who looks nothing like the girls he has grown accustomed to.

Out of no where, Amy is taken out of her cold tomb and thrown into the world on the ship. She's unfrozen 50 years before her time. And though this wasn't what she signed up for, neither her nor Elder can hide their feelings for one another. As they begin to fall in love, they also begin to unravel the lies and deceit Eldest has been keeping from everyone.

The romance between Amy and Elder is just the perfect mix. You get to see their relationship build from strangers, to friends, then more. In the beginning, a lot of their encounters is based on looks and, well, lust, you'll get to see how both bring the best out of each other. Don't worry, it's not all fluff. There's also tension between them, since no one is really suppose to fall in love on Godspeed. Plus, Harley (a nice, artistic boy) seems to add more spice to the story.

The anguish in this book, not just for the main characters but for those unmentioned, is beautifully written. Though Amy and Elder know-yet-don't-know what the future has in store for them, neither do the other people living on Godspeed. Across The Universe will have you wondering "what if" more times than I can count. You'll wonder, not only from the two main characters point of view, but also the unlucky souls who were born, live, and will eventually die on Godspeed.

Overall, I really enjoyed Across The Universe. It's so different from other books out there. If you enjoy dystopia novels with a handful of romance, I'm sure you'll enjoy this.

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