Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

From the Back Cover:


A story of love, murder, and madness aboard an enormous spaceship bound for the future.




My Thoughts:

Getting sick of the glut of paranormal YA? Read this book! The first chapter is one of the most intense I've read and the story that unfurls from there is strange, raw, twisted, and awesome! Amy and her parents are part of an exploratory expedition to settle on a new planet and prepare it for earth's population. They are cryogenically frozen to survive a journey that will take 300 years to make. But Amy is woken from her cryo-sleep 50 years ahead of schedule, 50 years before the ship is scheduled to land on their new home, and 50 years ahead of her parents. She awakes to a foreign world. 250 years is a long time for people to live on a spaceship and some shocking things have been going down. Turns out an outbreak of illness killed off a big chunk of the ship's population, and since then the ship-running society has turned into a segregated world of Keepers, Shippers, and Feeders. Most of them don't even know about the frozen expedition team they're carrying, and the ones that do harbor feelings of distrust and resentment. Amy's in danger and the only person she can turn to for help is Elder, the future leader of the ship. Elder is fascinated and drawn to Amy from the moment he sees her, but when Amy's presence creates a widening ripple of unrest aboard ship and a murderer starts targeting the cryo-sleepers, he's torn between his duties and his desire to keep her from becoming the next victim.

Beth Revis has an excellent imagination and has crafted an enthralling, disturbing, romantic, futuristic tour-de-force. I was on the edge of my seat to the last page as one surprise after another played out. I was so impressed that I even found the ability to overcome Elder's rather annoying use of the futuristic cuss-word "frex" and still call it an excellent read. And in addition to having a great story, it's beautifully written. It is very different and it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I thought it was awesome.

My Rating:  5 Stars out of 5

*Please note: This review references an advance copy received from the publisher, and therefore the final published copy may differ. Though I received this book from the publisher, these are my honest and unbiased thoughts, and I was not compensated in any other way for reviewing this book.