Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Image and summary from Goodreads.com:


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.


I would be remiss if I didn't mention my interest in this book was largely due to its breathtaking cover.  I mean - look at it!  When I cracked the spine, I could only hope the story inside was as well done.  Thankfully, I was not disappointed.


One of the strengths of this novel is that it switches between the viewpoints of the two main characters - Amy and Elder.  Amy struck me as a very well-written character.  Though clearly she is placed in an unrealistic situation (I personally don't know anyone who has been cryogenically frozen and traveling in space for over two centuries), she was someone who possessed relatable traits.  She is preoccupied with her boyfriend on Earth (and what went wrong), feels like she doesn't belong, and genuinely misses her parents.  Her voice is strong and intelligent, but not overly so; she reacts to her adverse situations with a level of doubt that seems natural.  Elder is similarly relatable, despite having been born on a spaceship.  My favorite aspect of his character is that he faces temptation in a believable way.  As a leader, he is obviously presented with choices that are difficult, but probably morally correct - and vice versa.  Though he usually does the "right thing," he has a respect for temptation too.  To me, this made his character much deeper than I anticipated.


The plot of the novel isn't action-packed, but this is mostly because each event takes a while to develop.  I appreciated this aspect, as it allowed for very rich story development.  The setting, though limiting in its scope, is wonderfully drawn.  I actually felt like I was aboard the Godspeed with Amy and Elder.  As the plot unfolds, it has a little bit of something for all varieties of readers - romance, action, and even some mystery.  Though I found the ending a bit predictable, watching it unfold was still engrossing.


This book had a few questionable moments in regards to content.  One odd thing the characters do is use "cleaned up" versions of swear words.  However, I sort of felt like it was as noticeable as swearing, if not as openly objectionable.  It seemed to draw more attention to words that could have been avoided.  Also, there were a few scenes where sex is described. While it isn't graphic, it doesn't exactly leave much to the imagination either.  I do understand the author's choice to include the scenes - people aboard the Godspeed have a "season," much like animals, and it illustrates their lack of humanity - but still.  It seemed a bit too explicit for some young adult readers.


Overall, I was glad I read this book.  It was creative, exciting, and very well written.  For the right reader, this book is something that is sure to enchant.