Review - Shades of Earth (Across the Universe, #3) by Beth Revis

Title: Shades of Earth

Author: Beth Revis

Series: 3rd (Across the Universe, A Million Suns)
Pages: 369

Published: January 15th 2013 by Razorbill 

ISBN: 9781595143990

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Description: Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.  But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.  Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing. 

I Give This ...

 

Wow, this book had a lot riding on it.  Up to this point I really felt that the author did a fantastic job of describing what life might be like on this ship that was destined for a far off planet.  I was hoping that realistic feel would spill over into life on the new planet.

I know that when they left the ship, life on the new planet might not be all the people had dreamed of.  But part of me wondered if there was a deeper conspiracy in place and the surface of the planet might not be as bad as everybody had feared.  But, where's the story in that?    Honestly, I think it might have been worse.  They have to crash land on the way day.  Elder is convinced it was actually an attack on the shuttle.  The pterodactyl birds are terrifying.  And there's something much darker and sinister lurking in the shadows.  Whatever it is begins picking them off one by one.

I was a little frustrated with Amy at first.  I understood her desire to unfreeze her parents, and her unshakeable belief that all the frozens would be helpful.  She never stops to think how they might react to the shipborns, or how the shipborns might react to them.  In a do or die situation, tensions are always higher.  It takes some tragic events for both sides to realize that neither side holds the answer and the best way to solve anything is to work together.   

I really loved the idea of what was really going on in the planet.  Once the pieces started to fall into places, it completely made sense to me.  I was amazed at how deep the conspiracy went and how far everyone was willing to go to protect it.  I was also intrigued with how much it connected back to Phydus.

As satisfying end to a series that I am so glad I read.  It was so much better than I expected!