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!

Review - A Million Suns (Across the Universe, #2) by Beth Revis

Title: A Million Suns

Author: Beth Revis

Series: 2nd (Across the Universe)

Pages: 386

Published: January 10th 2012 by Razorbill 

ISBN: 9781595143983

Source: Around The World Tours

Description: It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart. Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. 

I Give This ...

 

I've been highly anticipating this second novel.  I'm not one for sci-fi type books, but something about this series has grabbed, and I'm not going to let it go.  This latest installment was everything that I hoped for.

I really felt for Elder this entirety of this book.  He's trying hard to keep the peace and do everything within his power to get them to their final goal.  But, when uprising start to happen aboard the ship, I wasn't surprised.  We needed a little more discord.  I do think those who were trying to lead the uprising had valid points, even if they were off base.  Elder really is the best leader for the ship I think.  He's just not very good with words, and no one could really see what he was doing behind the scenes to make sure everything was running smoothly.  I also think he has a huge issue with the idea of absolute power.  He doesn't really want it, but doesn't know what else can be done about it.

My thoughts on Amy went back and forth throughout the book.  I thought she kept a level head while she's witnessing the uprising around her.  Since we get part of the story for her point of view, we know she's scared at times.  But, I think she does an amazing job of not showing it to those around her.  I enjoyed her scavenger hunt to discover what the leaders' aboard the ship have been keeping secret for years.  I didn't think she was a little unyeilding when it came to the records hall keeper (I can not remember his name for the life of me).  She refused to see anybody's view point but her own when it came to him.  

There are some definite twists in the story.   Or they should be twists.  For some reason, they just seemed like the logical direction that story should go.  None of it really surprised me, but I wasn't disappointed in the slightest either.  In fact, I loved the storylines in general. 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across The Universe

Author: Beth Revis

Pages: 400

Published: Jan. 11, 2011 by Razorbill

ISBN: 9781595143976

Source: ARC from Around The World Tours

Description: 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 Give This ...

 

I really wasn't sure on this one.  I'm not a sci-fi kind of person and this seemed to fit into that category.  But, I was pleased to find that I enjoyed it way more than I thought.  The story is told through the alternating viewpoints of Amy and Elder.  

I really enjoyed Amy's voice from the moments she struggles to decide whether to be frozen or not.  It sounded like an awful process.  Then to wake up on a ship 50 years to soon, and know no one.  And life on this ship is so vastly different than it was on earth.  She keeps her head though and tried to figure out what's really going on while coping with the idea that she may outlive her parents.  There were so many times I felt like breaking down with her.  

I also liked Elder.  I think he was questioning things long before Amy came into the picture and made him question them more.  I was fascinated be the idea of how he really came into the picture.  He never accepted how he was suppose to do things, and I thought that was great.  I'm curios if this becomes a series, what he will choose to do next.

The ship itself was an interesting idea.  The society was well thought out and I wasn't expecting it to be so sinister.  There were clues though, and I was able to piece together most of the true story.  There were elements that definitely surprised me.   What I enjoyed most was the dystopian feel the story had.  It fit really well into the category, it just happens to be a society that lives on a ship in space.  

If the author decides to continue this saga, I will be reading!