REVIEW: Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3)

Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3), by Beth Revis
Published January 15, 2013
Publisher:  Razorbill
Format: hardback - borrowed from the library
Genre:  YA, sci-fi
To Buy:  Amazon * Barnes & Noble

 Rating:  4.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) 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.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.

I will admit that I had Shades of Earth in my hands for about four weeks - I had to renew it once - before I got up the guts to crack it open and start reading. Why my reticence? Honestly, I just really didn't want it all to end. 

Of course, my procrastination couldn't last forever. I just HAD to find out what happened to Amy and Elder!

The ships lands on Centauri-Earth and the frozens are thawed and immediately start taking charge. Conflict starts from the very beginning as the two leaders clash and Amy is caught in the middle. Adding fuel to the fire, people start dying and no one can figure out who is behind it. Soon it becomes clear that they are not the only sentient beings on the planet. 

Shades of Earth was a deliciously, frexing frustrating book. Frustrating in the best of ways. The source of most of my frustration was Amy. GAH - AMY! My girl needs to learn about c-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-i-o-n. Like, communicating to her dad all that she learned during her three months on the ship. And, communicating to Elder that she loves him. And, communicating that she's not just going to forgive someone for something so heinous just because the peace needs to be kept. This was the one thing that bothered me the most. I didn't agree, nor quite get, some of Amy's actions at the end of the book. 

The best part of this entire series are the mysteries within the mystery. I have story ideas - most bibliophiles do. My problem is how to create drama, intrigue and passion with my words. How to create these wicked cool plot twists that readers wouldn't be able to see coming a mile away. Well, Let. Me. Tell. You. Beth Revis not only has generated some serious drama, intrigue and passion in Shades of Earth, but as was the case in Across the Universe and A Million Suns, I did not see that ending coming. At all. Being surprised is cool. Beth Revis - what a crazy, beautiful mind you have.

Shades of Earth was an extremely fulfilling ending to an amazing series. The characters - all of them - have so much life. This new world that they all live in was described in such wonderful detail, I felt like I could smell the rain and feel the air and taste the gross military rations. 

Read this series. Even if you don't think that sci-fi, spaceships and aliens are your bag. READ IT. Then, let me know how much you loved it so I can tell you I told you so. 

Check out my reviews for Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) and A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2).

REVIEW: A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2)

A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2), by Beth Revis
Published November 21, 2012
Publisher:  Razorbill
Format:  paperback - borrowed from library
Genre:  YA Sci-fi

Rating:  4.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) GODSPEED WAS FUELED BY LIES. NOW IT IS RULED BY CHAOS.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. 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 act on his vision--no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder learns shocking news, he and Amy must race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed, all the while dealing with the love that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: THEY HAVE TO GET OFF THIS SHIP.

The best thing about the Across the Universe books is the story within the story. Each book is part of a bigger picture, but within those beautiful covers is a separate mystery to be solved that keeps the reader totally engrossed. It's like those cute little Russian nesting dolls. There's a surprise within a surprise within a surprise. And each one is more clever then the one before. 

In A Million Suns, we see that the Godspeed is in total anarchy since Elder took the inhabitants off the drugs that were making them calm and compliant. He's desperately trying to keep control while at the same time trying to figure out how to get to Centauri Earth. Meanwhile Amy is following the bread crumbs that Orion left for her, hoping to figure out how to save her parents and help Elder. 

For once in a YA book, the romance is not at center stage here. It's a background prop for the rest of the story. It's obvious that Amy and Elder love each other, but she's still not ready to come face-to-face with that realization. Although Amy and Elder have a few moments in A Million Suns, they're short and far between. 

The real star of the show here is the mysteries that Elder and Amy have to solve. Amy is trying to discover Orion's secrets and what they mean. She's following a scavenger hunt of clues hidden throughout the ship. To what end, she doesn't know, but she knows it has to do with the planet and her parents. Meanwhile, Elder is trying to find out who is killing the citizens of the Godspeed and why his good friend is leading the mutiny. 

The creative moxie that Beth Revis displays in A Million Suns is impressive. The trail of clues that both Elder and Amy follow kept me hanging on to each page, straining to see if I could figure out the big secrets before they did. It was such a fun read. 

Beyond that, the level of emotion displayed in A Million Suns is in direct contrast to that which we saw in Across the Universe. In Across the Universe, there was very little emotion because of the use of drugs. In A Million Suns, emotion bubbles over and floods the pages. The citizens are scared and angry. Elder is so, so frustrated and worried about Amy. Amy is worried about Elder and determined to save her parents. I felt all of that as I was reading, all the way down to the incredible last page.

If the successful formula holds, Revis is sure to deliver an explosive conclusion to the series. I wonder what the next mystery will be. I do know that, even before I finished A Million Suns, I went to the library and took out Shades of Earth.    

REVIEW: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)

Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1), by Beth Revis
Published January 11, 2011
Publisher:  Razorbill
Format:  Audiobook - borrowed from library
Genre:  YA dystopian/sci-fi

Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

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.

Across the Universe was one of the more thought-provoking books I've read in a long time. It sparked several conversations around my family's dinner table. What would we do if given the choice that Amy was given - stay among what is comfortable and familiar, but be without your parents? Or, embark on an adventure to an unknown world where the only people you know are your parents? 

Do we agree with the stated "three main causes of discord?" 

I thought Amy was really amazing. I can't even begin to imagine all she went through, and she allowed herself a few opportunities to completely fall apart. But, for the most part, she was strong and resilient and really persistent. Revis made her so real - she was a great character. 

Elder and Eldest were a bit more cardboard, but I think they were supposed to be. I gathered that Elder was drawn to Amy by her extreme physical differences and her aversion to authority. But did he like her so much to want to kiss her so soon? Did he really love her that early? And, was it all enough for him to shun everything he had been raised to accept as reality? It was a little hard to believe. 

But, what a compelling and unique story! Especially for someone who was raised on Star Trek. I've always been a fan of the starship shows, but this was the first book about them that I've ever read. Not only was it a fun story about a crazy trip through the universe, it talked about a lot of issues that were socially and politically charged. Racism, socialism, fascism - it's all addressed in some futuristic, spacey way.

Across the Universe definitely gave me food for thought. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series to see where Revis takes Amy and Elder and the crew of the Godspeed next. Will they ever reach Centauri Earth? Will the ship be thrown into chaos? I can't wait to find out.