Across the Universe - Beth Revis

[melrose226]

I initially picked up this book because I follow Molly Quinn, who plays Alexis Castle on the television show "Castle", on Twitter. She is a friend of Beth Revis and a fan of these novels, and because she talked about them so much I was intrigued enough to want to give them a shot. Due to my equating Molly with this book, and the fact that Amy's description is pretty much a carbon copy of how one would describe Molly, I spent pretty much the whole first half of the book going "PLEASE MAKE THIS A MOVIE AND HAVE MOLLY QUINN PLAY AMY", but I digress.

This book was largely what I was expecting it to be: sci-fi meets dystopian with just a hint of murder mystery. Totally unique, right down to the way the murders took place (and there was more murder than I was expecting). The end came with a full series of fantastic twists that left me surprised, impressed, intrigued, and very very happy, and honestly, I can't wait for A Million Suns, which I have already ordered.

That said, I did have a few problems with this book that I need to address, which will explain the missing stars: 1) There was one MAJOR event that took place about halfway through the book that was then completely forgotten, abandoned, and never really revisited again. For spoilers sake I won't tell you what this event WAS, but suffice it to say it was not something that should have been thrown in for the sake of a plot twist, and even though part of me understands why it happened, the other part was just confused and annoyed that it was added for basically no reason. I like plot twists that actually do something to affect the plot, but hey, that's just me. 2) Predictability. Even though there were twists on some aspects of the plot, and, admittedly, not everything worked out the way I expected it to (this is a good thing!), the general framework of the plot was exactly what I was expecting it to be. 3) Amy tends to whine. And complain. And feel sorry for herself. Granted, if I was in her position I would be exactly the same way, or possibly MUCH MUCH WORSE, so I understand where she's coming from. She pulled herself together a bit as the book went on, so there was definitely some logical character progression that should be praised.

The final thing I need to address before ending this review is the romance. It is completely and utterly expected before you even pick up the book, and yet it unfolds in a somewhat different way from what you might expect. It's not (to use a friend's term) "insta-love", at least not on Amy's end, and while I would certainly call it an instant attraction (bordering on a creepy level from Elder, if I'm being honest, at least in the beginning), there was no *snap* WE'RE SO IN LOOOOVE moment, of which I was very grateful. The framework for deep undying dramatic love is definitely there, and I'd be in complete shock if the trilogy didn't end with such love being in place, BUT this book felt like a logical stepping stone to that, which made me very happy.

All in all, I really did like Across The Universe. It was an interesting read, and I've certainly never read anything before that I can compare it with, because the plot, characters, and world in general are completely unique. I particularly recommend this if you are a sci-fi fan, but any dystopian fan looking to cross into science fiction would likely enjoy it as well. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan myself, and still found this to be an enjoyable read, so there you go. If it sounds like something you think you'll enjoy, go for it! I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

[AryanaMender]

You're review was spot on. I loved this book, but I was a little frustrated with a few points, as well. I honestly didn't like the Amy/Elder relationship though. That's probably my biggest complaint. Of course, I'm not much for heavy romance in novels, either.

[melrose226]

You're review was spot on. I loved this book, but I was a little frustrated with a few points, as well. I honestly didn't like the Amy/Elder relationship though. That's probably my biggest complaint. Of course, I'm not much for heavy romance in novels, either.

Thank you! I agree...I am a big fan of romances in novels, which colored my acceptance of the Amy/Elder relationship automatically, but the more I reflect on it...the more it disturbed me, actually. It's a bit of an obsessive one-sided relationship, in many ways.

[BookFever]

Well, I love Castle and the Alexis character. Also, I've been debating about reading this book. So, I've decided to just do it. *Poof* There, it's been added to the list. Thanks for the review!

[littlebook]

Currently I am reading the third and final book in this series. I absolutely LOVE it. I strongly recommend it being made into a movie. Spread the word.

-- 25 Aug 2014, 17:58 --

Currently I am reading the third and final book in this series. I absolutely LOVE it. I strongly recommend it being made into a movie. Spread the word.

[AuthorMeghan]

Great review! I also recently read the Across the Universe, and wanted to share my review.

3 Stars. This was my first YA Sci-Fi Novel. I've read about a dozen Sci-Fi Novels in the past, and was hoping it would be similar in feel with just younger characters. Across the Stars was a relatively quick read, and the characters were interesting, but the plot itself left something to be desired.

One thing that made me a bit uncomfortable is something called the Season. While it wasn't graphic, it did make me squirm a little that it was just casually thrown in there for no apparent reason.

Half-way through the book, one of the characters experiences and incredibly traumatic event. Not to spoil it, but if you or I had been through this we probably wouldn't be jumping up a few chapters later and trying to start a relationship. We'd probably be in some very severe psychological problems. Again, this happened for no apparent reason.

The character of Elder was really well fleshed out, but the romance between Amy and him was beyond creepy. If I was Amy I would have run. He's completely infatuated with her to the point that he rebels against his belief system simply because she says 'that's not how it works' or 'that's not right'. I can understand needing to move the story forward and that he might be receptive and start looking at things in a new light, but I don't know anyone who would so easily change their entire outlook and rebel the way he does for such a minor reason. (BTW: The ending makes this romance even more creepy)

Overall: A decent read, but don't go into it expecting it to be an epic adventure. It's more dystopian than Sci-Fi with a very distinct Giver (Lowis Lowry) feeling to it. I probably won't be reading the next book in the trilogy any time soon. I figured out the ending and the plot twists pretty early on (they aren't hard to figure out), but it wasn't the worst book I'd ever read. The characters were well fleshed out and I could feel a connection to them (even if Amy was kind of annoying with her constant whining).