Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #1
Genres: Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Publication/Year: Razorbill • 2011
Page Numbers: 326
Format: eBook
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Book 1 in the "New York Times" bestselling trilogy, perfect for fans of Battlestar Gallactica and Prometheus!
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SURVIVE ABOARD A SPACESHIP FUELED BY LIES?
Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship Godspeed. She has left her boyfriend, friends--and planet--behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship. Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future. But fifty years before "Godspeed'"s scheduled landing, cryo chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.
Someone tried to murder her.
Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader. And Elder, Eldest's rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead. Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship's cold metal walls? All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock "Godspeed"'s hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.My Rating: ★★★★★
Quote(s) I Like:
"I feel as if I am breaking in half. Once, I was ice. Now, I am pain." - Amy
"I never thought about how important the sky was until I didn't have one. I a surrounded by walls. I have just replaced one box for another." - Amy
"And that's when I realize the most important truth of life on this ship. There is nowhere to run." - Amy
"He seemed like a jerk to me. More than a jerk. He was pretty much King Asshole to me. I mean, I know he's your leader and all, but he did want to basically kill me." - Amy
My Thoughts:
Beth Revis...thank you for creating this book! A whole society on a ship full of lies, dishonor and few truthful people. Simply brilliant.
The story follows Amy and Elder in dual perspective. The beginning starts with Amy deciding whether she wants to be frozen or not with her parents to be awoken in the future on a new earth. She agrees to join her parents, but she is woken up 50 years before she is supposed to. Along being woken up a bunch of other people in the cryos are being killed by a mysterious murderer.
Elder is a young man on the Godspeed who will be the oldest of his generation. Elder used to believe so much he was taught by Eldest, but he learns quickly to think on his own, tell the truth and the reality of who he is with a choice of who he is to become.
The world building and world in general was insane! An entire society equipped with grass, housing, animals, stores and makeshift stars, sun and rain on a ship in space...what more could you want?! The people were separated into three groups, but I added a fourth and fifth group. The Feeders, The Shippers and The Keepers. The fourth group are the frozen people from Sol-Earth and the fifth are the crazy people in the hospital.
The idea of Eldest controlling the people and the people being zombies just blew my mind. I felt like Eldest was a douchebag that needed total control. I loved Doc and Harley. They were just awesome secondary characters.
Orion had to be another character I enjoyed, but finding out who he was and what he did just shocked me. Finding out who woke up Amy was a complete shock for me and sort of broke my heart. Finding out the truth about the ship was even more of page turner.
I totally enjoyed the first book in the series and definitely plan to continue on with the series!
Have you read this book?