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Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)

Beth Revis

Start date: May 1, 2013

Finish date: May 31, 2013

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Oct 26, 2013 Danielle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013, read-in-october-2013, ya-books, ya-books-read-in-2013

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What can I say about this book that people haven't already raved about it. It was definitely different than I expected it to be not that that is a bad thing, no not at all. Really I didn't know what to expect I knew that basic plot line of where the heroine was frozen along with her parents and wouldn't be awoken until they got to another planet to colonize it, but then she got accidently woken up and regenerated onto this ship before years and years before getting to the planet.

So, that was my ...more

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Dec 18, 2010 Melissa rated it really liked it

This book is a dystopian sci-fi YA book. In this book, Amy is frozen to go to another planet to help build another earth for humans to live on. Her parents are important to the project so she is allowed as non-essential personel to travel with them. Even though she is frozen she still has consciousness but without a sense of true time. As she is awakened by consequence of another's foul action, she finds herself in a strange monoethnic and dull society. It's not just strange to Amy, but disturbi ...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Alyce (At Home With Books) rated it it was amazing

I was so excited when I picked up Across the Universe from the library, but then I had to set it aside for a few days before I could read it. During those days I couldn’t get the song of the same name out of my head, I quickly realized that I had “Across the Universe” on the brain.* I had to chuckle when I opened the book and saw a quote from the lyrics of the song right before the first chapter. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who made the connection between the song and the book.

Ac I was so excited when I picked up Across the Universe from the library, but then I had to set it aside for a few days before I could read it. During those days I couldn’t get the song of the same name out of my head, I quickly realized that I had “Across the Universe” on the brain.* I had to chuckle when I opened the book and saw a quote from the lyrics of the song right before the first chapter. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who made the connection between the song and the book.

Across the Universe is the story of Amy, a girl who is frozen with her parents so that they can be shipped with other scientists through space, with the intent that they would all be woken up upon arriving at the planet some 300 years later. Of course there is a hitch in the plans, and Amy is woken up many years early.

What she discovers upon waking is that the shipboard workers have developed a culture so strange that it is unrecognizable to her. The power structure is very much what you would expect to find in dystopian fiction: a controlling government leader, thought control, criticism of anything “different,” etc. Almost all of the population seems content with their living environment, but not everyone is docile – some mystery person is sabotaging the units containing the frozen scientists and researchers.

The other main character is the “Elder,” who is actually around Amy’s age, but he is being trained to be the future leader (the “Eldest”) of the ship. Seeing things from his perspective lets the reader view both sides of the shipboard society. To him life on the ship is ordered and normal, everything working as it should (at least until the saboteur starts complicating things). Amy’s new perspective acts as a catalyst to help him to start questioning the status quo.

Across the Universe has a brisk pace and should please fans of dystopian fiction and science fiction alike. Some of the mysteries were easy for me to figure out (like who was the saboteur), but there was one major element that caught me by surprise at the end, and I’m curious to see how that will play out in a sequel.

There was a little bit of romantic chemistry between Amy and the “Elder,” but I thought it was realistic in that they were more focused on the problems aboard ship than they were on building a relationship. In fact, it was refreshing that things weren’t taken too far too quickly with their developing friendship. Sometimes it feels like writers of young adult books throw in make-out/sex scenes randomly because they are expected. I don’t mind them if they make sense within the plot, but much prefer a logical progression of relationships over gratuitous sex scenes.

I loved the story, especially the aspect of the passage of time while characters are frozen. I also enjoyed the characters, and I can’t wait to see how they address the problems that are sure to arise in the next book. This is exactly the type of science fiction I like.

For those interested in the sequel, there will be two more books in the series. The title of the second book is A Million Suns. To learn more about her books and to see updates about her writing, visit Beth Revis’s website.

Those who enjoy Across the Universe will probably also like Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder and its sequel Outside In.

*Coincidentally the movie “Across the Universe” was on TV while I was typing up this review (not that I watched it). I didn’t even know there was a movie with that title. I guess it’s just like when you learn a new word and then see it everywhere. ...more

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