Across the Universe Review

Across the Universe 

by Beth Revis 

 

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.









My Review: 6/10

I'm still not sure what I think/how i feel about this book. I think it was good. not perfect, but pretty good. I read some of the reviews a few minutes ago- immediately after finishing the book, because I think I was hoping to find out some more information.

a couple of things didn't sit quite solidly with me. *SPOILERS*

the two biggest problems I had were: why did no one wake up the frozen genius scientists? I know they were ESSENTIAL to surviving on the new planet, but at this rate- you're never going to reach the new planet. why not wake up at least a few of them and fix the first problem- a rapidly decelerating ship- and then worry about what happens when you land. especially if you have cloning technology! Seems obvious to me.

Second problem, why are they not turning around?! they're only fifty years (or rather what was supposed to be fifty years) away from earth. i read no mention of earth being ravaged by a disease or natural disaster that left NOTHING to return to, and the ship is likely to fail it's mission. Better to turn around, and try to make it back home (which you are MUCH closer to, even if its taken you a ridiculously long 450 years to get there. turn around, try to make it back home so that they can fix the ship's fuel and communication issues.

these seemed like two major plot issues.

a couple of minor issues i had:

*i disagree with the general consensus about amy calling her dad "daddy" being weird and unnatural. i've heard plenty of ADULTS call their parents Daddy or Mama, depending on the circumstances and the culture. I will admit it did seem childish to me though.

*i dont understand how Eldest could be so indifferent to elder. I mean, it's himself. i realize they were making a point about how they were NOT the same people, but I have to say, if I cloned myself, I think I would take a biased interest in my clone's well being. it seems unnatural to me that Eldest did not.

*i felt that the almost-rape scene was unnecessary.

*at the end when Elder is talking about how "Amy always thought" or "never thought" in regards to Harley, I did a mental double take. Why is he talking like this has gone on for years. At this point (thanks to the constant countdown of 49/74 and 264) It's only been a couple of days.

and then I get irritated that this WHOLE book has only taken place over a few days. it makes the relationships and character developments feel entirely like smoke and mirrors. People do not change THAT quickly. even when extreme things happen, they need time to process before they change.

*i felt that harleys suicide was also unnecessary. it amazed me that revis created such a worthwhile character and then wasted it. his death served no purpose that i could see.

*i never understood why amy went with her parents in the first place. i put myself in her place and tried to envision it. i love my parents. but i dont think id go with them if i wasn't commited, invested in their vision, their passion for a new earth or if i wasnt desperate to escape the current one. neither seemed to apply to her.

*i felt like the book was way too long. i was impatient for amy and elder to meet, although i didnt mind the time she was frozen- i thought that part was kind of cool.

*i really wanted to know what Elders name had been.

*interesting that ed was added to the story. i wanted more background history on him and the first 450 years.

all in all i think a 6 or 7 fits. its an interesting concept- new to me. and managed to keep me interested enough, though the villain(s) were predictable from very early on, that i read pretty much straight through. some flaws kept me from falling in love with the book or getting emotionally attached, but it did make me think. and appreciate my earth. :] all in all, i won't read it again, but would probably give a sequel a chance. 

Requiem Review

Requiem 

by Lauren Oliver  

 

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.


My Review: 6/10

Spoilers! You kinda know who shes gonna end up with, so it felt like a waste of time to spend so much of the book going back and forth. the worst was, toward the end, when feelings are made pretty darn clear and all of a sudden lena is stupid and cannot comprehend the truth. i hate dumbing down characters. first of all, if the reader gets it, your character should get it too. and if nothing else, women are hopeful, to a fault, much of the time. that's what gets so many of us in trouble. we keep hoping when we shouldn't. the opposite just wasn't believeable or relatable. and whats with alex saying he never loved her? i dont recall that being cleared up. seemed a little melodramatic with too much of the issues arising from misunderstandings- like reliving the worst of twilight. yuck. other than that, my only other complaint was the ending. thankfully i felt that the authors *intent* was clear enough. but i'm a girl who likes every t crossed and every i dotted. the ending came kind of abruptly, and there wasnt enough details cleared up. nor any kind of projection into the future. which makes me sad when you've invested so much in reading about these characters and waiting for the big ending. felt kinda weak; i was left wanting more.