Across the Universe

Beth Revis's Across the Universe centers around an ideal society that crashes and burns because of a teenage girl's intuitiveness and insight on a world that left her behind. Dystopian much? Well that's nothing new considering 99.9% of today's teen literature falls under that category. Yes, John Green, I'm speaking directly to you considering your book is causing me emotional distress...

Anyway, climb aboard Godspeed, a fantastical, futuristic spacecraft carrying two thousand living souls and another batch of souls frozen in cryostasis to a new earth. Nonessential cargo Amy is well, unplugged and melted by God-knows-who (well you will know after you suffer through a mind-blowing 200 pages). She turns the ship upside down by her different appearance (everyone is mono-ethnic) and her insane stories of earth. Amy begins to fall for Elder, the boy who is next in line to be leader of the ship. Amy begins to delve into the secrets of the ship, the lies used to cover up the truth, and works to stop the mass murderer who is working on exterminating the ship's frozen cargo.

Now, Across the Universe may seem simplistic, but trust me it is simply described as MESSED UP. you work to discover the truth before the characters themselves do - sometimes you succeed and sometimes you do not. A lot of the time, I felt myself thinking exactly what the characters believed. Beth Revis clearly knows  how to entice a reader while baffling them by having them think on the same track as the characters in the story.

Now, please understand that this story has abosolutely nothing to do with the 2007 movie musical, Across the Universe. The book includes nothing about drug-addicted, Beatles-singing soldiers. I can promise you that.

With Across the Universe, I was stepping out of my comfort zone a bit considering I'm such a fantasy buff while this is more science fiction which really is not my thing. Surprisingly, I fell in love with the story from the first chapter. Revis has a unique concept on her hands. Props to her for such a well-written story. So don't turn away just because it's not your typical genre. I give it an 8 out of 10.