across the universe

across the universe
across the universe trilogy #1
beth revis
ya/sci-fi/romance
penguin group, inc.
published 2011

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the Godspeed spaceship headed to Centauri-Earth.  Scheduled to arrive 300 years from the time Amy and her parents are frozen the Godspeed is a huge ship that is equipped to support an entire population of people, but when Amy is unplugged 50 years before she's supposed to and left to die everything is exposed.  Amy is determined to keep her parents and the other frozen passengers safe and uncover all the secrets the giant spaceship has hidden.  She also has to decide who she can trust.  Harley, the crazy artist or Elder, the boy next in line to rule the ship.

I tried explaining this book to my husband because it was something right up his alley, but I just couldn't do it justice.  So I won't really try to do it here.  I will say that the more secrets uncovered the more my heart would break for Amy and sometimes for Ender as well.  The magnitude of the events is immense and it seems to trickled out.  Though you really should know what's coming, you don't because you get so caught up in the 'right now' part of the story...and that is wondrous.

This is Beth Revis's first book and I've got to say I'm dang impressed!  The writing was great, it ebbed and flowed.  She left us on little cliffhangers here and there, but didn't inundate us with them.  The switch between Amy and Elder's POV was seamless.  Honestly, I was surprised this was a first time novelist.  I guess reading so many new authors recently has made me feel like there were very few outstanding writers out there.

I'm delighted that this is a trilogy.  While sometimes I feel like I want to stay with a character forever I do like having an ending.  Also, the first two books are out so I don't have to wait to read the second book, but the third isn't out yet and probably won't be until the end of this year or sometime next year.  I guess I can wait.

*sigh*