Review: Across the Universe

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 398
Date(s) Read: July 7-9, 2015 (re-read)
Rating: 3 

Summary: 

17-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the spaceship, Godspeed and expects to wake up 300 years in the future.  However, she is woken up fifty years too early.  Her awakening wasn't a computer error, but an intentional thing.  Someone, among the thousands on the ship, was trying to kill her.  Her parents will be next if she can't find out who it is.  She must race to find the ship's hidden secrets, however, there is only one name on her list of murder suspects that matters: Elder.  The future leader of the ship and the love she never saw coming. 

Review: 

Okay, so I've now read this book twice.  Yes, twice.  Before actually sitting down and formulating this review.  Note, there was also eight months between my last read and this review.  Yeah, I've been sitting on this one for a little while and for reasons that I will get to momentarily.  

I did not love this book.  I also did not hate this book.  Thus the somewhere in the middle three that it has received.  It is a good book, however, for me there were a few issues.  The characters for one, I couldn't really find a true connection with either of them.  

Amy came off as a Mary Sue, and the point of her Mary Sue-ness was stressed even more with the biggest cliche to describe her red hair "flaming red hair," is something that drives me absolutely crazy.   She honestly doesn't even have that great a personality, and it is like she is stuck in two modes: running or complaining about her left behind boyfriend.  I get it, you're a teenager and you were forced to leave your boyfriend....a boyfriend and a relationship that I really had no connection with, no understanding of, or scope of aside from the few seconds of flashback that we were given.  Jason - ask me about him and honestly, I would have absolutely nothing to tell you.  I have no idea what his personality is, or even what to tell you made him so great to Amy. 

Elder.  Seriously, I do not like him at all.  I mean, I'd probably like him if he wasn't a jerk, or seriously shallow.  His only thoughts about Amy are objectifying.  He wants to make out with her.  He wants to have sex with her.  Seriously dude, get a grip.  Then, what we learn about Elder makes me really, really angry.  It also further proves just how absolutely shallow and self-serving this guy really is.  Why would you do that?  Why would you freaking RISK her life, just for that?! Oh, right, you also just want to make out with her and have sex with her. I got it.  Elder is a douche.  

Right, I've officially gotten that out of my system.  For now.  I think.  At least until I get to book two and I might have to hop back on the "I really don't like Elder" train.  

The ending, however left me feeling kinda meh.  Everything was pretty much tied up just a little bit too neatly, too easily.  The reasons for the murders did not make a whole lot of sense.  Also, seriously? Are we arriving on Centauri-Earth in this book?  Is Amy going to be living out her life without her parents?  Is she going to end up having a relationship with said objectifying douche? Please someone give me the answers, because they are simply NOT in this book.  

I think it is worth the read, despite the fact that there were things that drove me quite batty about this book.  YAY I managed to actually write this review without having to use the spoiler tag.  A feat that I wasn't certain was going to happen. Win.  For.  Me.