Book: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Genre: YA, Sci-fi

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

Yes, the cover is cheesy.  Yes, it took me a few minutes of trying to make sense of the title being Across the Universe and coming to grips with the two faces about to lock lips on the cover.  All that admitted and said though, I really enjoyed this book.  It was another one of those books that I just picked up on a whim from the library.  Not planned, just did a very hasty skim-and-flip and snatched it off the shelf before I had to race after the 2-year-old.  Ah well, life of a mom.

I haven’t read a great deal of sci-fi, but I think a good story is a good story, no matter what genre it claims, and Across the Universe qualifies.  I loved the idea of the cryo travel, and the other “techy” parts of the book seemed fun and unique, but within the realm of probable reason.

The main characters were great too.  Admittedly, Amy got on my nerves for a while, but I don’t think that detracts from her character–it really makes her more believeable.  I mean, what 16 year old girl hasn’t been whiny and irritating at some point?  Exactly.  She was just par for the course.

I loved the way the story unfolded, and even when I started thinking I knew where the story was going, it would shift and twist and pop out a new ending.  It was great.

Quick, entertaining read for all you other busy-folk out there.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars