Book: A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Series: Across the Universe (read my review of the first book in the series here)

Genre: Sci-fi, YA

Synopsis: It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceshipGodspeed.

But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He’s finally free to act on his vision—no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder learns shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a mystery that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier. Their success—or failure—will determine the fate of the 2,298 passengers aboard Godspeed. But with each step, the journey becomes more perilous, the ship more chaotic, and the love between them more impossible to fight.

A Million Suns picks up almost right where Across The Universe left off.  Three months later, Amy is still coming to grips with the reality of her new life.  Meanwhile,the ship is rapidly descending towards Anarchy.  Elder is struggling to keep control in an environment that seems to be on the brink of crumbling.  On top of everything else, Orion has left a rambling assortment of clues, indicating that there are even more secrets about the Godspeed that could change everything.

I was really impressed by the way the story picked up and carried on from Across the Universe.  Stories can tend to peter off or wander mindlessly through the second book in a trilogy, in my reading experience, but this one did not.  The intensity that picked up in the end of Across The Universe carried through seamlessly into A Million Suns, and I felt like the characters all actually evolved and grew.  Amy most noticeably.  In Across the Universe, she tended to annoy me for the first half of the book–not in a bad way, just the believably annoying tendencies of a modern sixteen-year-old.  In A Million Suns, she transitioned from a whiny teenager to a functional human who could cope with the bizarre circumstances forced on her.

Beth Revis is rapidly gaining my respect as a writer, as she passed the milestone of having two novels in a series that were gripping, perfectly linked, and building off of each other. Not meaning any disrespect if she’s been around for longer, but these are the first two books I’ve read that were authored by her and I am VERY impressed.  Definitely going to be looking up more of her books.  The suspense was just fantastic, the story was well written… it was great.

My rating 4 out of 5 stars