Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Book Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis



For some strange reason my branch library did not get a copy of this book. I will be donating my copy after I let a couple of my regular kids read it.

Thoroughly enjoyed the book. I've never been a fan of sci-fi (except for the guilty pleasure of Star Trek: TNG paperbacks) and so I was a bit reluctant to read this. However, it had garnered so much attention at ALA Midwinter (I missed out on the ARC) that I thought I'd give it a try.

I love the fact that it's hard to pin down exactly what the book is. Is it sci-fi? Romance? Mystery? Well, it's all of those, which means it should attract a wide range of readers. The shifting of POV from Amy to Elder means that both boys and girls will be interested. Short chapters with cliffhanger endings are good for those reluctant readers.

Okay, now that I've explained how the book will appeal to Teens, let's get down to the story. I thought the character development was quite good, especially with Amy. Could get her sense of frustration and loneliness. Elder's character seemed a bit canned but when you think of it in relation to Amy it makes sense.

I did figure the plot out but there were still bits that surprised me. I'm really interested to see where the story goes in the next book; I think this one stands fine on its own.

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