*Review* Across the Universe Series by Beth Revis

Rating: 4.3 for the series
Pub date: 2011, 2012, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill
Genre: YA, Futuristic, Sci-Fi
Format: paperbacks, obtained from the Public Library

Summary:
Across the Universe: A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
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.

A Million Suns: Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. 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 spaceship Godspeed. 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.
Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

Shades of Earth: Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They’re ready to start life afresh–to build a home–on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn’t the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed’s former passengers aren’t alone on this planet. And if they’re going to stay, they’ll have to fight. Amy and Elder must race to discover who–or what–else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed–friends, family, life on Earth–will have been for nothing. FUELED BY LIES. RULED BY CHAOS. ALMOST HOME.

This series was suggested to me, and I decided that it sounded great. I took Across the Universe with me on vacation and devoured it. It was nice and refreshing. I’m not usually big into the space scene (unless it’s Star Wars), but this was definitely nice for something different. Sometimes as a stay at home mom, I feel like Amy felt on Godspeed. There are times that I feel trapped and isolated behind walls. It really felt that way this past week after a straight week of rain with a whiny toddler who is missing his daddy. I can’t imagine being stuck in space. At least when I feel trapped here, I can step out in the rain for a few seconds just to catch a breath of fresh air.

As a parent, I can’t imagine having to face the choice Amy’s parents did. They were so ready to go to the new planet, but didn’t fully realise (at least it felt that way to me) what they were asking teenage Amy to give up. She’s a high schooler, she doesn’t know what’s out there for her. I know I wouldn’t want to be separated from my children, but I would want to help decide what is best for them. Even though the prospect seems horrible, I believe I wouldn’t put my children in a situation to have to choose between me and the world they’d be leaving behind. Hopefully, I will never be in that situation.

It seemed so strange in reading that the people of Godspeed didn’t seem to be that advanced. You would think three hundred years in the future, the intelligence level would be higher, not lower. Yes, the technology has advanced, but the people are no where remotely more advanced. the discovery of why they behave the way they do is incredible. A drug that keeps them docile and submissive. It also intrigued me how they were all monoethnic and zero diversity. I was excited to read through the series to see if the reason behind this would be explained.

When I started A Million Suns, I got distracted with the Matched series and ended up not reading for a while. I reread the part I had read and it quickly went by to the end. I was advised to have Shades of Earth on hand for when I finished. I’m very glad I heeded this advice.

The discovery that they were already at their destination was a HUGE surprise. I had an inkling that was where things were going, but I wasn’t expecting it. I was very excited to see how Revis would display this new world. I was pleased and displeased with it. I was hoping for something vastly different from Earth. Pink grass or something like that would’ve been a nice throw in.

It was great getting to meet the “Frozens,” but I was a bit disappointed with the portrayal of Amy’s father. He was the stereotypical soldier. As a military wife, I know that not all military personnel are like this. I feel if he’d been a bit more personable, his actions would’ve made more sense. But that’s just me as a military wife. Amy’s mother seemed a bit blase too. Just their personalities made them seem like an odd fit and strange that they had a child. They both appeared much too attached to their professions to have wanted a family. Don’t get me wrong, I used to be the type that was career hell or high water before a family. My priorities changed. I just seems to me that people with this personality set usually don’t have kids. They do appear like a close family in a way. I dunno. the family dynamic just felt off to me a bit.

Not wanting to spoil the ending (I want you to read it for yourself!), that plot twist was HUGE. It blew my mind and was fantastically done. I was hoping things would be explained and it was laid out just like I was hoping. I’m sad I came into the series after it was finished, but the cliffhanger between two and three, I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle a year wait! I will definitely read this again!