A Million Suns by Beth Revis

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

BOOK REVIEW: A Million Suns by Beth Revis

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

Across the Universe by Beth Rees

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

BOOK REVIEW: Across the Universe by Beth Rees

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

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Book: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Genre: fantasy, popular, sci-fi

World War Z takes place after zombies nearly wiped out the human race.  It reads like a documentary–a series of interviews conducted with different people who agreed to talk about their experiences in the zombie war.  You read the perspective of the country leaders, as they learned and reacted to the epidemic, but there are also interviews from normal citizens, who became unusual by surviving.  You’ll also read interviews from soldiers who fought the zombies, and the people who came up with the final solution.  It is not your average zombie book, and though I haven’t seen the movie, I hear that the movie is completely different from the book.

First of all, are zombies fantasy or sci-fi or some other genre that I don’t know about?  I’ve been trying to figure this out for ages.  Secondly, I want to say–books like this are the best reason you’ll ever find for joining a book club.  World War Z was chosen in my Hawaii bookclub, and I have to say that I don’t know if I would have gotten around to reading it without book club.  I had heard about it and filed it in the back of my brain under, “Oh yeah, that would probably be cool to read someday.”  But y’all know me… or at least my book choices.  Zombie books are rarely at the top of my reading list.  And if it wasn’t for book club, I probably would have never read this book.

When I found out it was a zombie book, I was expecting to be biting my nails, sitting on the edge of my seat, and jumping at weird sounds in the night–yet somehow unable to look away.  (I know this because the same affliction assails me every time a new season of The Walking Dead hits Netflix, lol)  I wasn’t really looking forward to that.  World War Z was not like any zombie movie/book I’ve seen before.  It’s written from a very cold perspective.  Maybe not cold, but emotionally drained.  You get the sense that these people–the interviewees–are just completely drained from the zombie war.  They talk about it, but they’re tired of it, they’re glad it’s mostly over, and they’re ready to pick up the pieces of their lives and try to find some normal again.

I thought it was a really unique book, and an interesting take on the zombie fad that’s going on right now.  It didn’t scare you off your seat, but it was a really engaging read.  Even though you heard the perspectives of a bunch of different people, it was fairly easy to identify with the different people.  I haven’t read a book written in this style before, and certainly not a zombie book!

If you enjoy the various zombie books and movies, you will probably enjoy this book.  It’s a different side of the zombie feuds, but it’s well written and interesting.  If you think you might enjoy reading a zombie book, but you don’t want to be scared spitless, this is also the book for you.  Lastly, if you’ve watched World War Z, you should definitely read this book, simply because I am a firm believer in always reading the book that a movie was based on.

My rating: 4 out 5 stars

Parents guide:

This is not written as a children’s book.  Some of the interviewees use more expletives and sexual innuendos than others.  I would recommend reading it yourself and deciding from there whether it is appropriate for your child.

BOOK REVIEW: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Book: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Genre: fantasy, popular, sci-fi

World War Z takes place after zombies nearly wiped out the human race.  It reads like a documentary–a series of interviews conducted with different people who agreed to talk about their experiences in the zombie war.  You read the perspective of the country leaders, as they learned and reacted to the epidemic, but there are also interviews from normal citizens, who became unusual by surviving.  You’ll also read interviews from soldiers who fought the zombies, and the people who came up with the final solution.  It is not your average zombie book, and though I haven’t seen the movie, I hear that the movie is completely different from the book.

First of all, are zombies fantasy or sci-fi or some other genre that I don’t know about?  I’ve been trying to figure this out for ages.  Secondly, I want to say–books like this are the best reason you’ll ever find for joining a book club.  World War Z was chosen in my Hawaii bookclub, and I have to say that I don’t know if I would have gotten around to reading it without book club.  I had heard about it and filed it in the back of my brain under, “Oh yeah, that would probably be cool to read someday.”  But y’all know me… or at least my book choices.  Zombie books are rarely at the top of my reading list.  And if it wasn’t for book club, I probably would have never read this book.

When I found out it was a zombie book, I was expecting to be biting my nails, sitting on the edge of my seat, and jumping at weird sounds in the night–yet somehow unable to look away.  (I know this because the same affliction assails me every time a new season of The Walking Dead hits Netflix, lol)  I wasn’t really looking forward to that.  World War Z was not like any zombie movie/book I’ve seen before.  It’s written from a very cold perspective.  Maybe not cold, but emotionally drained.  You get the sense that these people–the interviewees–are just completely drained from the zombie war.  They talk about it, but they’re tired of it, they’re glad it’s mostly over, and they’re ready to pick up the pieces of their lives and try to find some normal again.

I thought it was a really unique book, and an interesting take on the zombie fad that’s going on right now.  It didn’t scare you off your seat, but it was a really engaging read.  Even though you heard the perspectives of a bunch of different people, it was fairly easy to identify with the different people.  I haven’t read a book written in this style before, and certainly not a zombie book!

If you enjoy the various zombie books and movies, you will probably enjoy this book.  It’s a different side of the zombie feuds, but it’s well written and interesting.  If you think you might enjoy reading a zombie book, but you don’t want to be scared spitless, this is also the book for you.  Lastly, if you’ve watched World War Z, you should definitely read this book, simply because I am a firm believer in always reading the book that a movie was based on.

My rating: 4 out 5 stars

Parents guide:

This is not written as a children’s book.  Some of the interviewees use more expletives and sexual innuendos than others.  I would recommend reading it yourself and deciding from there whether it is appropriate for your child.