Beth Revis

I have been seriously searching out Dystopian YA for a few months now. I like the thought of another/alternate world, so after reading a few reviews for Across the Universe, I had to get my hands on it.

I was expecting a romance between the two main characters, but in there really wasn't. There was a lot of hinting that Elder ( weird to call someone that) was in love/lust with Amy, but there really wasn't anything else, and you didn't get too much from Amy on her feelings. Though that is understandable, seeing as she is awoken on a ship that she was never supposed to see.
The story switches POVs just about every chapter and at times this would confuse me, and I had trouble following along with the book and would have to go back just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
The character that I really liked in the book "dies" and after that I had a hard time continuing to read, but after struggling through the more sci-fi than dystopian story I knew that if I didn't finish the last 100 or so pages I was going to be left with more questions than I already had.
Across the Universe is well written, but like I said, it reads more of a Sci-fi than YA Dystopian like I thought. First we start off with Amy and her parents being Frozen for 300 years so that they can help set up the new planet they are being sent to. First off, I don't care how bad life here on earth gets.. I don't want to be frozen!!! And secondly, why would you want your child to go through that?
From there we switch POVs with Amy ( remember she is frozen) and Elder, who is aboard Godspeed ( the Ship). You get to be inside Amy's mind while she realizes that her body is frozen but not her mind, so that is a little scary in itself! And when meeting Elder, you start to wonder why he just blindly obeys.
After Amy is unfrozen ( by whom we don't know) and she is saved, her and Elder form a semi friendship, she meets Harley, Doc and Eldest ( scary DUDE!!), Needless to say, after realizing that everyone aboard the ship looks almost just alike Amy starts to feel like more of an outcast, and then more Frozens are being unplugged and it becomes a race to find out who is doing it. Without giving too much away, know that in the end, we find out who was doing it and a little tid-bit about Amy's unfreezing that we didn't know.
The ending was very abrupt in my opinion and as much as it pains me, I am waiting for the second book to come out so I can figure out how Amy and Elder are going to handle everything that they found out.… (more)

1 star for the cover and 1 star because it is Han and Leia.

Where should I begin? I was hoping for the witty bantering between Han and Leia. All I got was a flat conversation between the two that felt so forced and 2 dimensional.

The plot was Bespin. Just fleshed out, but still a recycling of plot points in the original trilogy. And a lot of miscommunication between Han and Leia tiptoeing around each other.

Luke did not even feel authentic at the beginning of the novel.

I had to keep reminding myself this is after the battle of Yavin, and emotions are running high . . . Danger is seen everywhere.

I liked:

The wedding on Endor.
Leia is working through the acceptance that she is Vader's daughter.
Han, trying to figure out how he will fit into his wife's political career.

This novel could have been at least 150 pages less than it is. It read very young adults. I felt this is a weak entry to Star Wars and a prelude to what had happened in the sequel trilogy - the separation of Han and Leia.… (more)