Across The Universe Review

I finally finished Across the Universe, by my friend Beth Revis. It's been over six months now since I read that powerful first chapter, and I want to share with all of you how much I enjoyed this book.

Before I get to the story, I want to talk about the level of production and design that went into this novel. I'm a bit of a detail and design freak, so I noticed some special things in this book. And I'm not talking about the cover. Sure, the cover is beautiful, and it's reversible too, which is pretty amazing. But the cover has been oohed and ahhed over before. Not that it doesn't deserve it, but I'm not going to go into that here.

I have two hardcover copies of this book. One I bought on the release day, and the other Beth signed and sent to me as a very kind thank you for my launch day post. Except for the signature they're both the same. The cover of the book has an embossed symbol, kind of a stylized Eagle:

Beneath it says GODSPEED OS v1.2. This is not something you often see on a book's cover, and I find it to be very unique, and extremely well done. Next, after the title page, there is a quote from the Lennon/McCartney hit song of the same title. Having owned a record label in the past, I know that you don't quote from a Beatles song without permission, and permission does not usually come free, or even cheap. I don't think the quote really changes the story much, but I think it says a lot about Razorbill/Penguin's opinion of the book, and how committed they were to making it a success.

Finally, once the story begins, the page layout is one of the most interesting I have ever seen. The chapter heading font, and the POV character font are both beautiful. Futuristic enough, but not cold or clinical. I'm not sure what font the normal text is typeset in, but it feels appropriate and there are several spots where different fonts come in to play to go along with specific situations. The title and page number headers are also beautiful, featuring a greyscale gradient background that gives just the right taste of technology.

Now on the the story.

I don't want to talk about the plot really, because at it's heart this story is a mystery, and it is full of wonderful twists and surprises that I don't want to ruin. I will only say that you will not be disappointed. Whether you like romance, whodunit, sci-fi, or adventure, there is something in this story for you.

It's often called a dystopian novel. In fact Beth is a member of The League of Extraordinary Writers, a group blog for published authors of dystopian fiction. I believe they all write YA as well, but I would have to double check that. I would argue that AtU is not exactly dystopian. I consider it more of a microcosm of dystopia. I mean the ship certainly has elements of that kind of society, and the Sol-Earth they left behind sounds like it was probably pretty far gone, but it works even better, in my opinion, because the population of the ship is so small by the time the story begins that you don't get overwhelmed by the idea of this society which cannot possibly be resisted. I thought the whole thing worked very well.

There are two main POV characters, Amy, and Elder, and they contrast each other interestingly, as well as going together perfectly at the same time. I won't go too deeply into things, because again I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that Amy and Elder start out at the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to knowledge of, and trust in, the society aboard Godspeed, and it sets up their relationship in an excellent way.

The writing reminds me a lot of Suzanne Collins. It is direct, without a lot of flowing or detailed description, and yet Beth seems to have that same gift of saying so much with so few words. Here is a passage I found particularly intriguing:

Steela catches my eyes with her cloudy ones, the color of milk mixed with mud. She looks warily at me for a moment more, then her wrinkled lips spread into an even wrinklier smile. Her teeth are stained and crooked, and I can smell onions on her breath, but still it's a nice smile. It's a true smile.

It's subtle, sure, but the strength of meaning is there, veiled by the power of simplicity. Beth writes very well for young adults because she conveys powerful ideas without getting things too complicated, and yet there is still enough high concept thematic background that I never once felt bored or lead on, or like she was trying too hard.

This really is a Universal book that will appeal to just about any reader. Well done Beth! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am so happy to bear witness to your success.

I know most of you have already read this, but if you haven't, get it. Now. You won't regret it.