First-Impression Friday: Across the Universe

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.

Title: The title Across the Universe certainly isn’t bad. It immediately gives you the idea that this story is Sci-fi and probably takes place on a spaceship. While I think it’s not really that interesting, it gives a great feel for the story.

Cover: So many people have said they absolutely loved the cover, but it wasn’t until I actually got the book in my hands that I saw why. I never understood why it had the random squiggly pink stuff… then when I actually go the book I saw that it’s the black part that’s important. I’m so blind… Anyways, I think this cover is really original and inventive, as well as fitting the book perfectly.

Pitch: First off, I’ve always loved the idea of freezing people to make a long universe-crossing adventure. Then having the main character wake up fifty years early was genius, especially since her parents are still ‘sleeping,’ so whenever they wake up she’ll be older than them. And the idea that it wasn’t just an accident that she woke up, that someone tried to murder her… This is an excellent premise.

First Sentence: Daddy said, “Let Mom go first.”

This isn’t bad, but I’m not sure it’s as strong as it could be. It gives me a question, ‘Go first in what? Why does he want Mom to go first?’ but it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with them travelling across the universe. It does nicely start in the middle of things, though.

First Chapter: This was one great first chapter. Amy and her parents are getting frozen, so Beth Revis describes the process in detail. Her writing is so descriptive that I was squirming through the whole chapter. So early on in the book Amy’s given a terrible choice, which lets us know so much about her as a person. We’re also given a tantalizing tidbit that should hopefully become a major plot point in the story.

Overall: I can’t think of anything I really don’t like about the packaging of this story. Maybe the title could ‘pop’ just a little more, but aside from that everything’s great. 

IMM: Week of Dystopia (again!)

Anyone who's been reading this blog for awhile will know that I love dystopia, so I was super excited to have a week of virtually all dystopia, as well as a random contemporary and a paranormal romance thrown in there for some variety. Like last week, I've actually already read most of these books but I'll do the IMM post anyways. :)

I really didn't know what to expect from this book, and even a week after finishing it I'm still not sure what I though about it. It was both disgusting and completely scary... I don't regret reading it, but I won't read it again.

I did a First Impression post on this awhile back, and after some though I've decided not to read it. I was never too keen on the paranormal romance aspect, and I really don't care for the writing. I don't have enough time to waste on a book I don't think I'll like. 

This book is almost like someone decided to write a combination of my favourite genres: dysopia, Sci-fi, mystery... I absolutely loved the plot. A new favourite. 

I read this virtually in one sitting since it's so short. It wasn't as good as I was expecting, but Gayle Foreman is certainly a good writer and I look forward to reading Where She Went.

After enjoying Incarceron I'm looking forward to reading this sequel. I've read the first fifty pages and I think the beginning is even better than the previous book. I just hope the plot twists hold up. 

So, there you  have it. None of these are absolute favourites, but Across the Universe was quite good and I have high hopes for Sapphique. Have you read any of these books? Do you want me to post a review for any of these soon?