Across the Universe by Beth Revis Review

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Across the Universe #1

Published by Razorbill

Summary: 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 of 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.

Review:

To be completely honest, I was not all that excited to read this book. I wasn't all that drawn in to the plot and it didn't seem like the genre of book I enjoy reading most of the time.

I particularly liked Amy because she was a brave, bold and fearless character. She was more of the heroine then the damsel in distress ; saving the male rather then being saved. Amy was "unplugged" 49 years before landing, and is forced to live with a society of people with no feelings, emotions and animal-like behavior. While she is slowly trying to adjust to her new life she tries to unravel the mystery of why she was unplugged. I was just as frustrated and angry as Amy was, reading into her thoughts and what she was seeing; abnormal behavior being done from mindless drones that lives on every word Eldest says. Elder was one of those rare male characters that I enjoyed. Although he was the soon to be leader, after Eldest, and was supposed to lead how Eldest led, he was bold like Amy and lived for justice instead of power, even if it meant defying the person that raised him since a child.

I thought it was a great idea to write the story in both Amy and Elder's point of views instead of only Amy's or Elder's or even third person narrative. It made the story that much better getting to know the characters better and their feelings. At some parts, like introducing the ship and the past slightly made me lose interest. I would put the book down, and when I felt like reading I would pick up this book with doubt. Although, I'm glad I got to finish it. Near the end it seemed like the puzzle was even more incomplete because of all the twists in the plot. It was definitely my favorite part because it made me excited and curious to figure out the puzzle.

Overall, I'm glad that I tried a new genre that I didn't expect to read... like ever. This was a more then satisfactory novel that left me pleasantly surprised.

Rating: 3.5/5

Cover: 7/10

First Sentence: Daddy said, " Let mom go first."

What the Author's Up To: Goodreads//Blog//Website//Twitter//Facebook//Tumblr

In My Mailbox (14)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren

Library:

Nevermore (Nevermore #1) by Kelly Creagh

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelope #2) by Maureen Johnson

Popular by Alissa Grosso

Supernaturally (Paranormalcy #2) by Kiersten White

Another Faust (Another #1) by Daniel & Dina Nayeri

Oh. My. Gods (Oh. My. Gods #1) by Tera Lynn Child

Wondrous Strange (Wondrous Strange #1) by Lesley Livingston

The Book of Spells (Private #0.5) by Kate Brian

Wicked (Pretty Little Liars #5) by Sara Shepard

The Iron Witch (The Iron Witch #1) by Karen Mahoney

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

The Ghost and the Goth (The Ghost and the Goth #1) by Stacey Kade

What did you get in your mailbox?

Radiance by Alyson Noel Review

Radiance by Alyson Noel

Riley Bloom #1

Release Date: August 31, 2010

Published by: Square Fish

Format: Paperback, 183 pages

Summary: Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife- a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When she's summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who's definitely hiding something. They return to eath together for Riley's first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley...

Review:

•I was really excited to read this book because I always loved reading people going on missions and trying to solve things.

•The environment and surroundings was described vividly. I felt like I was right there with Riley.

•I didn't really like Riley's personality because she was really stuck up and cocky. I sometimes wanted to slap her and remind her that the world didn't revolve around her.

•Some minor things... in a way... it was a little hard to believe that you were reading into Riley's thoughts because of the use of big vocabulary. Honestly, you're not gonna find an eleven year old using words used by teachers.

• I was a little disappointed that their mission was resolved so quickly because of a long introduction to the book. The conclusion to Riley's mission was very rushed and hard to believe. There were gaps in between that weren't filled because the story had to conclude.

•Really interested to read the second book of the Riley Bloom series. I wonder what's going to happen next... Perhaps Riley changes into a more likable character...

• This book had fewer pages from the books I normally read, but I liked that I could finish this quickly. Sometimes it's good to read a short book when you're often reading books with 30+ chapters.

• I recommend checking this book out from the library first before you make a decision to purchase it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Cover: 8/10

First Sentence: Most people think that death is the end.

What the Author's Up To: Goodreads//Blog//Facebook//Twitter//Myspace

Follow Friday (12)

Follow Friday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Parajunkee and AlisonCanRead.


This week's feature is Peggy at Pawing Through Books
Be sure to follow her!!
Follow Friday's question this week is: Q. Go count the number of unread books sitting on your shelf. How many? A. Around 32. I have some unread library books, some eBooks and majority books from my shelf. I always make my library books first in line to read because they have a due date... Hehe. I always tell myself that I should start reading the books on my shelf but I just never came around to it.

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors REVIEW

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors

Published July 21st, 2009 by Walker & Company

Format: Hardcover, 276 pages

Source: Library

Summary: From the author of Saving Juliet comes a romantic comedy that is good to the last drop. When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother's coffee shop, she decides to leave him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over. Little does she know that this random act of kindness is about to turn her life upside down. Because this adorable vagrant, Malcolm, is really a guardian angel on a break between missions. And he won't leave until he can reward Katrina's selflessness by fulfilling her deepest desire. Now if only she could decide what that might be...

Review:

I've gotta say, this book definitely surprised me... I didn't expect I would love this book so much. But this novel really touched me in a way that made my heart warm every time I read those touching moments... kinda like when you're drinking coffee...

Katrina is an average girl in high school, going through life like it's a routine... until she starts to learn more about Malcolm. Things start to change, in ways she never thought possible. Especially falling in love with an angel that might have feelings for her. Even though clues that Malcolm was an angel were in front of her face, Katrina still couldn't believe that Malcolm was an angel. How could she? The chances of getting to see an angel on earth are slim. Throughout the book, while you were reading you were also watching Katrina grow and mature from the beginning of the book. At the beginning, she was more of a shadow of her friends then a leader, but when she went through so many traumatic experiences it made her stronger which made her realize what she truly wanted and her ambition, and that's what made her become a great leader and problem solver. I really liked Malcolm's personality, although I suppose I was meant to, since he is an angel. He was a funny character, since he was an angel, it was hard to him to come down to earth to familiarize himself with our habits and... diet. And especially because he could get away with a lot of the things normal people couldn't.

In the beginning this didn't really spark my interests because there wasn't anything that caught my attention. A couple of chapters in, things really started to get interesting. For me, the ending was definitely unpredictable. I expected it to end with what might have been the obvious answer; angel's have to leave as soon as they're finished with their business. Then BAM! a twist! A surprising yet delightful twist! When I thought the book would end with a sad ending, I was a little sad myself, and was hoping there might be a sequel to Coffeehouse Angel. But because of the happy ending, I was content and satisfied and glad it ended the way it did.

Rating: 5/5

Cover: 5/10

First Sentence: The first time I saw him, he was lying in the alley behind my grandmother's coffeehouse.

What the Author's Up To: Goodreads//Website