Review: A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date:  January 10th, 2012

Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. It’s been three months. In that time, Amy has learned to hide who she is. Elder is trying to be the leader he’s always wanted to be. But as the ship gets more and more out of control, only one thing is certain: They have to get off the ship.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I didn't really think A Millions Suns could be better than its amazingly good predecessor, Across the Universe.  I was actually pretty worried about my high expectations of this book, and whether it could possibly measure up.  When an author makes such an outstanding debut, they often have somewhat of a sophomore slump...  I can tell you with certainty, that there was none of that here.  A Million Suns was PHENOMENAL!

This book starts off right where Across the Universe left off, and it starts with a HUGE, and entirely unexpected reveal.  Elder finds out something is really wrong and has to find a way to remedy it, all while being seen by a lot of the population as not necessarily prepared for his duties.  Add to that his ever-growing relationship with Amy, whom everyone views as a freak; people are not sure of his leadership ability and low rumbles of mutiny begin to emerge.  BUT...  Orion had other plans for Godspeed and those who live on her, and even from his frozen state, he begins to lead Amy to the truth through a series of clues.  As the clues are uncovered, the surprises keep coming, each more shocking than the one before.  A Million Suns is full of action and intrigue right up until the end.  That said, this book has so much more than the plot and pacing going for it.

The characters were mostly the same as those in Across the Universe, but we learned so much more about each of them.  Beth Revis has a gift for character development; she writes everyone with such depth that often I find myself not able to hate people who do hateful things, or like people who are generally good.  When you learn of the reasons behind the actions of certain characters, you understand, and find it difficult to judge.  That's good character writing!

If you read MY REVIEW of Across the Universe, you know that I loved Beth's world-building, and it was no different in this book.  As the reader, you will become immersed in the world that these people live in; you understand why some people want to stay on Godspeed and others, like Amy, are desperate to get off.

Overall, I felt like this book was better than Across the Universe.  I hope Beth Revis has a great story for the third book, Shades of Earth, because my expectations are higher than ever.  That said, after her sophomore home-run, I am not in slightest bit worried.  She's a pro!  I predict that come December, A Million Suns will have no problem making my Top 25 Books of 2012 list!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ +

Grade Level Recommendation:  As with Across the Universe, which I recommended as grades 7 and up, there is some sexual content (rape/attempted rape).  There is more violence in this book as well, as the seeds of revolution and mutiny are sown, including several murders.  Even so, these things are tastefully handled so as not to become inappropriate for the audience this book is intended for.  This could very well be taken seriously as Adult Sci-Fi, but for its intelligence, not content.  It stand by my conservative 7th grade+ recommendation from the 1st book (ages 12+), however I would not rule out allowing a well-read, mature 5th or 6th grader to read it (my daughter, 10, has).

Review & Giveaway: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: January 11th, 2011

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.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

So-- this is my first giveaway and I decided to make it a DOOZY!  I loved this book so very much, and had the opportunity to get a copy signed at the Decatur Book Festival a couple of weeks ago, so I decided that I should give it away with my review.  Nice of me, huh?  But first, the review...

As I mentioned, I LOVED this book.  I actually "read" it twice; once by turning pages, the old fashioned way, and once by listening to the audio.  It was great the first time and even better the second.  It is one of my favorite books of 2011, and I cannot WAIT to read A Million Suns when it comes out (January 10th, 2012).  Want to know why?  Here's a list (in no particular order):

• The World Building~ Can you say descriptive? Beth Revis does an absolutely amazing job of giving you the impression that you've actually been on the ship, Godspeed.  The details are phenomenal; when I was reading it I could truly imagine the magnitude of the vessel and the virtual planet within.  When I found out at DBF that she had not actually diagrammed Godspeed during the writing of the book, I was blown away!  These details were all in her imagination!  Amazing!  When I went on the (super-cool) website, I was even more impressed because the artist renderings of the ship were so close to what I pictured.
• The Cover~ I know that the cover doesn't really speak anything to the quality of a book, but I am a total cover-whore, so I have to mention it... Okay, purple and black are my favorite colors, so I might be biased, but I love the cover of this book. It's actually what drew me to pick up the book in the first place.  I had never heard of Beth Revis, and the Sci-Fi genre is usually hit or miss for me, so thank you Penguin/Razorbill for picking a kick-ass cover!
• The Characters/Story~ I already gushed about Revis's world building, so let me carry on about the characters and the story.  I will first say that I don't always love books that have alternating character POV; it has to be done just right, otherwise my simple mind gets confused.  Beth Revis totally pulls it off, and then some.  Because Amy and Elder are SO very different, not only do the alternating POVs work, but they are essential to the story.  I felt like the book was more about Amy than Elder, but without Elder we wouldn't know anything about Godspeed or the years since Amy was frozen; he introduces characters and nearly all the major plot points. We don't meet many characters in the book, but the ones we do meet are so well done.  We get an idea of who they are, but we get to know them slowly, like we would if we were getting to know someone in real life.  I didn't like everyone, but I felt like, by the end of the book, I knew what made each character tick and I understood their motivations.  Amy and Elder, were so complex and I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must have been to write them so well,  Even harder, I imagine, was Eldest, the "leader" of their civilization.  As much as I wanted to dislike him, I just couldn't.  His reasoning and motivation for much of what he did was sound.  I won't give spoilers, because I want everyone to read this, but there were so many plot twists that I never saw coming.  I think anyone claiming to have seen them coming is a total liar!  The story moves so fluidly, never hanging up or making the reader need to go back and say, "Where the hell did THAT come from?".  This doesn't bode well for those who want to walkaway to do things like shower and eat, but I happen to like thrive on unputdownable books, so this fact made me happy!  Finally, I have to commend Beth Revis for not making the story revolve around romance.  Yes, there is a romantic element, but it's very real and not the focus of the story (because really, who in their right mind lets their love life define their existence), which in my mind, is a good thing.

All in all, this book is a must-read for YA lovers.  It is Science Fiction because of it being set in space and the future and all that, but it is much more than that.  It is a dystopia and it is a commentary on human nature.  I think even those who aren't typically a Sci-Fi lovers will enjoy this book.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★+ 

Grade Level Recommendation:  This one is a tough call.  There is a lot sex, but it's not "We're kids in love, let's have sex." sex, it's mating on an almost primal level.  To me it's not any different than witnessing one dog humping another, but parents and teachers might disagree with me.  There is also an attempted rape (mainly because of the way this society sees sex as mating) and several murders.  Even with that element, I personally don't see it as inappropriate content for middle-schoolers because of the context.  I would say this is fine for ages 12+ (7th grade+), but I would say it cautiously and say that this might be a read-before-your kid-reads-it-if you're-concerned.

Now for the GIVEAWAY!

Win a signed hardcover copy of this FABULOUS book!

It's really simple.  You must be 13 years old or older.  You must be a follower.  You must be in the US or Canada.  You must fill out the form.

This giveaway will run through Tuesday, September 20th (11:59 pm EST).  I will notify the winner via email on Wednesday.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.  If I don't hear back I will choose another.

WWW (9) and Waiting on Wednesday (July 27th, 2011) Double Feature

W. W. W. Wednesday is hosted by Should Be Reading a great YA blog that I subscribe to. Here's how it works... Each Wednesday I will answer the following questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

I know you've missed me, but never fear! I'm all refreshed from my vacation (not really, I had all three kids with me, but we can pretend) and getting full on back into the swing of things. As you may have read on my earlier post, I've read a bunch of great books while I was gone and am super-excited to review them. If you want to see what they were, go ahead and click HERE. Now for this week's bookish news...

What are you currently reading?

Everfound by (the GREAT) Neal Shusterman~ Amazing. As awesome as I predicted it would be. Bittersweet, as it's the final book in the trilogy. Review will be up as soon as I finish.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi~ I don't know why I've put off reading this so long. Very,VERY good. For once, I get why a book has won so many awards.

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs~ This is a re-read. I am reading it to my daughter, who I love almost as much as Tera Lynn's books. (Just kidding! I love my daughter a little bit more!)



What did you recently finish reading?

Possession by Elana Johnson~ Looking forward to posting my review on this one, so look for it in the next day or two.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott~ Absolutely painful to read. So horrifying. Well written, but the story was just gut-wrenching.




What do you think you'll read next?

Graveminder by Melissa Marr~ I've been waiting on this from the library for awhile, and I just got my notification that it is waiting for me. Yay!

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer~ I loved Nightshade and have been anxiously awaiting the release of this book. It's finally here!

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce~ A re-read to prepare for the release of Sweetly (August 23rd).

"Waiting On" Wednesday is another fun blog event. Hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, this event gives us a chance to talk about the books we anxiously await the release of. Since there is ALWAYS a looooooong list of books I'm waiting on (I actually keep a spreadsheet), I figured this is one that I MUST do.


I really can't believe that 2011 is more than half over! I was perusing my spreadsheet for this week's post and realized that 3/4 of the books on my list have already been released. My 2012 list is well underway, and that's just scary to me! Where does the time go? Anyway, here is my WoW for this week; an almost-2012 release...

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet.

Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM.

Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future.

Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I thought Thirteen Reasons Why was brilliant, and I am so glad Jay Asher has something new coming out. I've not read anything his collaborator, Carolyn Mackler, has written, but I plan to while I wait for this release. One of the draws of this book, for me, is that I graduated high school in 1994 and I can totally envision this. When I started college, the internet was this little baby thing. There weren't blogs, there was no Google, and like the synopsis says, everyone got on with an AOL CD and a dial-up connection. And Facebook (to which I am now addicted)? Pfft! How things have changed! Anyway, I am really excited for this one! What are you excited for?

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: November 21st, 2011

My Expected Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★