Reviews with content warning for Rape - Across the Universe

3.85!

i won't give much details bec i feel like i'd be spoiling a lot 😆 but i have just a few things to say:

this book has spoken volume on many things which you should look out for when you read this. i liked beth revis' writing. the way it pulls the reader into and float in its deepness -- ironically, like the universe. definitely one of the books that leaves you thinking, not just about the book's direction but also about the question it's asking. (hmm) i was fascinated by the conflicts and the way it invites the reader to investigate, and think about their own stand. for others, the plot might be considered predictable, but for me, i was just really enjoying every part -- the confusion and the thrill of it all. i also find it unique how the diversity of the characters were intended. it showed how complex it is to be human regardless of origin.

for reference:

if you liked Passengers, Never Let Me Go, or even playing Among Us (lol) you might enjoy this.

but then, i believe this can be an important book that everyone might want to give this a try :-)

Content Warnings

megyeager's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

I really loved the plot twists throughout this book. Some of them I fully anticipated and some of them were a bit out of left field, though if I read it again, it would track with the story. This is very much a YA novel, the interactions of the two main characters is clearly how teens act. That being said, I'm not a teen and I think if I were a few years younger, this book would have been a bit more monumental in my development. The circumstances that brought this book to me make it special, and I don't want to forget it.

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hamletslover's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

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lisbet's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

While YA Dystopian SciFi is pretty much my favorite kind of books, this book has one major hurdle in the plot that keeps me from loving it.

When I watched the movie Passengers, I could not get past the fact that Chris Pratt’s character woke Jennifer Lawrence’s character without her consent - an irrevocable decision that couldn’t be undone and robbed her of the life and future she had chosen. This book uses the same situation to set off the plot, and that is something that cannot be glossed over. However, the author doesn’t dwell on this at all, and doesn’t allow Amy the anger and other emotional and relationship fall-out of that discovery, and in my opinion that is a huge cop-out on the author’s part. This is largely responsible for my not being able to give the book a higher rating.

But even when you overlook that, there are still issues that keep this book from being great. For me another huge flaw is how the author approaches the topic of sexual assault.

The attempted gang rape of the female protagonist (and its aftermath) is completely glossed over. Most infuriatingly of all, the leader of the assailants is not dealt with or punished in any way what-so-ever and completely disappears from the story afterwards. WTF?

One thing I’d love for the author to have explored in depth is Amy’s nightmares and dreams while she was in stasis. What caused them? Why did she have them if no one else who’d been in stasis before her hadn’t?

Some of the things I enjoyed was the discussion about what separates and defines sane vs. crazy, and the multitude of problems (both logistic and moral) of generational ships.

Like much YA SciFi, this is light on the science and there’s not much explanation for why the people are traveling across the universe to a new planet? Are they the only ones leaving earth? Are others going to the same planet? Other planets?

While I did have some problems with the book, I am planning to read the next book in the series

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xxkristii's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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