Review: Shades of Earth

Info: 
Title: Shades of Earth
Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #3
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: January 15, 2013
Source: Purchased

Synopsis:
Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn't the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. But each new discovery brings more danger. And if their colony collapses then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been meaningless...

Review:
Shades of Earth had a bit different feel than the previous two books, mostly because it's not set on Godspeed (ok, kind of a spoiler for the earlier books, but it's in the description of the book, so I'm going to say it's fair game). Amy and Elder's relationship faces some new challenges in this book, as they are in a new environment and have new pressures.

Amy pissed me off a bit in this one. Mostly because she would kind of/sort of flirt with Chris a bunch, which annoyed me a lot. Elder was still a pretty sweet guy who I like quite a bit.

One issue this book addresses is the tendency for humans to not accept those that are not like them. I would like to believe that by the time this book is set in, we would be over that, but I think the division Beth Revis creates between the ship-born and the Earth-born is actually pretty realistic.

There's a pretty big twist towards the end of this one and I completely did not see it coming. Once explained though, I think it's a bit unrealistic that only one of the other characters would have figured out that something was up.

Across the Universe was definitely my favourite book in this series and Shades of Earth, while not as strong, was still a good read and a good ending to the series.

\

Find the Book:

Goodreads | Amazon    | The Book Depository | Chapters

Find the Authors:

Goodreads | Web | Twitter | Facebook

Review: The Body Electric

Info: 
Title: The Body Electric
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Scriptuient Books
Publication Date: October 6, 2014
Source: Purchased.

Synopsis:
The future world is at peace.

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift--the ability to enter people's dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother--to help others relive their happy memories.

But not all is at it seems.

Ella starts seeing impossible things--images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience--and influence--the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love--even though Ella's never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing...

Someone's altered her memory.

Ella's gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn't even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella's head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.

So who can she trust?

Review:
It's been a few days and I'm still trying to sort out how I feel about this book. The concepts introduced are interesting, but they are pretty out there. What I mean is this is some pretty hard-core science fiction, even without spaceships. 

I found the story interesting and engaging and I did want to find out what was going on. Some things I thought were obvious to the reader long before Ella figured them out, but others took me by surprise.

I think my biggest issue was Ella herself. I just couldn't connect with her. I think it was because in the beginning, she fought so hard against what Jack was telling her, even though it was pretty obvious that something didn't add up. 

One thing I really did like were the small references to the Across the Universe series. This is by no means a sequel, but I liked seeing the little hints that let us know that this takes place in the same universe.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I feel pretty neutral about it. I will still read anything Beth Revis puts out though!


Find the Book:
 Goodreads | Amazon  | The Book Depository | Chapters

Find the Author: 
Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

Don't Just Take My Word For It:
The Eater of Books | Novel Heartbeat | The Young Folks

Bringing YA to You!

Have you ever wished that a big YA book tour would make a stop in your hometown? Well, here's your chance for that wish to come true! YA2U is a program that features five award-winning and best-selling authors who are holding a contest to see what city they should visit in an exclusive tour stop!

The authors are collecting votes from January 1 to February 15, and any city in the continental US or any Canadian city that has an international airport can win an exclusive visit from all five authors, including an author panel and book signing! Entering is super easy--and if you help spread the word about the contest, you can also enter win a signed copy of all of their books (TEN signed books in total!)--and the book contest is open internationally!

The authors in the program are:

• Marie Lu, the New York Times best-selling author of Legend and the upcoming Prodigy
• Marissa Meyer, the New York Times best-selling author of Cinder and the upcoming Scarlet
• Beth Revis, the New York Times best-selling author of Across the Universe, A Million Suns, and the upcoming Shades of Earth
• Victoria Schwab, author of The Near Witch and the highly- anticipated upcoming The Archived
• Megan Shepherd, author of the debut novel The Madman's Daughter

And they want to have an event in your home town! To participate, just got to the YA2U website and let them know what city you want them to come to. And while you're there, help spread the word about the contest and you can be entered to win all of their books--TEN signed books in total! 

Here's why the YA2U Team should come to MY hometown! 

I'm definitely voting for this tour to come to Edmonton, Alberta! My argument has three parts:

1. I live here! This reason is completely selfish, but also completely legit!
2. We have a strong blogging community. We even have an Edmonton Book Bloggers group, maintained by the awesome Kristilyn at Reading in Winter. Bloggers love authors, authors love bloggers. It's a match made in heaven!
3. We have a proven track record. The Smart Chicks Kick It tour came to Edmonton in September and it was a huge success! I think over 1000 people came to the signing! Beth Revis was there, so I hope she remembers how much Edmonton loves her! Plus she liked my shirt.

Why should the YA2U Team come to your hometown? Why not join in the fun today and share with others about this program and your hometown. The more votes your town gets, the closer you are to having your very own personal tour stop! Vote for YOUR town here!

And if you help spread the word, you can also participate in the book giveaway. Tell them that you learned about YA2U from me and we both get extra entries in the contest!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

First of all, can I just say Beth Revis is amazing? First of all, she was super nice when I met her at a book signing (she even said she liked my StarWars unicorns shirt - which is pretty awesome). Now, she's giving at FIFTY (50!) SIGNED BOOKS!!! Umm, wow. Make sure you enter!

In honour of this EPIC giveaway, I'm going to post on why I love YA books. I'm 24 years old, which some would say is too old to read YA. But really, they don't know what they're talking about .I've been reading YA for years and I guess I just never grew out of it.YA is great because it can be enjoyed by people of a variety of ages. I love YA because of the stories that are told and the fast pace of the action. I find a lot of literary fiction a bit slow for my taste.

For those reasons, I'm sure that I will be YA for Life! What about you? Are you a YA fan? Do you plan to be YA for Life? Should we start a club?

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Info:

Title: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication date: January 11, 2011

Blurb:

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.

My Thoughts:

I absolutely loved this book! It's the best book I've read in a long time and definitely one of my top picks! I loved this book in a way that makes it a little hard to write about it and say anything other than "READ IT!" But I'll try.

Let's start with the characters. I loved Amy and Elder so much! I loved seeing life on the ship through two very different sets of eyes. I can't imagine how difficult to wake up on your own in an entirely different society than you started in, so I could definitely empathize with Amy. Plus, I could relate to her well as a character. While I thought she was strong and proactive throughout the book, she had a few moments where she broke down a little bit, which is exactly what I would do. Spend a few minutes crying, then back to being kick-butt! I also really liked Elder and how he was able to grow throughout the story. He faces some major choices (between what is right and what is easy) and while he's not perfect, he's doing his best.

Hardback cover

The story in Across the Universe is so great and is what really set it apart for me. It's equal parts science fiction and mystery, which I found to be a very cool combination. There are so many plot twists and turns and just when you think you've got it all figured out, there's one last twist that I never saw coming. I was constantly guessing what was going on and overall I think I figured out about 1/4 of the ending.

The opening scene is amazing and creepy and scary all at the same time. I wasn't a huge fan of Amy's dreaming chapters, but other than that, this book was amazing and I want to recommend it to anyone and everyone!

On the Cover:

There's a few different covers around for this one. I have the paperback, so it has a different cover than the hardcover. The hardcover one confused me for the longest time until I realized it was two faces (I was only looking at small pictures and I'm kinda dense like that). While the hardcover is more unique, for that reason I prefer my paperback cover.

Rating: 5 hearts!

Source: Purchased (and signed!)

Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Find the Author: Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

Don't Just Take My Word For It: Reading in Winter | LC's Adventures in Libraryland | Stained Glass in the Night

What's Next (2)

 

What's Next is an awesome meme from Icey Books where I get to hear from you, the reads, about what I should read next. I've missed a few weeks, but I'm excited to start posting in What's Next on a weekly basis! This week is going to be for my signed but unread books from the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour.

1. Matched by Ally Condie 

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

2. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

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. 

3. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty - especially if they learn of her Sight - and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.
But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King, who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost — regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning twenty-first-century faery tale.

So, which is your pick?  

Megan Likes (New) Books (1)

I know that is has been ages since my last post showcasing my lovely new books. I've decided to start up my own post called Megan Likes (New) Books, which is based off of IMM, Book Haul and Stacking the Shelves.


Books Mentioned:
Anna Dressed In Blood - Kendare Blake
The Nine Lives of Chloe King - Liz Braswell
Wither - Lauren DeStefano
Delirium - Lauren Oliver
Glow - Amy Kathleen Ryan
Matched - Ally Condie
Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
Ink Exchange - Melissa Marr
Across the Universe - Beth Revis

Thanks for stopping by!