Thursday, January 17, 2013

Shades of Earth: Review

The stunning finale of the bestselling Across The Universe trilogy by Beth Revis!

Synopsis:

The final book in the  New York Times bestselling trilogy, perfect for fans of Battlestar Galactica and Prometheus!

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 Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.


***

This book is beyond awesome. It's PERFECT. Much, much better than A Million Suns. There are so many great parts about this book. And the only little flaw about the book is the slow starting. 

The plot is finely made and excellent. Beth Revis is surely a genius. She can link the whole Phydus thing to the hybrids in Centauri-Earth. She can link the clues from Orion and the way to save themselves together. And the solar-powered weapons are just plain awesome. Those crazy ideas are plain crazy. But a really good kind of crazy. How can you not love a book with every thread finely knit?

The plot twists are awesome. First is the whole pteros and mind-numbing purple flowers, which is... predicted because of the synopsis. But then there's the murdered. Which is confusing at first. And then their shuttle is destroyed. By what the humans called "aliens", which is a very nice plot twist. And there's the whole Orion's secret, which is surprising. And then Chris is found a traitor. Infuriating, yes. Because I kind of like that guy at first. But an awesome twist. Who knows a nice guy is the humans' enemy? And then the "aliens" are actually humans/hybrids. Very weird. This is a hell of a ride.

The relationships between characters in the book is complicated, yet all have their problems and their personality is very clear. Amy is not like the girl in Across The Universe. She's much more determined, and will do anything to save her parents and Elder. Elder becomes more matured in the book too. A true leader of the shipborns (grins). And then there's Amy's father, which can be pissy and annoying sometimes but always fierce. And there's Chris, which is a nice guy at first, and then stab-worthy with all his cruel words and excuses. Complicated, yes. But that's another thing making the book so awesome. Their personality is very clear. You can easy pick up one of them.

The threats are greater than ever, and the missions become more... impossible. First with the whole pteros thing, which is bad enough. And then "aliens" who are constantly attacking them. And then there's the whole hybrid thing. And Amy is forced to become one of them. And then there's the whole destroying-the-space-station mission, which Elder miraculously comes back. All with really good endings, especially the peace treaty. Zane's a really good guy, by the way. At least better than Chris.

The book ends with an HEA. Which is how I predict it will be. But I still can't stop my grin from cracking up on my face. Come on, even though Elder is jealous sometimes, he's really a sweet guy. And Amy is a really good girl. They surely deserve a happy ending after the mess happened in BOTH Godspeed and Centauri-Earth. 

I wanna read Shards and Ashes, because I wanna know how Orion knows about all the mess in Centauri-Earth. (The short story written by Beth Revis in Shards and Ashes is about Orion's past. Squee!)

Even though the trilogy has already ended, anyone who hasn't read Across The Universe should definitely read it. It's worth your time to soak up into that trilogy. Beth Revis's crazy ideas will stun you. And Shades of Earth is the perfect finale for the trilogy.

Rating: 9.5/10

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