Review: A Million Suns by Beth Revis

23 February, 2012 Reviews 4 comments

Review: A Million Suns by Beth RevisA Million Suns by Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #2
Published by Razorbill Books on January 10th 2012
Pages: 386
Genres: Sci-Fi, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
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three-half-stars

Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed.

But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to act on his vision—no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder learns shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a mystery that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier. Their success—or failure—will determine the fate of the 2,298 passengers aboard Godspeed. But with each step, the journey becomes more perilous, the ship more chaotic, and the love between them more impossible to fight.

Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

I’ve been really eager to read A Million Suns for a while now. I’m a Sci-Fi geek and I’m not afraid to admit that.  (Hear that, Kennedy?! I’m owning that!) So I think, in a way, I am prone to getting swept away with this series. And just as with Across the Universe, I was immediately sucked into the story, walking around my house with my face glued to the book, sitting on the edge of my seat trying to figure out the mysteries surrounding Godspeed. Because if there is one thing Revis does right, it’s anticipation.

I struggled with deciding what to rate this book. On one hand I really liked it much better than Across the Universe, but on the other hand the ending let me down a bit. I suppose I should back track a bit and actually talk about the things I loved first. Be warned: the second half of the review will have spoilers.

The best part of the book was the plot and pacing. Elder is trying to maintain peace, but the people are making that very difficult. After being enslaved to Phydus for years, some are depressed, rebellious and paranoid. A few citizens prey on those emotions and cause doubt of Elder’s ability to lead the people. The result? Chaos and not the beautiful kind. This puts Amy in a very precarious situation because the people blame her for their downward spiral. But Amy and Elder have another issue to handle after Amy discovers Orion has left clues to the Godspeed‘s biggest secret. I really liked how it felt like the reader’s job to help Amy and Elder solve the mystery because this book is very fast paced. The sense of urgency is definitely there throughout the entire novel, never letting the reader catch his/her breath!

I also really liked the character growth from Elder. In Across the Universe he was very unsure of himself and for a moment he is that way in the beginning of A Million Suns, but you get to see him grow a back bone along with a matching pair of gonads. This made me really happy because let’s be honest, it was about freakin’ time! We also get a chance to see Amy work her way through the personal issue on how she feels about Elder. She struggles with this at first because she isn’t sure she is in love with him since they are the only two teenagers. She questions whether it is really love when you don’t have any other choices. I would have liked to see more development from Amy besides whether she wanted to be with Elder or not.

And that leads us into the bad.*spoilers ahead*

View Spoiler »

Yet, despite all of my complaints, I did really enjoy this book. It had an unputdownable quality to it that can’t be ignored. Fans of Across the Universe will more than likely enjoy A Million Suns. I’d even go as far to say even more so than Across the Universe. I just really wish the ending concluded on the same level of awesomeness that it began. I’ll definitely check out the last book because I NEED to know how it ends!

Steph Sinclair

Steph Sinclair

Co-blogger at Cuddlebuggery
I'm a bibliophile trying to make it through my never-ending To-Be-Read list, equal opportunity snarker, fangirl and co-blogger here at Cuddlebuggery. Find me on GoodReads.

4 Responses to “Review: A Million Suns by Beth Revis”

  1. Patricia

    Oh Stephanie. I love your reviews!

    I thought about the thing with Eldest and the engine, too. It just confused me, but I wasn’t sure if it had been said that he knew about the whole thing and that this was why he lied or if he had been lied to as well and I can’t even leave a comment without spoiling everyone so I’ll just shut up and say: Great review! : )

    • Stephanie Sinclair
      Twitter:

      Thank you! I am really confused on that part too. Granted, it is a small issue, but it stood out to me because I thought the book was going to go in one direction and it went off in a completely different one. I think you can tell it was her trying to fix the laws of motion issue from book one and it kinda screwed with the plot in A Million Suns.

      • Patricia

        Exactly! I mean, I’m trying to think that it was planned like that from the beginning, because I expected the turn of events, but even then it was not making sense & I have a big problem with inconsistent plotlines. ;/ Not that I didn’t appreciate the effort, BUT. Argh! These things frustrate the hell out of me as a reader.

        I thought A Million Suns was better than Across the Universe, though. : )

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