Happy Release Day! SHADES of EARTH--Book Three of the ACROSS the UNIVERSE series by Beth Revis

Book Three

I remember when the publisher raved about this series--Across the Universe--during a writer's conference. I was so intrigued, I emailed him and begged for an Arc. God bless him, he actually sent it to me. He certainly wasn't exaggerating. I loved that first book. The concept and focus--Sci-Fi romance--was fresh and different in YA. I raced through the second book and couldn't wait to read the third. Check out the description:

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.

The story took a different tone than I expected. I mean, it got down-right scary. Those creepy dinosaur-like birds were no joke. And the plotting...I'm telling you, Beth Revis is a master storyteller and plotter. As an aspiring writing, I was blown away with where she took the story...all the twists and turns...the deaths! Yup. She didn't hesitate to kill off a lot of people. Of course I won't tell you who, but I was shocked more than once. I was beside myself toward the end. I felt sad, mad....I was like: "No. She didn't. I can't believe she did that."

I won't say more than that. If you haven't read this series, you should. It is superb and deserves all the accolades it receives. Truly, you can't help but enjoy it!

Toddles, y'all!


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