Shades of the Earth Guest Review- Ashton

Author: Beth Revis
Title: Shades of the Earth (Across the Universe Trilogy)
Published: 01/15/2013
Good Reads-
Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceshipGodspeed 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.

Ashton's Review:

The Across the Universe trilogy is a series I got into early on, and I’m so so very glad I did. To be honest, I didn’t actually find Across the Universe to be absolutely amazing, but I was intrigued enough by it to read A Million Suns; which fortunately was absolutely amazing in my astronomy/science fiction-loving mind. And here we are now with the last book in the trilogy: Shades of Earth. I’m definitely beyond heartbroken now that this series has come to an end, but I’m hoping Beth Revis comes to her senses soon and realizes that the world needs more of Elder and Amy and Godspeed.

So yes, Shades of Earth, also known as My Favorite Young Adult Book That I’ve Read Up to This Point in My Life. Needless to say, I LOVE this book, I LOVE this trilogy, and I LOVE Beth Revis!!! Every puzzle, hint, clue, murder, and moment of pure fascination has been leading up to the conclusion of Shades of Earth, and I’m proud to say that it fulfilled everything I could’ve hoped for.

In my opinion, the pacing of this book is flawless. I’ve been a huge fan of the alternating point of view chapters between protagonists, Elder and Amy, since the Across the Universe. It keeps everything flowing smoothly and quickly, and with two points of view, you’re getting double the action. You also get to see into two worlds that are perfectly in sync, yet completely different at the same time.

I can’t even begin to explain the way Beth Revis’s writing makes you feel. Her writing really stands out to me compared with other YA fictional writers. She has this way of making the reader feel exactly what she wants them to feel at precise moments. And no matter how much you hate a certain character, you feel for them. Speaking of characters, there are a bunch of them and the reoccurring ones really step it up. I also appreciated that many deceased characters from Across the Universe and A Million Suns were brought back into the story in some way or another.

There was undeniable planning involved in all three of these books. The way Beth Revis’ mind works is mystifyingly virtuoso, and slightly daunting at the same time. Which reminds me, I did want to address one thing: I’ve read some reviews that said the ending was a little predictable, and I wanted to speak my mind on that. I think they were making that assumption based on the last 75 pages or so when things start becoming clearer. During the first 300-ish pages, I had so many different theories and suppositions. But, like any good mystery, towards the end, I started putting the pieces together which I think is where people are saying it was predictable. You just need to think of it as a mystery, because if you think about it, the whole trilogy was.

Now there was one issue, which in case you’re unaware of, allow me to explain: Across the Universe’s cover – brilliant, A Million Suns’ cover – stunning, Shades of Earth’s cover – “Wait, are you serious? This is the cover!? There’s not a second cover like there was for the first two??? What?!???????!!!!?!?!?!” Personally, I’m a cover judger, and part of the reason why I read Across the Universe in the first place was for the cover. I was all excited to have those three matching books sitting pretty on my book shelf, but no, my dreams were crushed in that department.

All in all, Shades of Earth is brilly, and Beth Revis is frexing brilly for writing it. I recommend it to everyone and anyone with a love for astronomy, mystery, and/or straight up sci-fi. (I should mention there is one part that probably isn’t appropriate for readers under about thirteen years old. But other than that, it should be fine.) In case you haven’t already guessed it, I give this book a solid 5/5.