Review – A Million Suns (Across the Universe, Book 2) by Beth Revis (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: January 10, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1595143983
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Across the Universe series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is second book in the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis. I really enjoyed Across the Universe and this book was even better than the first one. Revis just writes in such a way that the book is impossible to put down and you are constantly broadsided by secrets and surprises.

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. Elder has stopped the distribution of Phydus to the ship and is letting people think for themselves again. However, the unrest on the ship is growing…food production is declining and the survival of the whole ship is at stake. Then Elder uncovers some more astonishing secrets that will change the whole fate of the ship, Godspeed.

This series has been so easy to read and so engaging, it is just impossible to put down. I love the way there are so many surprises and twists throughout the book, none of them seem contrived, and all of them have me gaping and thinking “OMG, no….REALLY!?” I felt like a little kid, constantly wide-eyed and surprised by each thing that happened!

The characters continue to be very engaging. There are a lot of social issues going on here. One of the primary ones is how do you motivate people to work when they have no incentive and don’t understand survival? When the Phydus is stopped you have a lot of people doing things that they don’t want to do or that they aren’t good at doing. It is pretty much chaos as society tries to reorganize itself. There is also the issue of law enforcement and how to set up laws and the structure to enforce them without turning society into a dictatorship. It’s interesting to watch an absolutely ignorant society of people struggle through this.

I liked that both Amy and Elder (especially Elder) made a lot of mistakes. Elder is an idealist and has a lot of trouble understanding how people can be evil and not help each other. You see his ignorance a lot as he struggles to figure out how to rule this new society. He has a lot of growing to do as a leader and you do see him make some good progress in this book. You also see Amy’s ugly side here too; she makes some very selfish and blind decisions.

The book stops in an excellent spot and I am super curious to see what happens next.

Overall I loved this science fiction dystopian thriller. It is an incredibly engaging story that is hard to put down. I thought the society and how it crumbled was fascinating. I love the characters and enjoy their flaws just as much as their strengths. This is such an engaging read I highly recommend it to all young adult science fiction fans. This is one of the best YA sci-fi series I have read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge