Sunday, March 24, 2013

Review: Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

Shades of Earth (Across the Universe, #3)
Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3)
by Beth Revis
Published January 15th 2013 by Razorbill

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.
Synopsis from Goodreads




 I have loved this series from book one, page one. I have waited, none too patiently, for books two and three, and I even read the all-too-brief prequel, As They Slip Away.  I was on the waiting list for Shades of Earth from my library for MONTHS! And now that it's over, I'm more sad than satisfied. Not because it wasn't a great book (because it was), but because I wanted more. I will always be left wanting more.

While I am still on the fence about what I liked or didn't like about this book, I can tell you one thing for sure: there is no shortage of mystery & intrigue, action & excitement. There is plenty of plot being crammed into these pages, so that I became so engrossed in the story, and would look up an hour (or more) later, surprised by how many pages I had just read in one sitting. (And maybe a little surprised by how dark the room had become...)

I had a hard time reconnecting with the characters in this third installment. It's probably just that it's been so long since I read the second book, but regardless, it affected my overall enjoyment of the book. I didn't feel that spark between Elder and Amy that I was familiar with. Their worlds no longer revolved around each other, but around their new surroundings and their responsibility to their people. I suppose it may be said that they are maturing as characters, but I still missed their puppy love. And I admit that I kind of missed Godspeed. It had begun to feel like home to me, and so I suppose I was suffering a little homesickness. ;)


I am pleased to say that I found the same great writing which I have come to expect from Beth Revis, so I'm sure that her fans will be delighted with this final book. A happy-ish ending, without being sickly sweet. Just enough left hanging so that I will always wonder... what happened next?




A Million Suns (Across the Universe, #2)As They Slip Away (Across the Universe, #0.5)Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)


 

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