Aimee W. (peculiarway) - reviewed on 5/18/2012 + 8 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Quick review: Good, but not quite great.

This was my first foray into YA with a sci-fi twist, and I would gladly pick up another similar book. It actually took me two attempts to get through it--the first time I lost interest and set it aside, to be picked up again months later. You tell me something is even vaguely dystopian, and I have to read it. Immediately. And I honestly think that was part of my problem with this book--there were and are so many other dystopian YA novels out there right now, and this one just didn't immediately grab me. While it definitely got more interesting as it went on, I found the plot early in the book to be too predictable, and the characters lacking in depth (and communication skills!) throughout the book. While I did eventually grow to like Amy and Elder and a few of the other characters in their world, it took a bit to develop an affinity for them and I still kept wishing for more depth in them. Elder was...frustrating... at times, to say the least.

The sci-fi aspect is unique and very intriguing, though I don't know how strong the actual science behind it was. Life inside a ship hurtling through space made for an interesting setting, and the claustrophobic feeling of needing to escape and having nowhere to escape to was very well done.

I'll definitely be reading the sequel and any future books written by Beth Revis, but I'm not sure that I would stick this one on my "keeper" shelf.

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