Life is about perspective. The idea of spending your entire life stuck in a spaceship (granted a really really big one) can be either a life doomed to claustrophobia and dreams of the outside, or it can feel safe, like the only home you have ever known. Perspective can mean the difference between contentment and a desire to find anyway to change. In Across the Universe, Elder and Amy couldn't be more different if they tried: one born on the ship and meant to lead, and one born centuries earlier on earth and just included to pacify her important parents. But Amy's removal from the frozen state sent everything on ship Godspeed hurtling down a new path. Now, in Beth Revis' sequel A Million Suns, we find out just how far off the beaten path the ship has gone.
After learning about the problems with the ship and the decades of lies that have been passed around, Elder is determined to fin out just how far off course the ship has been blown from finding their new planet. He isn't prepared to learn the ship actually hasn't moved for years. Now that he has removed the sedative from the ship's system, all the citizens of Godspeed are less like zombies, able to think for themselves, and ready to stage a mutiny. Elder wasn't ready to take the leader's position in the first place, but he certainly wasn't ready to be tested so quickly. Now he must find a way to keep the ship together and still find the planet they were supposed to reach decades ago.
Amy knows she may never see her parents again since she was unfrozen and they must stay frozen until the ship lands. She barely survived Orion's crazed attacks, but with him safely frozen, she doesn't have to worry about him anymore... until she finds the messages he left for her that hold the secrets about the layers of deceit and mystery that have seeped into every part of the ship. Now she knows she has to follow Orion's clues and messages to find the truth behind the Godspeed. Unfortunately, even though Orion is safely frozen, that doesn't mean Amy is safe. On a ship where everyone is the same, there is nothing normal about her and thousands of people blame her for everything that has gone wrong since she was unfrozen. Can Amy get to the truth behind the lies before the ship is torn apart one piece at a time?
When I started this book, I knew a major part of the story was going to be the people, now out of their drug-induced haze, and how they needed to be controlled or reasoned with. But I really didn't want this to be the whole book. Fortunately, Amy's part of the story gave that nice touch of newness and excitement to the story that made Elder's part, controlling the ship's people, still interesting. I liked the fact that the chapters alternated between the two characters as well. Sometimes you finished an Elder chapter and were like, "What? What happened?" and had to rush through an Amy chapter to find out, and vice versa. This made the story really interesting and made me plow through it quickly! It also keeps the story from getting monotonous, especially since each character was dealing with their own situations. The mystery behind the ship is like an onion. Every chapter peels back a layer of lies only to expose another layer beneath. You think you know what is going on with the ship only to find out it was just another web of lies! And when you finally, after so many lies, get to the truth, you won't believe your eyes!
This was a wonderful follow up to the great first book. It ends in a way that will make you furious you have to wait until next January to read the final piece of the trilogy. The ending opens up a third book that is going to be just as exciting, maybe even more so, than the first two. The writing is clear and easy to read, but there are some situations like rape and murder occurring on the ship. The descriptions aren't gratuitous, but the situations are there. I think this was a great second book and am happy a friend recommended this series! Literally Can. Not. Wait. until the third book- it's gonna be legendary!
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