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Review: Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

 

The final book in the New York Times bestselling trilogy, perfect for fans of Battlestar Gallactica and Prometheus!
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.

*****My Review May contain Spoilers, so be forewarned*****

I have been waiting for this book for a very long time, it has felt like eons. Beth Revis’ Across the Universe had me hooked very early on in the reading process, and the follow up A Million Suns, did not disappoint, either.

The story has all of the elements I love reading—dystopian, sci fi, adventure…and a human element that most future-set novels either hit on the head or miss.

This is one of those novels in the middle. I picked this up last week for my Nook. I waited until the very last minute to read it because I wanted to savor the novel—I had hoped that my years of waiting to see how the Amy and Elder trilogy ends would hopefully make it last longer. And, unfortunately, while I loved reading the book, it was a bit of a miss.

Shipborns vs Earthborns

There was a really powerful way to make this a struggle both internally and externally for the characters in the book. While I expected Amy to be more conflicted, she did feel the pressure from both parties. As a whole, this concept felt rushed and more like a plot device than a dogma.

The base and the planet

From the beginning, I envisioned a sort of Morlock-Time Machine plot once the ship landed and there were underground tunnels. I was sadly disappointed.

There was so much death, and the suspect deaths felt a little rushed, like many of the elements in the book. I think the pacing was a bit rushed, which I was happy about because I didn’t want the book to drag on, but I was also a little perturbed because it was so quick. And I felt like the big deaths at the end were not really given the time needed to sink in.

I think a year ahead epilogue might have been a good thing and provided some closure. Revis touched on the whole ‘slave or master’ scenario well, but more might have been better.

Overall, while I loved the story of Amy and Elder and really wanted to love this book, I couldn’t. I would give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I am sad that I’m judging it so harshly, but I feel justified.

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Razorbill (January 15, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-13: 978-1595143990

 

This book is available from most retailers in book and ebook form. I purchased my copy from Barnes and Noble for my Nook Tablet.

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