The
Legend series by Marie Lu is set on the flooded coast of former Los Angeles and is told from the perspective of two 15-year-old characters on either side of a civil war. Los Angeles is now the Republic, a nation at war with its neighbors and riddled with a plague. Born of the slums, a boy named Day steals to keep his family alive and rebels against the state police, and June, a military prodigy from an elite family, hunts him down. The two seem to be from different worlds until June's brother is murdered and they discover the sinister truth behind the plague that's killing the nations' poor people. The second book,
Patriot, comes out this fall. Penguin, $17.99, ages 12 and up, 336 pages.
The
Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness is about 13-year-old Todd, the only boy in a town of men where everyone's thoughts can be heard. The town is run by a corrupt mayor who wants to vest control of the planet and wipe out its indigenous alien race and Todd, an orphan, is determined to stop him with the help of Viola Eade, a girl who crash lands on his planet. The first book
The Knife of Never Letting Go came out in 2008, followed by
The Ask and The Answer in 2009 and
Monsters of Men in 2010. Candlewick, $18.99 per hardback, $ 9.99 per softcover, ages 14 and up, 496-608 pages.
Chaos Walking: The Complete Trilogy is now available as an ebook for $29.97.
Today we’re celebrating the launch of Beth Revis’s A MILLION SUNS by participating in theVirtual Party! Each hour of the day, from 9am to 5pm EST, there will be adifferent feature on a different blog. And each stop, in true party fashion,will have a party favor to give out—in the form of a signed book plus some coolswag—and a party game: a puzzle piece to a truly epic prize for one winner! Soread on to find out exclusive information about A MILLION SUNS and enter to wina signed book!
A YABC INTERVIEW WITH BETH REVIS
I asked our team to come up with a few questions for Beth. Here's what they were dying to ask her:
1) If you discovered a new planet, what would you name it?
Oh, good question! Hmm...ummm...this is hard! I'd probably be lame and name it something boring...2) We hear you're a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan. Which My Little Pony are you? And do you have a friendship lesson for us today?
I really want to say that I'd be Rainbow Dash, and, therefore 20% cooler. But actually, I'm totally Twilight Sparkle. Book nerd to the end.
Today, Spike would need to dictate a letter about how important it is to remember that friends are much more important than anything, even book launches.3) If we ever colonized the moon, would you live there?
It depends, mostly on if I could go back. Earth is pretty freaking awesome. I'm not sure I could 100% give it up. Then again, as an avid Sailor Moon freak, I think I'd also probably have to take a trip to the Lunar colony...4) Will we learn more about the fake plague from
Across the Universe in
A Million Suns?
Yes! There's actually a short story that will be published in an anthology that is all about the plague and shows what it was like then. But there's also a bit more about the plague at the end of AMS--specifically about the motivation for why the "plague" happened.
Across the Universe
Beth Revis
YA
Yum. Scrumpdiliicious yum. It's been a while since a book capitivated me the way this one has. I gladly bought into the fictional dream on the first page and felt as if I'd finished the best peanut buster parfait after it was over.
I know. I know. I don't usually gush about books, but this one was that enjoyable a read for me. The basic science fiction premise admittedly had me hooked from the start. I am a closet case trekkie. The kind who used to watch the original episodes before going to church each Sunday as a kid. I was looking for balance in my philosophical diet early on.
So when I saw a modern day scifi with a mystery twist, I was in hook, line and sinker. Girl gives up life on earth to be frozen for three hundred years as a spaceship, Godspeed, travels across the universe from Sol Earth to Centauri Earth. She is awoken early while the ship is still en route and almost dies. Others frozens are murdered. She tries to find the killer together with the help of the leader to be, Elder, who is the same age as she is, sixteen.
The science part of the story was just enough to make the ship believable without becoming so overwhelming that I felt as if I was sitting back in physics class. The characters were well-developed. The mystery was believable. And the darkness was an artistic kind of darkness. Not the usual sturm and angst that is so prevalent in so many dystopian YA novels these days.
The book is also told in alternating first first POV between Amy and Elder. It works well to give the reader a sense of the earth left, the ship now, and how foreign that ship would seem to an outside, i.e. Amy (the reader as well). Even the ending was believable in the sense that not everything ends happily but realistically both emotionally and plotwise.
I realize I should say something critical, some point Revis missed or didn't quite hit the mark on. After all, this is a review. So....maybe it's that I wish they wouldn't make the book into a movie because movies are never as good as the books.
For more great reads, hop over to
Barrie Summy's site. She's dishing them out with whipped cream and cherries on top!
By: Casey (The Bookish Type),
on 6/30/2011
Blog:
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Beth Revis
recently revealed the paperback cover for her bestselling debut,
Across the Universe. Check it out:
Coming to paperback November 29, 2011!
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Here's the hardback cover for comparison:
I love the more SciFi feel of the new cover, but I don't think it's as eye-catching and sexy as the original. I'm quite curious as to what Amy is doing with her hand on the new cover though. Really, both versions have their benefits -- but I'm a sucker for pretty colors, so I think the hardback is still my favorite.
How about you? Which cover do you prefer? Have you read the book? Which one conveys its essence better?
The motif for March was fierce redheads who find themselves leaving the world they knew behind for something not only completely different, but downright scary.The first redhead was Amy in Across the Universe by Beth Revis, reviewed here. The second redhead was Ellie in Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, reviewed here. I don't know what it is about redheads, but apparently there's something
The Bookanista's celebrate Beth Revis's Across The Universe hitting the NYT Bestseller's list!
Congrads Beth!
We love you!
The winner of the Little Brown arcs are:
feeling fiction
Congrads and email me your address at [email protected]
All of the arcs from that have been won will be sent out next week.
Today I'm giving a shout out to Beth Revis and Across the Universe. I am so happy for Beth.
First - she debuted on the NYT bestsellers list!! woot woot! She - more than anyone - so deserves this success. I know all about Beth's long journey to publication. Not only have we been blogger buddies for about 3 years but we're also in the Bookanistas together. She is also one of my critique partners and let me tell you - she is an amazing critiquer!!! Like takes the time to give comments on anything and everything that could be helpful. Can you tell I'm a huge fan :)
ATU was like her 10th or 11th book. I actually remember a couple she tried to get agents for. Beth was a teacher, making ends meet while busting her tush at night to write. I even happen to know she got agent rejections for ATU. I also happen to know that she was on the verge (which I don't think would have happened b/c she loves writing too much) of giving up if this book didn't fly.
Guess we all know now what she was destined to do because Beth took off and is still flying - just like Godspeed. :)
My point in even revealing some of this (which she will tell you and has blogged about) is don't think this can't happen to you! Don't give up! You are only one person away from yes. One day you can get 10 rejections and the next get the one. The good thing about this publishing business is one day you can be ages away from ever seeing your book on the shelf but the next it could all happen in the blink of an eye. It's exciting.
Why I love ATU -
- Its different! what? no paranormal.....I think Beth was brilliant in taking Star trek and making it for teens is BRILLIANT.
- Her character, Amy, is spunky.
- It's pacy and she's a great writer. (hence, teacher!)
- I love the idea of being stuck in universe and having no future
- The first chapter - was - so - GRIPPING. Serious
As most of you know, us Southerns are pretty much shut down due to six inches of snow.
We never get snow so basically we are all trapped inside - killing each other, renting movies, and eating junk.
But......
I'm poking my head out of the snow for a minute to wish my good friend Beth Revis a wonderful launch day today.
I met Beth online a couple years ago way before we had agents. When we each probably had less than 10 followers and a dream. I loved meeting her finally in person this fall for drinks and am happy to see her day finally here after all the struggles and hard work.
Across the Universe is hitting the stores and 
everyone needs to go get this book. I got an ARC early last fall and loved the whole creativity and world building around this book.
As the spaceship Godspeed travels toward a new earth, the lives of 100 cryogenically frozen settlers hang in the balance after someone endeavors to quietly murder them. The other passengers aboard the ship have never known life outside its walls and are enslaved by the machinations of Eldest, their tyrannical leader, who divides them into three distinct classes. When Amy, a frozen settler from earth, survives being thawed in a murder attempt, she immediately bonds with Elder, Godspeed's lone teen and future leader. Amy’s individuality, her rebellion, and her fierce desire for freedom, inspire Elder to act on his own doubts and defy Eldest--his mentor and keeper--with shocking results.
The book's web site launches today so go check out the space ship blueprints! So cool.
Or check out all the stuff going on at Beth's site. 
Happy Book Bday Beth! Can't wait to see you soar to the stars - at Godspeed :)
Ill announce all the ARC winners later this week after I dig myself out of the ice.
Publisher: Razorbill (January 11, 2011)
Hardcover: 400 Pages
Series: Across The Universe #1
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Book from Publisher*
From Goodreads.
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Review
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, by Beth Revis, is a epic sci-fi adventure that will keep you glued to the pages. I am usually not a fan of sci-fi, but when I saw this cover and read the synopsis I felt drawn to read it. This cover is so stunning. The colors and stars are beautiful and the dual faces make it very intriguing.
I liked the structure of the book with alternating POVs from Amy and Elder. The dreams that Amy had while cryogenically frozen gave me an insight to her life before coming aboard Godspeed. And the interaction between Elder and Eldest gave me a deeper look into the suspicious nature of the ship and what was actually happening.
Revis left no stone unturned when creating the setting for the ship. The details of how the ship ran and the people who performed their jobs were flawless and structured quite well. I was very impressed with 'world building' and how each part of the ship functioned.
The relationship between Amy and Elder was adorable. Elder being attracted to Amy's differences, which everyone else seemed to have a problem with, was charming and brought out more emotion that he bargained for. Amy's connection with Elder started off with a need for companionship but they both experienced an adventure that was out of this world and relied on each other to survive.
The minor characters were great too. I liked Harley and his 'craziness'. He was definitely a great friend and sidekick. Also, as much as I wanted to hate Eldest, I felt his motivations for his actions were somewhat warranted and I am curious to see if he and Amy will ever see eye to eye.
There is so much in this book that amazed me. The creativity and attention to detail was phenomenal. Revis definitely knows how to rope a reader in and throw in surprises at each page. The overall plot was fantastic and after the initial problem was solved, these two are now faced with an ever bigger problem than they could have ever dreamed. I am excited to read the next book to find out what happens next on this journey on Godspeed.
Beth Re
BETH REVIS is the New York Times bestselling author of the Across the Universe trilogy, as well as The Body Electric, Paper Hearts, and the forthcoming A World Without You. She lives in the Appalachian mountains with her boys: one husband, one son, and two very large dogs. You can find out more on Facebook, Twitter, or online. If you never want to miss a thing and also get exclusive insider opportunities, sign up for her newsletter here.Your enemy is the blank page. When it comes to writing, there’s no wrong way to get words on paper. But it’s not always easy to make the ink flow. Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice won’t make writing any simpler, but it may help spark your imagination and get your hands back on the keyboard.
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0 Comments on A Craving for Dystopia as of 1/1/1900
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Love the letter clues for this one. NC! : )
G.C.
I loved My little ponies so much. I had tons of them and even got this movie that I loved but lost a long time ago. Saddest day of my life.
jacksandnumbers(at)hotmail(dot)com
Loving this release party! Congrats on the release on A Million Suns! I loved My Little Pony!!
[email protected]
Loved the My Little Pony AND the Doctor Who questions! Thanks for the interview!
The first book I ever had signed by Beth Revis was my yearbook! True story!
I would totally give a lame name to a planet, too! Thanks for the interview and giveaway! My Little Ponies are awesome! LOL!!
Great interview!
haha Rainbow Dash. My sisters and I love MLP too! Very excited to continue reading!
I love My Little Pony and use my niece as a reason to buy the ones I want :-)
[email protected]
Thanks for the giveaway. Great interview, too.
vi3ti3abe at gmail.com
Great interview! Thanks for the giveaway!
thegirlonfire27
thegirlonfire27 at gmail dot com
Great interview - I love how geeky Beth is! :-D
Thanks for sharing, and for this giveaway!
Baggins
bookishbaggins(at)gmail(dot)com
My Little Pony - Love it!!! I never watched that show but.. *giggles*
The interview is awesome! I'm so excited!!! Thanks for participating in the Launch awesomeness! :)
Thanks for the awesome giveaway. Can't wait to read A Million Suns. =]
Michael
[email protected]
Holy crud, that pic of the phone booth is awesome! LOVE IT!
thanks
Kayleigh with Doctor Who! Hmm...I expect we'll learn a little more about her in A Million Suns? I'm keen to see hoe Elder manages to lead Godspeed after Eldest.
Happy Release Day!:)
[email protected]
Great interview! I love Beth=) Thanks for the awesome interview=)
[email protected]
Aww, I miss My Little Pony!
amberr610[at]gmail[dot]com
Hay Beth, thanks for spending so much time with your fans. I really love strong author/reader relationships. It makes reading your novels all the more worth while.
mistyATlg2DOTcomDOTau
Ohhh, we're going to hear more about Kayleigh? Excited.
thenightbookmobile at yahoo dot com
Aww I want to read this book now! :D
jenelleriane at yahoo dot com
I have not read the book, but I really want to know the outcome of Amy and Elder's relationship. I love romances... :P and I wonder if it would be good for them to be together or not.
I want this book!!!
[email protected]
Doctor Who and MLP...awesome!