Shades of Earth (Across the Universe, #3)

by Beth Revis

Leaving the walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind, Amy and Elder are ready to build a home on Centauri-Earth. But they 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.

• ISBN10: 0606321179
• ISBN13: 9780606321174
• Publish Date: 14 November 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 12 July 2022
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/05/professor-birdbrain-shades-of-earth-by.html

[Vicki]

3.5 stars

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Ohhh my god!! I loved this book! I'm trying to put my thoughts together but it's so hard!

[Angie]

Well, that was certainly unexpected. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Shades of Earth, it’s that you can’t trust the government, the military, big corporations, or aliens. Not that I trusted any of these before reading it, except maybe the aliens. Anyway, I will start by saying that Shades of Earth is easily my least favorite of this series. The first book was super amazingtastic. The second book was really good, but not as good as the first. This one was, well, a bit unsatisfying in many areas. I was hoping for a big finish, and kind of got that, but it seems like all of the build up didn’t create a large enough climax. It was still good though, and I read it all in one sitting.

The Godspeed has finally landed, but not without difficulty. Once on land, Elder, Amy and Company realize that Centauri-Earth is much more hostile than they were expecting. Immediately they are attacked by one of the strange creatures that calls this planet home. Not a very warm welcome. Of course, the frozens must be defrosted now, including Amy’s parents. Her father is the highest ranking official on board and tries to assume role as leader, but Elder is willing to stand up to him for his people. This causes a very strong divide between the shipborns and the Earthborns. The tensions get even higher when the colonists are mysterious picked off one by one.

I love Centauri-Earth! It’s the best thing about Shades of Earth. It’s beautiful and dangerous. The basic structure is similar to Sol-Earth, but sometimes the most beautiful flower can be the most deadly. There’s a heavy sense of fear as the people leave the ship, since everything is unknown. What plants are edible? What kinds of predators are there? Is the water clean? We only get to experience a few of the interesting creatures and I really wish there had been more. That would have slowed down the plot too much though.

The plot is super fast paced just like the previous two, but it felt really repetitive in places. Amy and Elder almost always have to go against the military’s orders, and they discover something, but Amy’s dad won’t listen to a pair of teenagers, so they run off again to do more sleuthing. If you thought they were done with all of Orion’s clues, think again! Nothing is what it seems on Centauri-Earth. I had my theories, which were all mostly wrong. I had one little thing right, but it didn’t even compare to the bigger picture. Actually, the big reveal is kind of a giant info dump that spans a few chapters. It was information overload.

Now for the weakest link of the book: Amy and Elder’s romance. It’s probably one of the worst romances I have ever read in YA. I just don’t buy it. I miss the Amy who stood up and told Elder that they don’t have to be together just because they’re the only teens around and are in an emotionally charged situation. Now she can’t seem to stop grabbing him for make-out sessions. There is absolutely no chemistry between them! I would have much preferred if the romance had been one-sided with Elder pining after Amy and her wanting to just be friends, at least for now. Then there’s an added love triangle, which was the lamest addition to the series ever. I don’t think the author’s strength lies in writing romances. It was just awful.

I did like Shades of Earth. It answered all of the billions of questions that popped up in Across the Universe and A Million Suns, but something just didn’t work for me. It felt like there were too many twists and turns that were unnecessary (Amy even points one out at the end!) and the climax was an info-dump. It still has the addictiveness of the other two books, but it just kind of fizzled at the end. I do like how the ending wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The people of Centauri-Earth are going to continue to face many more complications. We just won’t be witnessing them.

[Ashley]

BookNook — Young Adult book reviews

4.5 Stars

This. Book. Has. So. Much. Death.

Beth Revis is like a fiction mass murderer. I did not expect so many people to die in Shades of Earth. It's written like a realistic war book. There is violence, there is devastation, and there are casualties. People you love will die. People you hate will die. People you never got to know—who you were indifferent about—will die,

Shades of Earth is a brilliant conclusion to the Across the Universe series, and you will not be disappointed! We get all the answers that we longed for since the first book and they will blow your mind! Despite all the death and destruction, this book is really satisfying. I loved seeing everything unravel and putting all the pieces together!

It was around the halfway point that this book became truly un-put-down-able. Each chapter would end on a treacherous cliffhanger, that left me with no choice but to keep reading and power through the book! It got even worse when Elder and Amy were physically separated so with each cliffhanger, I would have to power through the other person's chapter, just to find out what happened to the first person!

Amy's character development was phenomenal. She has always been a pretty strong character, but by the end of the book, she was pretty incredible! She honestly had me shaking in my boots a little bit. She became so badass, so determined, and so do-not-fucking-mess-with-me.

One thing that did annoy me was the small love triangle that developed.. ugh. Like so many love triangles, it just felt pretty pointless. Luckily it was kind of subtle and definitely didn't dominate the book. Most of the book was all about the murder, the mystery, pushing away the lies, and uncovering the truth.

My other small annoyance is a spoiler, so... I just couldn't sympathize with the hybrids. Honestly they were just so closed-minded and stupid. Like "Oh my god humans have arrived, THEY ARE THE ENEMY! LET'S BLAME THEM FOR THINGS THAT THEY DIDN'T DO, BUT OTHER PEOPLE IN THEIR SPECIES DID! Let's shoot first and think later!" I mean, god... Are people still that stupid hundreds of years from now? Let's blame the entire human race for what ONE group of people hundreds of years away did. That's just stupid. And in some ways, I guess that was the whole point. But the fact that I couldn't sympathize with them AT ALL was a little annoying. I would have preferred a conflict that I could relate to a bit more.

But ultimately, this book rocked. Fans of the Across the Universe series will not be disappointed! This book has all the same factors that made me fall in love with the previous books. We have realistic devastation (not everyone makes it out alive), true horrors, political corruption, lies, manipulation, and romance. It's pretty awesome to have that all packed into one epic book!

[Amber]

I'm feeling a lot of different emotions now that I've read this book. Across the Universe is one of the first debuts and series that I started reading when I was a baby book blogger, and now it has come to an end. Since reading the first book, I've experienced so much both as a blogger, in 'real' life, and as a reader. I am so happy that such a good series has been with me along the way. Does that sound weird? Probably.

Full review here: http://www.booksofamber.com/2013/01/shades-of-earth-by-beth-revis.html