Shades of Earth Book Review

As promised, here is my review for Shades of Earth by Beth Revis. Shades of Earth is the third book in this trilogy preceded by A Million Suns and Across the Universe. You can read a bit about the first two books in my blog post here: http://erica-odds-and-ends.blogspot.com/2012/11/time-for-another-book-review-book.html

Overall:
Another masterful piece of work by Beth Revis. She worked through many challenges including a new setting, new characters, and new conflict. Just like the first two books, Beth Revis finds a plot twist that is entirely unpredictable. Also, I really respect that the ending is the usual "and they lived happily ever after" mentality that I see all too often in other YA novels. Once again, I was dazzled by Beth Revis's work.

Setting:
As I mentioned earlier, the setting of this book is different from the first two. After living on Godspeed, we now are faced with this new planet, one that holds both great hope and great fear. With suspenseful trepidation, we join Amy and Elder as they explore this breathtakingly exquisite paradise. We learn about the world from both scientists and simple observations. I was pleased that too much time was not spent on every minute detail of the planet. However, I do wish that more emphasis was put on the sky on Centauri-Earth. In the previous books, the stars held hope, beauty, and peril. We learned the secret of the stars while sailing through them. I feel that some revelations could have been made by Amy and Elder while looking at a new sky of stars that would have not only carried the last two books, but also developed this book even more.

Characters:
With the frozens awake, Beth Revis had to work with a new cast of characters. I like the differences and conflict apparent between the shipborns and frozens from the beginning. I was really impressed with the small scale character development that took place in this novel. It really shaped the fact that each person is a precious individual and leaves no deaths insignificant. Also, Orion was done wonderfully. However, there are a few characters who I believe could have been portrayed a bit differently. First of all, when Amy reminisces about her parents while on Godspeed, she seems closer to her father. In this book, this is reversed. I wish that Amy's father was more understanding. I understand that Beth Revis wanted to establish his militaristic side, but I felt that this was a bit exaggerated. Secondly, I believe that Harley is referenced only once in Shades of Earth. I wish that Amy and Elder had thought more about him. For example, they might have thought about what he would love to paint if he could see Centauri-Earth. It almost seemed that Amy and Elder had forgotten him.

Pace and Plot:
Like all the other books, there was never a dull moment. The pace and plot were brilliant. From tangible action to heart-wrenching decisions, I couldn't put it down.

Unresolved Issues:
Also, there were a couple issues from the first two books that I had hoped would be resolved in Shades of Earth. Mainly, did any of the other frozens dream through the centuries like Amy did? Also, what happened to Victria?

I hope you all enjoyed this book review and I urge to check out this trilogy. And, not sure if she'll ever read this, I want to give a huge thank you to Beth Revis for writing this amazing trilogy!

Shades of Earth is Released Today!

I have been waiting for this day to come forever. Today is the release of Beth Revis's book, Shades of Earth. I have done a previous post about Across the Universe and A Million Suns. If you're looking for something to read, definitely check out this astounding trilogy! :)

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday?

I was so excited when I got this!!!! I can't wait to stick the signature inside Shades of Earth when it comes out on the 15th!! Thanks Beth Revis!

Also, check out her blog for links to read the novella through the blog tour.

Secondly, don't forget about YA2U!

YA2U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you ever wished that a big YA book tour would make a stop in your hometown? Well, here's your chance for that wish to come true! YA2U is a program that features five award-winning and best-selling authors who are holding a contest to see what city they should visit in an exclusive tour stop!

The authors are collecting votes from January 1 to February 15, and any city in the continental US or any Canadian city that has an international airport can win an exclusive visit from all five authors, including an author panel and book signing! Entering is super easy--and if you help spread the word about the contest, you can also enter win a signed copy of all of their books (TEN signed books in total!)--and the book contest is open internationally!

The authors in the program are:

• Marie Lu, the New York Times</ i> best-selling author of Legend and the upcoming Prodigy</ a>
• Marissa Meyer, the New York Times best-selling author of Cinder</ i> and the upcoming Scarlet
• Beth Revis, the New York Times</ i> best-selling author of Across the Universe, A Million Suns, and the upcoming Shades of Earth
• Victoria Schwab</ a>, author of The Near Witch and the highly- anticipated upcoming The Archived
• Megan Shepherd, author of the debut novel The Madman's Daughter

And they want to have an event in your home town! To participate, just got to the YA2U website and let them know what city you want them to come to. And while you're there, help spread the word about the contest and you can be entered to win all of their books--TEN signed books in total! 

Here's why the YA2U Team should come to MY hometown! 

My favorite author in this group is Beth Revis. I would love to get to meet her, as well as the other authors. To me, it seems that, whenever authors come to Florida, they always go to Miami. Why is that? I know that, you, all of my readers, have your own hometowns, but they also let you list a secondary town. So, why not pick Orlando, FL as your second choice? It's a big city and widely accessible. Even if you don't care and don't plan to vote, put down Orlando,FL as a favor to me. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Thanks!

Why should the YA2U Team come to your hometown? Why not join in the fun today and share with others about this program and your hometown. The more votes your town gets, the closer you are to having your very own personal tour stop! Vote for YOUR town here!</ div>

And if you help spread the word, you can also participate in the book giveaway. Tell them that you learned about YA2U from me and we both get extra entries in the contest! 

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