The genre is dystopian so things are expected to in a state of disarray. As stunning as the writing is, and it really is gorgeous, the story was consistently depressing. I did enjoy the narrator for Amy and her parts kept me interested. In addition, I found his narration very grating and I really disliked listening his parts. This is horrible but a little distracting when trying to picture his character without a culture. That said, I found it very strange that the narrator for Elder, long time ship resident and the ships future leader, had a distinct accent. This is all to prevent disputes and keep peace on the ship that is traveling millions of miles across space. There are no cultures, ethnicities or religions. On Godspeed, everyone is similar in appearance, brown hair and medium colored skin. Once woken her long freeze, Amy discovers that she is the only person on the ship from Earth and life is very different from what she’s used to. Her cryo chamber is mysteriously opened 50 years earlier than planned and the ship is no where near there destination. Amy and her parents are cryogenically frozen on a spaceship called Godspeed heading towards a new planet.
However, as beautiful as the writing is, I cannot recommend the audiobook and even if I had read the book I’m not sure if my opinions would be any different. Upon listening to the first two chapters, I was pulled into the story with genuine interest. The book cover is beautiful, the writing is beautiful, and even the narration is beautiful.
The best word to describe this book is beautiful. It made an excellent audiobook, and I look forward to the next. This was a work more about human society than space travel. The descriptions of the ship and new inventions were detailed enough, but not so lengthy and full of description or space jargon that I got bored (The book's web site has a diagram of the ship). This book was less action packed, and less violent, and I thought that although most of the characters of both books could have been a little better developed, those in Across the Universe were a little more realistic. Having just finished the Hunger Games trilogy, it's hard not to make a comparison. Although I thought I had it figured out, and sometimes was on the mark, it still held some surprises. It combines elements of mystery, sci-fi, utopian paranoia, and a bit of romance.
Both narrators do a very good job portraying the emotions of the young characters, and the story is easy to follow as an audio book. This book is written from the perspectives of two characters in alternating chapters with two different narrators.
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