Synopsis: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 awake 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 a 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.
First Sentence: "Daddy said, "Let Mom go first."" Not the very best first sentence, but it's enough to make you wonder and read on. It's the first scene that will captivate you though. It is so unique and emotional that you can't help but keep reading. Far from anything you'd expect. And I was thoroughly hooked.
Beefs: Hm... there is one in here somewhere I think. Maybe it's that I figured out the ending--the "who dunnit?"--before we were told. But, as my mother tells, me I always ruin the endings because I can figure it out. Maybe I'm the only one. Maybe not. But honestly, this wasn't a major draw back because I didn't know exactly HOW things happened, WHY things happened, or WHAT was going to happen next. It's a ride this one, one you'll enjoy. (and there is a little delicious twist I definitely did not see coming--not giving anything away though.)
Brownie Points: Do I talk about POV a lot? Voice, yes (which is also well done here). But POV? Well, let me start. When alternating first person POV is done well, it's a big asset to the book. It can be trick of course. I did have to concentrate on the new chapters/POV shifts and remember who was talking (though most of the time the voice was distinctive enough to clear it up), but most of the time it was superb. All over, the major brownie point is craft--on everything: plot, pacing, characters, world building, etc, etc. Study this one if you want to write YA, mystery, sci-fy, or dystopian.
Ending: Wholly and completely 100% satisfying. You didn't know exactly how it was going to end, and believe me, you won't expect the twist (even I didn't). You'll believe in truth again, and courage.
Recommendation: Do you even remotely like any of the genres/sub-genres? Read it.
Would I represent it? Contemplated making my yes in really, really big, annoying font. But decided against it.
Happy reading!
