Originally I intended to read Catching Fire seeing as, you know, it’s been a year since I read The Hunger Games.  Figured it was about time.  But the second I walked into the back room and saw A Million Suns sitting there on my promo cart, I got all geeky and squealed like the girl I am and snatched it up.  After all, Catching Fire had waited a year to shift to the top of my To Be Read List – it could wait a few more days.

A Million Suns is the second book in a trilogy by Beth Revis.  The first book was Across the Universe, which I actually hadn’t planned on reading at all.  The covers of these books are gorgeous, and I’ve had such fun in space with them (although the characters aren’t having any fun at all), I’m seriously considering purchasing them.  In hardcover.  Which I haven’t done with a fiction book since the last Harry Potter came out.  Yeah, I know.

This time around, Amy laments being on a ship for however long it might take to get to the new planet while her parents remain in their frozen boxes.  She’s an outcast, alone with only Elder on her side it seems. Elder is trying to adjust to being Eldest on the ship and in charge of everything.  But since he’s given the people of the ship a chance to think on their own, they’ve started to rebel.  Nothing is going on planned – least of which the truth Elder learns about the ship and where it’s going.  But when Amy discovers clues left by Orion, together they’ll discover all the secrets the ship still has to offer – including a massive secret that will change the lives of everyone living on the ship.

Ooooh boy.  If I didn’t have to work while having this book in my possession, it would have been done in a day, two at most.  I kept getting itchy every time I had to put it down because I wanted to see what Orion knew.  I wanted to know if what I was guessing was right (I WAS.  Whoo hoo!).  I wanted to know who was trying to stop them from learning these new secrets and how they would be stopped.  I wanted to know if my guesses on the “whodunit” was right (almost).

Revis knows how to ratchet up tension and I kept reading and reading even when I knew I had to put my book down.  She paints her characters just as they’re supposed to be and doesn’t let up or compromise.  I kept sitting here wishing Elder would figure out how to craft a moving speech to get everyone back into line (I was sitting here crafting them myself), but then we wouldn’t have a book if he suddenly went all eloquent and pacified everyone.  Likewise, he was just too insecure in his new role and not exactly Mr. Eloquent to begin with.

My only problem was when Amy knew something about a girl who’d been killed.  As in, knew who most likely had done it.  And she never said anything.  That really, really bothered me.  I know why it was done – for the story of course – but still.  A girl is dead after being raped and you never tell anyone?  Until much, much later when it won’t do anyone any good?  Hmph.  Oh well.  At least that little problem resolved itself in the end anyway.  Can’t say I’m sorry about it either.

Speaking of death, Revis is definitely not afraid to kill off people.  She made some interesting choices that definitely left impacts, a few in particular.  This book goes at an almost nonstop pace, which is part of the reason it’s so hard to put down.  You never know just what might happen next or who’s on the chopping block.  I had plenty of surprises to enjoy, which is always nice.

If you liked Revis’s first book, Across the Universe, then you’ll definitely enjoy this one.  It’s not going to be until January 2013 when the final book, Shades of Earth is available, but hey, that’s just the way the writing world works.  I’m most certainly willing to wait.

NT

Recommended: Yes