Comments | bookfails: I think I'm going to jump right back off this bandwagon...

hoperomantic in bookfails

I think I'm going to jump right back off this bandwagon...

Jan 10, 2012 23:26

Okay, this this is the first time that I've actually posted to the community, though I have commented and followed discussions, so please, no offense meant, okay? *wry grin*

Oh, and this is more a rant than a review, just so you all know. Anyway:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis....

( Ummmm why does everyone say it's good and dear God, why is she writing a sequel? )

scifi that makes you sigh, scrub my brain, character development fail, kill it with fire, young adult fails, this is romance? how?

Comments 10

gehayi January 11 2012, 07:50:09 UTC

And most often they "tell" the reader things without "showing" us. The nominal "dictator" of the ship, Eldest, is a "dictator" because we are told he is. The author takes short-cuts by having Amy say that he is like Hitler. As a reader, you have a gut response to that...

MY gut reaction to that is that the author Godwined her own work.

I don't think rape/sexual assault should be a plot-point just to try and add "drama" to your story. And dear author, in general, sexual assault does not occur because of "lust and attraction." (IMO)

I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE it when writers do that. And when a two-minute Google search can prove that victims of rape and sexual assault are not all beautiful (or handsome) and sexually desirable people...well, there's really no excuse for promulgating that drivel.

hoperomantic January 22 2012, 06:35:57 UTC

There's really no excuse for promulgating that drivel.

Amen

books_n_cats January 11 2012, 08:10:49 UTC

THIS.

I couldn't stand this book, either. I kept getting people looking at me in That Way, insisting that I just Didn't Understand.

The first time a red flag flashed up in my brain was when she was put into the chamber for however many years and we're "treated" to her thoughts and she doesn't wake up insane. There's no explanation for why a person left in that state for so long won't go absolutely bat-shit like they would in reality.

And that sex assault scene pissed me off to no end. It just read to me like she was using it as a way to make her book edgy. I'm surprised it didn't offend more people.

hoperomantic January 22 2012, 06:36:39 UTC

I'm surprised it didn't offend more people

Exactly!

conuly January 11 2012, 12:06:57 UTC

The thing that really bugged me, more than anything else (but I'm funny like that) was the fact that the big plot twist doesn't make any sense.

Objects in outer space aren't like objects on earth. They don't have air resistance or friction slowing them down. They will stay in motion until they crash into something. The earth doesn't stop going around the sun because our engines don't work! That rogue asteroid up there doesn't stop flying wildly through space! A ship with busted engines might have a very hard time STOPPING (at least, without the crashing into something part), but it'll get to its destination on time.

hoperomantic January 22 2012, 06:38:29 UTC

I must admit, I haven't even gotten to the plot twist. I stopped reading and I just can't seem to force myself to pick it up again to finish the darn thing.

urban_twilight January 12 2012, 00:06:47 UTC

Soooo many things wrong with the book. I was also appalled at how bad it was considering that it's gotten many good reviews...

The whole "conscious-during-being-frozen" thing just set off a whole bunch of alarms in my head. Scientifically, it's impossible. Being cryogenically frozen DOES NOT equal being in a coma.

I found a lot of inconsistencies with the world building too. But most of all, I didn't feel any subtlety to it. Eldest is a tyrant - YES WE GET THAT - but she makes no effort to try to flesh out more of his character. We know who the villain is going to be almost right away. The society as a whole seems strangely contrived to me. Like, what would be point of making Hitler to be some kind of "cultured leader" if, to my understanding at least, access to Earth history was restricted in the first place?

The writing itself was just really muddled and not very engrossing. I haven't even finished reading it yet, and to be honest, I don't plan to.

hoperomantic January 22 2012, 06:39:26 UTC

I can't finish the darn thing myself.

yael_heiman January 12 2012, 02:35:02 UTC

I liked the book, but I did think the dystopian element was too forced. It was very much "This is a dystopia and dystopia is BAD."

As for the rape scene, I mostly forgot about it, which shows just how unnecessary it was to include it.

hoperomantic January 22 2012, 06:41:15 UTC

Well now, I'm curious about what you liked. Perhaps a differing opinion might help me put things into perspective and attempt a second try.