Book Review - Shades of Earth

Title: Shades of Earth
Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe (book 3)
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: 2 May 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0141333700

Synopsis
Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn't the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. But each new discovery brings more danger. And if their colony collapses then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been meaningless...

My Review
Firstly I have to say - look at that cover!!!!! I am so happy. I loved the original cover for Across the Universe with the 2 faces and the purple stars and was then disappointed with book 2 (A Million Suns) when they changed the design and they didn't fit together. Then this book was announced and they had changed all the covers again. There was a reveal with all the covers and they were very mechanical and to be honest, boring! I was so upset, I love my books to match on my shelves and I couldn't afford and didn't really want to anyway - rebuy the whole series. So I came to accept the fact that I would just have to borrow this from the library to read it but not have it to keep on my shelves. 
Well, there must have been a lot of opinions similar to mine, I saw a lot of comments complaining about the change and next thing I know, this cover is released. I thought it was too good to be true but when my copy came through in the library i was real. 
I am now desperate to buy my own copy and it will look great on my shelf in line with the others. Finally publishers made a good cover choice.
Anyway - rant over, onto to actual review. :P
This takes a big turn from the previous novels, no longer on the ship or trying to get to the new planet, they are actually there and about to start a whole new life, but things go wrong straight away, there is someone or something already there that is not friendly. And when people end up getting killed everything descends into panic.

I loved the way this world is set up, the book is written so we discover the world at the same time as the characters, new areas, discoveries, plants, land, creatures. We go along with Amy and everyone from the shuttle and see everything as they find it. It made me feel like I was a part of their journey, one of them, setting out and discovering everything.
My biggest shock though was Amy's parents. Now they have landed they wake up everyone that was frozen, all the doctors, military personnel and whoever else was there. Amy talks about her parents quite a bit through the series so I sort of had an idea of what they would be like when they finally woke up, but her dad was nothing like I thought he would be, in fact he was an arrogant ass and I really didn't like him. Man has a major attitude problem and a major superiority complex. I wanted to shake him and tell him to look around and shut up, maybe listen to Amy once in a while. She's been around for 3 months, she knows what is going on but he wants to do it all his way. But he wasn't a bad character, not at all, he was actually one of those guys you love to hate. He irritates you and makes bad choices but you can't help but want to read more about him and see what he does next. 

The big mystery on the island is what is killing them and why, is it just monsters, or are there aliens? Or other people. No one is sure what is going on, but as more people end up dead the suspicions start to fly around. You start to guess who is behind it and why. I actually had a fair suspicion from fairly early on and was correct when it was revealed, so it wasn't much of a revelation to me but it was still well written and I enjoyed seeing how it all unfolded. 

Amy is really tested in this book and I love her inner strength and the way she wants to fight for what is right. She refuses to give up and we see her really grow up. If you compare her to the scared girl at the beginning of book 1, she is hardly recognizable, she has been through so much and really developed as a character.

I'm quite sad that this series has finished now, I've really enjoyed journeying and discovering things with the people of Godspeed, it's a series that I think will stay with me though. Beth Revis' writing is fast paced, witty and totally gripping, I look forward to what is next from her. 

My Rating