Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

Goodreads
369 pages, YA Dystopian
Across the Universe #3
My Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceshipGodspeed 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 Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.

My 2 cents

This is definitely the best book I've read so far this year.  Its beyond amazing, and I'm not sure how to really write a review for it without giving too much away!  Be forewarned, if you haven't read the first two books, there will be spoilers, so you might not want to read this review yet!

Here we go.  Elder and Amy manage to crash land the ship.  And immediately, neither one of them is on the same page.  As soon as they land there is strife.  Some of the passengers have been hurt badly ( a few killed) and Elder wants to take care of them first.  Amy, meanwhile, starts the unfreeze process of the Frozens.  She is anxious to see her parents, but Elder is really not happy with her.  When the Frozens wake up, we realize that Amy's dad is in charge.  And he reminds Elder a lot of Eldest.  

Colonel Martin (Amy's dad) does not recognize the leadership role of Elder.  Its immediate from the start that he is in control, and the Shipborn people do not matter to him at all.  There isn't a lot of time for a debate, though, because survival is all anyone has time for.  They are not sure what's on this planet, but people start dying horribly.  

I'm not giving away too much here, this all happens within 50 pages.  So the theme of a controlling dictator continues in this story.  It seemed amazing to me that Elder and Amy had come so far, to have to start all over again.  Elder does not trust Colonel Martin, and sets out to find out what he's hiding.  Amy stays mostly loyal to her dad, but she does question his orders a few times.  She doesn't like the way he looks at Elder and the shipborns, like they are cattle and not people. 

I took away so much from this series, but one thing really stands out to me.  Amy.  She is the only character in the entire story who is a part of every group of people represented in the series.  So she is the only one who is also sympathetic to everyone.  She's from Sol-Earth; She lived with the Shipborns so she feels she understands them and what its like to live on a ship; And she becomes part of the group of people on the new planet.  Amy is the only character who can bring these groups together and fix things.  It made the whole thing very believable, and kudos to Beth Revis for writing it that way!

The ending was amazing.  Something really bad happens here, and I was so upset that it wasn't going to be a happy ever after, but I was satisfied with the way things ended.   We finally realize all the secrets, and nothing is what we thought.  I was surprised yet again--I thought I knew what was happening, but I was wrong!  Everything finally made sense.  It was exactly like watching The Sixth Sense, and it made me want to reread all the books again!

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Revis does a spin off series, because there is so much story left to this new planet.  I also think this sci-fi dystopian adventure would make some great movies!  I hope you get a chance to read this series.  It is one of the most gripping dytopians I have read!