I knew I wasn't going to love this book ever since I first heard about it and I avoided getting it for the longest time, but I eventually gave in because I had to see for myself what it was all about. I believe it's safe to say that although I liked the book enough, it definitely didn't do anything for me. 
 Across the Universe was basically a detailed explanation of the setting for the rest of the series. A quarter of the book was Beth describing the ship in vast detail and of Amy's inner monologue while she was frozen. Even after Amy wakes up, there's very little action, just her exploring her new world and Elder falling head over heels in love with her at first sight. And love wasn't even a big issue in this book at all. What little interaction Elder and Amy had did nothing to spur their romance and I honestly couldn't connect to either, or any, character. 
 The only thing I'll give Beth credit for is creating such a intriguing and quite plausible future world, but very little happens at all, when I was expecting action and adventure aboard a space ship with a crazy, tyrannical villan/leader. You got a tiny bit of action in the end, but that flew by within a couple pages, and you're left on a big ship with nothing to do now. I'm very interested in seeing where exactly Beth is going with this and pray there will be more action and romance in the next book since, I'm hoping, she's done with all the scenery and ship-talk. 
 Don't get me wrong, I did like the book and finished it pretty quick, despite it's slow pace, but if I hadn't already bought it, I'd say wait until the whole series is out and then either borrow it from the library or buy the paperback/ebook versions since they'll probably be cheaper.