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Passenger #1
Passenger
Passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.
In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.
Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them—whether she wants to or not.
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home... forever.
Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.
In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.
Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them—whether she wants to or not.
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home... forever.
Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 5, 2016
About the author
Alexandra Bracken
30 books25.1k followersHi! I'm Alex and I write books. Please note that I don't respond to messages here on GoodReads. Please send me a note on twitter or IG @alexbracken. xx A
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,480 reviews
January 10, 2016
I will write a review for this book, but really I can sum it up in two words: hard work.
Very long, very slow, very boring. Literally the only thing I liked about this book was that the male love interest was African American (because that is sadly still way too uncommon). But it was at least 150 pages too long - and I'm not sure cutting the length could liven up the pace - and very easy to put down. If I had not been reading an ARC and also didn't want to get harassed by Bracken fans for writing a DNF review, there is no way I would have made myself suffer through this.
I didn't love Bracken's The Darkest Minds - truth be told, I thought that got really slow too once they escaped - but time travel and pirates was a premise worthy of a second chance. However, my issues started straight away with the writing style. There was something so formal and distant about the third-person narrative. It lacked any warmth or personality to help me connect with the characters or truly get sucked into the story.
There are many lengthy passages full of clothing descriptions and repeated introspection. The first part of the book goes on and on about violins and compositions, the next part is all about sailing, then we finally got to the time travel and I was already falling sleep.
Honestly, who cares??
All these lengthy but pointless passages added pages to the book but no depth. It's actually hard to single out individual quotes to demonstrate how so much of this book was filler, small details dragged out with unnecessary description.
I wouldn't quite call the romance between Etta and Nicholas "instalove" but it is set up from Nicholas' very first moon-eyed description of Etta. It's actually pretty slow burn, but as with the romance in The Darkest Minds, it was completely unneeded and lacking in tension or chemistry. The author never took the time to convince me that the two of them had some spark between them, I think I was supposed to just understand that: "He was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it any more obvious?"
Add to this pages-long conversations of info-dump (so, so many of these) about time travel, the "families", and the characters' pasts, and you have one very dull book. Almost 500 pages of flat, dull narrative that never reached a heart-pounding climax.
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Very long, very slow, very boring. Literally the only thing I liked about this book was that the male love interest was African American (because that is sadly still way too uncommon). But it was at least 150 pages too long - and I'm not sure cutting the length could liven up the pace - and very easy to put down. If I had not been reading an ARC and also didn't want to get harassed by Bracken fans for writing a DNF review, there is no way I would have made myself suffer through this.
I didn't love Bracken's The Darkest Minds - truth be told, I thought that got really slow too once they escaped - but time travel and pirates was a premise worthy of a second chance. However, my issues started straight away with the writing style. There was something so formal and distant about the third-person narrative. It lacked any warmth or personality to help me connect with the characters or truly get sucked into the story.
There are many lengthy passages full of clothing descriptions and repeated introspection. The first part of the book goes on and on about violins and compositions, the next part is all about sailing, then we finally got to the time travel and I was already falling sleep.
The Chaconne was considered by most, including herself, to be one of the most difficult violin pieces to master--a single progression repeated in dozens of dizzying, complex variations. It was emotionally powerful, and structurally near perfect.
His clothes were well-worn, rumpled from days of work and travel, and he seemed unbothered by it even as Sophia fussed with the gown and beat the road dust from the skirt. She had patted on more perfume of some kind, but Etta focused on the scent of him - it was cool breezes and sunshine and rum.
Honestly, who cares??
All these lengthy but pointless passages added pages to the book but no depth. It's actually hard to single out individual quotes to demonstrate how so much of this book was filler, small details dragged out with unnecessary description.
I wouldn't quite call the romance between Etta and Nicholas "instalove" but it is set up from Nicholas' very first moon-eyed description of Etta. It's actually pretty slow burn, but as with the romance in The Darkest Minds, it was completely unneeded and lacking in tension or chemistry. The author never took the time to convince me that the two of them had some spark between them, I think I was supposed to just understand that: "He was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it any more obvious?"
Add to this pages-long conversations of info-dump (so, so many of these) about time travel, the "families", and the characters' pasts, and you have one very dull book. Almost 500 pages of flat, dull narrative that never reached a heart-pounding climax.
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January 7, 2016
THIS WAS SO GOOD! Of course we get a classic Alexandra Bracken cliff hanger at the end. I loved the writing style in this book! It was completely different than the darkest minds trilogy. I love seeing when author's change it up.
January 8, 2016
Probably my favorite book of 2015, didn't want it to end so I made it last as long as possible!
January 17, 2016
Loved the world created in Passenger, and I can't wait to get my hands on book 2 after that ending! Here's my full booktalk/review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H403u...
October 14, 2015
So excited for you guys to read this! It's very different from TDM :)
REVIEWERS PLEASE NOTE: The story has undergone changes since the BEA ARC was produced several months ago. If your version DOES NOT begin these chapters, please ask for an updated manuscript/ARC: https://www.scribd.com/doc/267310694/... Merci!
While you're waiting, check out the Pinterest board for the duology! https://www.pinterest.com/alex_bracke...
REVIEWERS PLEASE NOTE: The story has undergone changes since the BEA ARC was produced several months ago. If your version DOES NOT begin these chapters, please ask for an updated manuscript/ARC: https://www.scribd.com/doc/267310694/... Merci!
While you're waiting, check out the Pinterest board for the duology! https://www.pinterest.com/alex_bracke...
January 6, 2016
If he thought he was going to grab her, he was going to get every last ounce of New York City she possessed. Etta swung her head around, searching for something sharp.Whoa! Whoa! Trust me when I say that this book was all sorts of surprising. You might have recalled that last week, I read Bracken's Darkest Minds and hated it, to say the least. I'm always willing to give the author another chance, but to be honest, I didn't have high hopes. That's not to mention the blurb being confusing and long-winded as shit. And the premise involves time travel, which is something that's horrifying easy to fuck up in the hands of a poor writer.
But I liked this book - a lot! The first chapter was slow, but it quickly drew in my interest once I met the heroine, Etta.
Ignore the blurb. The book is about a violinist who somehow gets pulled back in time, turns out she's a time traveler who doesn't know it. Here's what I loved about the book. The main character is fucking awesome. There is a very interesting relationship between the other female in the book, a strong girl in her own right. Despite the fact that they dislike each other, both girls in the book are respectable, fierce girls in their own right, and I can't tell you how few YA books have that.
She drew the knife up, her chest heaving, body trembling as she pressed it against the other girl’s neck. Instinct overrode logic, compassion, patience. The ugliness that poured through her veins was unfamiliar and frightening.GIRL POWER, YEAH!
Sophia stared up at her, dark eyes widening just a fraction. Then she clucked her tongue impatiently and leaned forward into the blade, until a droplet of blood welled up at the tip.
Before Etta could stumble back, Sophia wrapped her hand around hers, pulling it back a fraction of a centimeter from her throat. Her dark eyes burned with a wild kind of approval. Like Etta had passed an unspoken test.
Etta could feel Sophia’s pulse flutter, light and warm, as the girl drew their hands toward her own throat again, skimming the exposed flesh.
“Here,” she said, “right here. They’ll bleed out like a stuck pig before they can squeal, and you’ll be able to get away. Remember that.”
“They won’t expect it from you,” she continued, “and, fool that I am, I didn’t either. Good for you. I like a fighter. But it won’t do you much good against me.”
To be honest, when we met Etta for the first time, I didn't have high hopes. Etta is a pale, pale blonde. A violinist. Sheltered, with a successful mom. I fully expected her to be a weak, lily-livered Mary Sue, and I was wrong. She doesn't mention her own appearance, there is no declaration of "Oh, I'm so ugly, and I'm so clumsy" shit. Etta is an highly skilled violinist, dedicated to her craft. She has given up everything she loved so she could be better, and the moment that she won me over was when she exploded in anger at the insinuation that she was not good enough.
“You don’t think I’m good enough, do you?”How do you not love a girl with that kind of spirit?!
“No, duck, no—”
“Don’t call me that!” Etta said, backing out of the office. “Do you realize I don’t even have a friend left? You told me I needed to focus if I wanted my debut. I gave it all up! I don’t have anything else!”
“Etta—Henrietta,” Alice tried, but Etta was past the point of listening, of caring what either of them had to say.
“I’m playing,” she told her instructor, “tonight, and at the debut. I don’t care what you think, or if you believe in me—I believe in myself, and there is literally nothing in this world that can keep me from playing.��
And indeed, her spirit, and her persistence shows throughout the rest of the book. She is a fish out of water - I mean, hello, imagine being thrown back in time to 1776 - but she deals with it surprisingly well, and realistically well. She's a fighter...she doesn't give up.
You can do this.I believed her. I believed her actions, I believed her thoughts. The book - and the time traveling - felt natural.
Her mom’s words floated through her mind. Etta can handle this.
She could. She would.
I thought the details of time travel, down to the minutiae of dress (and the fact that people seriously stank back then), was well done, and the mechanics of time travel is vague enough to not strangle itself with its own rope.
“The best way to explain this is to think of the timeline as a kind of…constant, roaring stream. Its path is set, but we create ripples by jumping in and out. Time corrects itself the best it can to keep later events consistent. But if a small change snowballs into a much larger one, or if a traveler’s actions are devastating enough, it can actually shift the flow of the timeline, thereby changing the shape of the future from that point on.”The romance is not overwhelming, furthermore, the love interest is part black; given the distinct lack of people of color within YA literature, needless to say, I approve.
The book is not perfect. It rambles in parts, but it was well-written, and kept my interest. And the main character is really, REALLY awesome.
June 9, 2023
Really great! Excited to see where the series goes!
January 25, 2020
so Nicholas had the audacity to wake Etta and destroy her mission just cuz he got bored?
December 30, 2015
Fantastic. Need the next one now. Or maybe yesterday.
January 4, 2016
This is such a rich story with wonderful characters!
January 16, 2016
I really enjoyed this book! I don't think I'm quite as blown away as most people, but it was really good.
This book didn't really start to pick up until about 150 pages in for me, so just give it some time whenever you pick it up - it hooks you eventually.
WORLD BUILDING AND TIME TRAVEL WERE GREAT. All of that was fantastic and interesting and unique and well done and I loved it.
Overall I liked the characters, though the romance was a bit much sometimes. (insta-love anyone?) I equally loved and hated it. I really love Etta a lot.
AND THAT'S HOW IT ENDS? Okay. I really need to know what happens next.
Overall a great and fun read, but not BLOW ME AWAY THE BEST EVER AMAZING.
This book didn't really start to pick up until about 150 pages in for me, so just give it some time whenever you pick it up - it hooks you eventually.
WORLD BUILDING AND TIME TRAVEL WERE GREAT. All of that was fantastic and interesting and unique and well done and I loved it.
Overall I liked the characters, though the romance was a bit much sometimes. (insta-love anyone?) I equally loved and hated it. I really love Etta a lot.
AND THAT'S HOW IT ENDS? Okay. I really need to know what happens next.
Overall a great and fun read, but not BLOW ME AWAY THE BEST EVER AMAZING.
June 25, 2017
If you didn't like The Darkest Minds and are wondering if this is worth reading, don't read it.
I began this book with an open mind after not liking TDM. I was going into it blindly because the synopsis was so vague and confusing, and reading this for the first several chapters, I just noted that there's absolutely no hook. From the description to the beginning of this book, everything was totally uninteresting, I had no idea what I was going into, and I was bored with the idea because I didn't understand it. For the first 150 pages I was waiting and waiting for something to happen. By the time it did happen, everything was NOT explained well and I was now both confused, bored, and exasperated. This entire premise needed to be explained better, and between being completely bored, mostly annoyed with the generic premise, and partially confused at the action, I ended up skimming the last half of this book. This might stem partially from the fact that i'm not a fan of historical fiction, but I just hate Alexandra Bracken's writing. This book could have been half the size it actually is, which is nearly 500 pages. There's so much FLUFF in her writing. SO many rhetorical questions and other inner monologue that is completely unnecessary and just drags the pace of the book down, so much so that I did what I told myself I wouldn't do (and did for TDM series)-- skimmed all the pages for dialogue.
I can see how other people could enjoy this, but Bracken's books just aren't for me. I almost wish I hadn't wasted the time.
I began this book with an open mind after not liking TDM. I was going into it blindly because the synopsis was so vague and confusing, and reading this for the first several chapters, I just noted that there's absolutely no hook. From the description to the beginning of this book, everything was totally uninteresting, I had no idea what I was going into, and I was bored with the idea because I didn't understand it. For the first 150 pages I was waiting and waiting for something to happen. By the time it did happen, everything was NOT explained well and I was now both confused, bored, and exasperated. This entire premise needed to be explained better, and between being completely bored, mostly annoyed with the generic premise, and partially confused at the action, I ended up skimming the last half of this book. This might stem partially from the fact that i'm not a fan of historical fiction, but I just hate Alexandra Bracken's writing. This book could have been half the size it actually is, which is nearly 500 pages. There's so much FLUFF in her writing. SO many rhetorical questions and other inner monologue that is completely unnecessary and just drags the pace of the book down, so much so that I did what I told myself I wouldn't do (and did for TDM series)-- skimmed all the pages for dialogue.
I can see how other people could enjoy this, but Bracken's books just aren't for me. I almost wish I hadn't wasted the time.
January 11, 2016
Getting back on the goodreads train for 2016! This was an excellent first book, however it did not meet my expectations. I was wishing for a more epic adventure tale, the events leading up to the end of the book were lacking excitement. Although I have no doubt the second book is going to be amazing with the cliffhanger Alex left us with. More or my thought here: https://youtu.be/hkt26OBYv2A
December 29, 2015
I'm a huge fan of Bracken's first series, The Darkest Minds, so I was stoked to hear she was writing a second series. Passenger highlights all of Bracken's strong suits: strong characters, extensive history research, character-driven plot, and shippable romance and keeps readers guessing until the very end.
Violin prodigy, Etta Spencer, accidentally uncovers the secret society of time travelers and is thrust into a dangerous hunt to retrieve a powerful object that could change the world for the worst if fallen into the wrong hands. The most exciting part about this hunt is that it take places in various countries in various time periods. I commend Bracken for making Passenger such a thrilling on-the-run story. The research was spot-on and and the details were impeccable. I loved all the descriptions of the time periods and the settings. I always have major fangirl moments when authors incorporate historical facts into their stories.
Etta is such a strong-willed and feisty person. I love her fearlessness and her whip-smart mind. As she follows her mother's cryptic clues from place to place to find the hidden object, Etta is thrust into harrowing situations which really help build her character and growth. But she's not on this journey alone. Enter, Nicholas Carter, a freed slave-turned privateer in the late 1700s. I think I enjoyed his character a bit more than Etta because he was such an interesting and multifaceted person. Both Etta and Nick have such strong personalities that really shine through. I am pleased to see a bit of diversity in the main cast of characters and secondly I am proud to see a biracial romance represented in this story! I love the development and the slow-burn of this one. Definitely a top power couple of the year. Overall though, I love their honesty and their courage to speak their minds (and hearts) no matter what.
Bracken's writing is so eloquent and highly descriptive. Her plotting was brilliant and never too predictable. I was hooked from the beginning (haha no pun intended...) and engaged throughout, although I did feel there was a slight pacing problem in the middle. Sometimes in the frantic action sequences I got a bit confused as to what was going on. A lot of this book is clue-solving and running, but I wish the plot could have slowed down a bit for the characters (and us readers) to explore the time periods.
Time traveling is incredibly easy for an author to mess up and quite difficult for an author to do well. Thankfully Bracken's execution and extensive attention to detail in regards to time travel were both perfect. I love how she explained time travel, made it her own (a bit different), and kept it relatively simple for us to comprehend. At times though it was a bit hard to keep up with the explanation of repercussions of all the bad things that would happen if the object fell into the wrong hands. This reminds me of Interstellar or Inception at times where the plot just went a little over my head at times... But that's a me problem!
I was a bit disappointed that not much of this book takes place on ships, especially since the cover of the book has a ship on it. That along with some minor pacing and plot issues made me shave a star off. Overall this book is historically action-packed and lots of fun! I'd definitely recommend this book to Bracken fans.
-Rachel
4/29/15
Look at this gorgeous cover!!
What?! Alex Bracken is writing more books?!
HECK YEAH!!!!
EEEEEEEEEKK!!
Violin prodigy, Etta Spencer, accidentally uncovers the secret society of time travelers and is thrust into a dangerous hunt to retrieve a powerful object that could change the world for the worst if fallen into the wrong hands. The most exciting part about this hunt is that it take places in various countries in various time periods. I commend Bracken for making Passenger such a thrilling on-the-run story. The research was spot-on and and the details were impeccable. I loved all the descriptions of the time periods and the settings. I always have major fangirl moments when authors incorporate historical facts into their stories.
Etta is such a strong-willed and feisty person. I love her fearlessness and her whip-smart mind. As she follows her mother's cryptic clues from place to place to find the hidden object, Etta is thrust into harrowing situations which really help build her character and growth. But she's not on this journey alone. Enter, Nicholas Carter, a freed slave-turned privateer in the late 1700s. I think I enjoyed his character a bit more than Etta because he was such an interesting and multifaceted person. Both Etta and Nick have such strong personalities that really shine through. I am pleased to see a bit of diversity in the main cast of characters and secondly I am proud to see a biracial romance represented in this story! I love the development and the slow-burn of this one. Definitely a top power couple of the year. Overall though, I love their honesty and their courage to speak their minds (and hearts) no matter what.
Bracken's writing is so eloquent and highly descriptive. Her plotting was brilliant and never too predictable. I was hooked from the beginning (haha no pun intended...) and engaged throughout, although I did feel there was a slight pacing problem in the middle. Sometimes in the frantic action sequences I got a bit confused as to what was going on. A lot of this book is clue-solving and running, but I wish the plot could have slowed down a bit for the characters (and us readers) to explore the time periods.
Time traveling is incredibly easy for an author to mess up and quite difficult for an author to do well. Thankfully Bracken's execution and extensive attention to detail in regards to time travel were both perfect. I love how she explained time travel, made it her own (a bit different), and kept it relatively simple for us to comprehend. At times though it was a bit hard to keep up with the explanation of repercussions of all the bad things that would happen if the object fell into the wrong hands. This reminds me of Interstellar or Inception at times where the plot just went a little over my head at times... But that's a me problem!
I was a bit disappointed that not much of this book takes place on ships, especially since the cover of the book has a ship on it. That along with some minor pacing and plot issues made me shave a star off. Overall this book is historically action-packed and lots of fun! I'd definitely recommend this book to Bracken fans.
-Rachel
4/29/15
Look at this gorgeous cover!!
What?! Alex Bracken is writing more books?!
HECK YEAH!!!!
EEEEEEEEEKK!!
February 7, 2017
I had absolutely no expectations going into this one and I am glad to say that I throughly enjoyed it!
This book was by no means perfect. At times it was a bit cliche and aspects of the plot were somewhat unoriginal. However what I loved about this book was that it allowed me to completely escape reality. I just had such a fantastic time exploring this world and falling in love with these characters that I didn't have to think about anything else.
Overall, this was an extremely fun read and I can't wait to get to the sequel!
This book was by no means perfect. At times it was a bit cliche and aspects of the plot were somewhat unoriginal. However what I loved about this book was that it allowed me to completely escape reality. I just had such a fantastic time exploring this world and falling in love with these characters that I didn't have to think about anything else.
Overall, this was an extremely fun read and I can't wait to get to the sequel!
May 29, 2022
**3.5-stars**
'You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you.'
This high-stakes YA Scifi Adventure really took me by surprise. While I expected it to be good, I didn't know it would be this good.
In fact, I had so much fun reading Passenger, I immediately picked up the second book.
Initially, I started this one mainly because I hadn't read a good time travel story for almost a year and it is one of my favorite Scifi-subgenres.
This book had nonstop action and a scavenger hunt feel, as our main characters, Etta and Nicholas, follow clues to a mysterious object Etta's mother had hidden for her.
Sound confusing?
At times, I'll admit, I felt a little lost but I think that was due more to my mind wandering because, LIFE, as opposed to an actual issue with the book.
This is the first Alexandra Bracken novel I have read and I am happy she has so many other books for me to choose from.
Her writing style is very fast-paced and that action kept me flipping pages at a speed that even for me, seemed impressive.
I finished this so quickly and am just itching to get farther into Wayfarer. Passenger left off on such a cliffhanger, I can't imagine the people who read it when it first came out having to wait for the 2nd book to be released!
Literal torture and this is why I am years behind on my duologies, trilogies and series.
If you are looking for a super fast, engaging and lively adventure, this could be a good fit for you.
There is some light romance, but nothing too overpowering. I didn't cringe once, so that's huge. I love Nicholas, a time traveling sailor with a heart of gold and manners to match.
I really enjoyed Etta as well. She is a violin prodigy under a lot of pressure to perform and live up to expectations. Once she is swept up into the unexpected reality of time travel, we really see her blossom.
I thought her character was really strong and took everything in stride. At one point, she thought to herself, if my mother could do this, than so can I. I loved that self-assurance with just taking things as they come.
She had no clue about this whole underground world her mother was a part of and she was able to adapt and assert herself. I thought it was great to see that as opposed to a heroine who just needs to be saved!
'You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you.'
This high-stakes YA Scifi Adventure really took me by surprise. While I expected it to be good, I didn't know it would be this good.
In fact, I had so much fun reading Passenger, I immediately picked up the second book.
Initially, I started this one mainly because I hadn't read a good time travel story for almost a year and it is one of my favorite Scifi-subgenres.
This book had nonstop action and a scavenger hunt feel, as our main characters, Etta and Nicholas, follow clues to a mysterious object Etta's mother had hidden for her.
Sound confusing?
At times, I'll admit, I felt a little lost but I think that was due more to my mind wandering because, LIFE, as opposed to an actual issue with the book.
This is the first Alexandra Bracken novel I have read and I am happy she has so many other books for me to choose from.
Her writing style is very fast-paced and that action kept me flipping pages at a speed that even for me, seemed impressive.
I finished this so quickly and am just itching to get farther into Wayfarer. Passenger left off on such a cliffhanger, I can't imagine the people who read it when it first came out having to wait for the 2nd book to be released!
Literal torture and this is why I am years behind on my duologies, trilogies and series.
If you are looking for a super fast, engaging and lively adventure, this could be a good fit for you.
There is some light romance, but nothing too overpowering. I didn't cringe once, so that's huge. I love Nicholas, a time traveling sailor with a heart of gold and manners to match.
I really enjoyed Etta as well. She is a violin prodigy under a lot of pressure to perform and live up to expectations. Once she is swept up into the unexpected reality of time travel, we really see her blossom.
I thought her character was really strong and took everything in stride. At one point, she thought to herself, if my mother could do this, than so can I. I loved that self-assurance with just taking things as they come.
She had no clue about this whole underground world her mother was a part of and she was able to adapt and assert herself. I thought it was great to see that as opposed to a heroine who just needs to be saved!
April 6, 2016
*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
Full Review: https://youtu.be/rm2jtr8q6Lw
WOW. An awesome book to start out the year!
If you love time-traveling, definitely pick this up!
Oceans, deserts, forests, London, France, New York City.. I wish every book could have these amazing settings. I really enjoyed the main character Etta and the fast pace of this book! The adventure she finds herself in was super fun and I just couldn't put this down!
I'll have my full video review up in a couple of days!
Full Review: https://youtu.be/rm2jtr8q6Lw
WOW. An awesome book to start out the year!
If you love time-traveling, definitely pick this up!
Oceans, deserts, forests, London, France, New York City.. I wish every book could have these amazing settings. I really enjoyed the main character Etta and the fast pace of this book! The adventure she finds herself in was super fun and I just couldn't put this down!
I'll have my full video review up in a couple of days!
February 14, 2017
Video review to come!
The concept was killer, the characters had a ton of potential, but this book really suffered from first book syndrome, symptoms being: chronic information dumps and a sloooow moving plot. It picked up a lot in the end and I really did have fun reading it, but I didn't love it as much as I had expected. I am excited to see where the series will go though!
The concept was killer, the characters had a ton of potential, but this book really suffered from first book syndrome, symptoms being: chronic information dumps and a sloooow moving plot. It picked up a lot in the end and I really did have fun reading it, but I didn't love it as much as I had expected. I am excited to see where the series will go though!
July 10, 2017
So all throughout my life, society, the media, and my peers have indoctrinated me with the opinion that PASSENGER SUCKS !!
And honestly I was SOOOOOOOOOO hesitant to start this book bc everyone knows I can’t handle another slump in my tragic life and slow pacing is not my best friend HOWEVER comma its was actually pretty decent.
(s)
Pros
- TIME !!
- TRAVEL !!
- Historic fiction owns my soul and it was bloody gorgeous
- Nicholas Carter
- The world buildings is 😍 😍
- I LOVED TRAVELING TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN DIFFERNET TIMES
- we could have used it more often tho
- while the first 60% dragged a bit the rest was engaging
- the cover is so pretty I want to die
Cons
- don’t we all just LOVE an extra bought of insta-love in our lives??
- Too much kissing for being relatively foreign to each other I mean STRANGER DANGER KIDS
- Like she literally knows this guy for 2 days and shes willing to GIVE HER LIFE FOR HIM
- the pacing is slowwwwwwww
- THE CHAPTERS ARE SO BLOODY LONG WHO ALLOWED THIS
- too much descriptions involved, makes it difficult for attention to be held
- the ending made like 0 sense ???
- her mom pisses me the hell off
- also I wish the whole time travel thing was explained better
- had LOADS of potential but it just came off as v confusion rather than well developed
- THE BOOK IS HEAVY man, like my arms were crying while I was holding it
- Guess who’s skipping her workout today?
I’ve heard that book 2 is MUCH more entertaining and so this is why I pushed through and binged this book bc I need the cover of book 2 in my life
Also all my buddy reading partners ditched me and im forever hurt by their betrayal
(s)
“It's our choices that matter in the end. Not wishes, not words, not promises.”
3.5 stars!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buddy read with the valley girl, my enemy, the enemy's accomplice, &the pure one
And honestly I was SOOOOOOOOOO hesitant to start this book bc everyone knows I can’t handle another slump in my tragic life and slow pacing is not my best friend HOWEVER comma its was actually pretty decent.
(s)
Pros
- TIME !!
- TRAVEL !!
- Historic fiction owns my soul and it was bloody gorgeous
- Nicholas Carter
- The world buildings is 😍 😍
- I LOVED TRAVELING TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN DIFFERNET TIMES
- we could have used it more often tho
- while the first 60% dragged a bit the rest was engaging
- the cover is so pretty I want to die
Cons
- don’t we all just LOVE an extra bought of insta-love in our lives??
- Too much kissing for being relatively foreign to each other I mean STRANGER DANGER KIDS
- Like she literally knows this guy for 2 days and shes willing to GIVE HER LIFE FOR HIM
- the pacing is slowwwwwwww
- THE CHAPTERS ARE SO BLOODY LONG WHO ALLOWED THIS
- too much descriptions involved, makes it difficult for attention to be held
- the ending made like 0 sense ???
- her mom pisses me the hell off
- also I wish the whole time travel thing was explained better
- had LOADS of potential but it just came off as v confusion rather than well developed
- THE BOOK IS HEAVY man, like my arms were crying while I was holding it
- Guess who’s skipping her workout today?
I’ve heard that book 2 is MUCH more entertaining and so this is why I pushed through and binged this book bc I need the cover of book 2 in my life
Also all my buddy reading partners ditched me and im forever hurt by their betrayal
(s)
“It's our choices that matter in the end. Not wishes, not words, not promises.”
3.5 stars!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buddy read with the valley girl, my enemy, the enemy's accomplice, &the pure one
August 29, 2018
In a few words, I LOVED IT
This story pulls you in right from the start. I was so drawn in by this world and the characters and the quest. It was captivating. I felt taken along for the journey with Etta and Nicholas, like I was travelling to all these unknown times and worlds myself.
The slow unravelling of the story and the mystery was great, and I loved how you had a little insight into each character that other characters didn't know about. This book makes you care so completely about the characters and worry for their poor little hearts.
Alexandra Bracken's writing draws you so in, you're so enthralled by the story and captured in the moment. Her writing was wonderful and I love her style so much.
I loved both Etta and Nicholas in this (and I admit I kind of pictured them as Daisy Ridley and John Boyega from The Force Awakens??) Both were such captivating and charming and interesting characters. I found I wasn't bored or annoyed by either of them and instead was just really drawn into their story and lives. Etta was such an amazing, passionate young lady I just fell in love with instantly and Nicholas is so charming. Other supporting characters like Sophia and Cryus who were given less time still felt whole and Sophia especially was an interesting character.
The time travel in this is kind of similar to the Back to the Future style which is GREAT (I love Back to the Future) and I love that it left you thinking and a little confused. Like, "ohh so if this has already happened that means future character knows because this happened to her 50 years ago even though it's only happening now in the future. " But, I mean thats one of the best things about time travel stories, to me.
Finally that ending I'm actually so, so excited to see where this goes. I really want Sophia to grow as a character -- the whole time I felt so sorry for her, really she is just a woman trying to find some agency in a time that doesn't give women any and I hope she can get to some place where she's happy or ?? something ?? And I can't wait to see where Etta has ended up. But most of all I'm intrigued by Julian possibly being alive and I really hope he and Sophia get a happy reunion.
I wish I could be a traveller! I love history - this would be the perfect life for me. Far flung places, in far off times.
I just loved this book so much it was such a good book LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT.
This story pulls you in right from the start. I was so drawn in by this world and the characters and the quest. It was captivating. I felt taken along for the journey with Etta and Nicholas, like I was travelling to all these unknown times and worlds myself.
The slow unravelling of the story and the mystery was great, and I loved how you had a little insight into each character that other characters didn't know about. This book makes you care so completely about the characters and worry for their poor little hearts.
Alexandra Bracken's writing draws you so in, you're so enthralled by the story and captured in the moment. Her writing was wonderful and I love her style so much.
I loved both Etta and Nicholas in this (and I admit I kind of pictured them as Daisy Ridley and John Boyega from The Force Awakens??) Both were such captivating and charming and interesting characters. I found I wasn't bored or annoyed by either of them and instead was just really drawn into their story and lives. Etta was such an amazing, passionate young lady I just fell in love with instantly and Nicholas is so charming. Other supporting characters like Sophia and Cryus who were given less time still felt whole and Sophia especially was an interesting character.
The time travel in this is kind of similar to the Back to the Future style which is GREAT (I love Back to the Future) and I love that it left you thinking and a little confused. Like, "ohh so if this has already happened that means future character knows because this happened to her 50 years ago even though it's only happening now in the future. " But, I mean thats one of the best things about time travel stories, to me.
Finally that ending I'm actually so, so excited to see where this goes. I really want Sophia to grow as a character -- the whole time I felt so sorry for her, really she is just a woman trying to find some agency in a time that doesn't give women any and I hope she can get to some place where she's happy or ?? something ?? And I can't wait to see where Etta has ended up. But most of all I'm intrigued by Julian possibly being alive and I really hope he and Sophia get a happy reunion.
I wish I could be a traveller! I love history - this would be the perfect life for me. Far flung places, in far off times.
I just loved this book so much it was such a good book LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT.
Read
June 4, 2015Beautiful, smart, diverse, and well-researched.
This is one of those times where the story on the inside matches perfectly with the amazing cover on the outside.
Truly absorbing. Alex has woven in some delicate intricacies of history and shown how old hurts trickle up into society hundreds of years later. She manages to deal with some very important issues in a thoughtful, intriguing way.
And the romance…love, love, LOVE. So much love for it!!
This is one of those times where the story on the inside matches perfectly with the amazing cover on the outside.
Truly absorbing. Alex has woven in some delicate intricacies of history and shown how old hurts trickle up into society hundreds of years later. She manages to deal with some very important issues in a thoughtful, intriguing way.
And the romance…love, love, LOVE. So much love for it!!
August 13, 2018
4.5 stars!! I absolutely loved Passenger. It was a super exhilirating, heart-wrenching, wonderful story. It was completely different than a lot of books I normally read and extremely refreshing and unique! I love how Alex Bracken can write something so different from The Darkest Minds, which is an absolute favorite of mine, and yet do so well with it! Passenger just proves how much of a versatile, extraordinary writer she is. The world building was phenomenal as always, and I thought she wrote an extremely successful time travel novel. Full review to come on my YouTube channel on the release day!
I received a free copy of this book from Disney Hyperion. I had no obligation to review this book and all opinions are my own.
I received a free copy of this book from Disney Hyperion. I had no obligation to review this book and all opinions are my own.
December 21, 2016
Video review coming later this month!!!
March 23, 2016
Pirates, historical settings and time travel! This is pretty much the entire book and I gobbled it up! From the first page, I was already hooked. Bracken's writing pulls you in and keeps you there until the very last chapter. I had no inkling as to what this book was about because I pretty much judged it from the cover, not having read the synopsis either. I'm so happy that I did that because it made me focus on other things and not how close it was to the description.
As for the characters? There's Etta who is this driven violinist but has to overcome her stage fright. She also has a mother that she's willing to do anything to please. I thought their relationship and their dynamics were interesting. Especially since they're torn apart, and Etta has to learn how to deal without her mother to help. Then there's the main love interest who is a POC! His history and his back-story were even more interesting than Etta's. Naturally I gravitated towards both of them, wanting them to get together. A free-thinking independent 21st century teenage girl with a well-mannered 1920s young boy, how the year they were born in shaped who they were and who they could be. We both get to see the story unravel from their point of views and you can see the contrast of both. They travel to different parts of history and it was so fun to read about. There's a slow burn romance with stolen glances and touches, which ends up with a lot of kissing scenes. There were a pretty cute couple if I might add. I had such fun imagining all the different eras they fell into.
The dialogue between people is formal, such manners! And how Etta realized how young the soldiers were. She experienced history like no one else could and it was shocking to her. Culture-shock almost. I also loved how there was a focus on racism and how Etta experienced it with her own eyes. It was heart-breaking and it made me think about the past myself. Like this quote that came from a character from the 15th century:
Isn't it fair to say that slavery has been a boon to Africans? At the very least, it breaks them of their laziness and their barbaric violence—brings them into God's flock. The work they do is fit for their capacities. (132)
Then Nicolas (who is African American) thinks:
"What mattered was that these beliefs had swept through the souls of everyone like a plague. Even a hundred years in the future, he knew, the roots still had not been fully pulled up from society. Wherever, whenever he went, the colour of his skin set the boundaries of what he could achieve, and there was very little—if any—recourse for finding a way around it." (132)
Even though there were parts where the romance was too much, I never felt bored. I liked the story-line and the settings were just great fun to read about. I'm pretty sure any historical romance fan would love this book! Bracken's writing is wonderfully crafted and now I'm itching to read her Darkest Minds series!
RATING 4/5
QUOTES
"It's our choices that matter in the end. Not wishes, not words, not promises." (20)
"I don't care what you think, or if you believe in me—I believe in myself, and there is literally nothing in this world that can keep me from playing." (32)
"I simply cannot abide the hypocrisy of fighting for a man who supposedly embodies the ideals of freedom, while at home, dozens of slaves work his land." (131)
"People believed this trash, and they were spreading it around like it was nothing. Like they weren't even talking about humans." (137)
"How do you fight against a mountain? How do you move it when you don't even have a shovel?
Maybe you don't have to move it. Maybe you have to climb it." (207)
"Everything changes, when given enough time." (248)
"A bad idea is better than no idea." (252)
"What right did a man have to take the life of such a powerful creature, to prop up his own esteem?" (365)
"I cannot help but think, it matters not who you love, but only the quality of such a love." (409)
As for the characters? There's Etta who is this driven violinist but has to overcome her stage fright. She also has a mother that she's willing to do anything to please. I thought their relationship and their dynamics were interesting. Especially since they're torn apart, and Etta has to learn how to deal without her mother to help. Then there's the main love interest who is a POC! His history and his back-story were even more interesting than Etta's. Naturally I gravitated towards both of them, wanting them to get together. A free-thinking independent 21st century teenage girl with a well-mannered 1920s young boy, how the year they were born in shaped who they were and who they could be. We both get to see the story unravel from their point of views and you can see the contrast of both. They travel to different parts of history and it was so fun to read about. There's a slow burn romance with stolen glances and touches, which ends up with a lot of kissing scenes. There were a pretty cute couple if I might add. I had such fun imagining all the different eras they fell into.
The dialogue between people is formal, such manners! And how Etta realized how young the soldiers were. She experienced history like no one else could and it was shocking to her. Culture-shock almost. I also loved how there was a focus on racism and how Etta experienced it with her own eyes. It was heart-breaking and it made me think about the past myself. Like this quote that came from a character from the 15th century:
Isn't it fair to say that slavery has been a boon to Africans? At the very least, it breaks them of their laziness and their barbaric violence—brings them into God's flock. The work they do is fit for their capacities. (132)
Then Nicolas (who is African American) thinks:
"What mattered was that these beliefs had swept through the souls of everyone like a plague. Even a hundred years in the future, he knew, the roots still had not been fully pulled up from society. Wherever, whenever he went, the colour of his skin set the boundaries of what he could achieve, and there was very little—if any—recourse for finding a way around it." (132)
Even though there were parts where the romance was too much, I never felt bored. I liked the story-line and the settings were just great fun to read about. I'm pretty sure any historical romance fan would love this book! Bracken's writing is wonderfully crafted and now I'm itching to read her Darkest Minds series!
RATING 4/5
QUOTES
"It's our choices that matter in the end. Not wishes, not words, not promises." (20)
"I don't care what you think, or if you believe in me—I believe in myself, and there is literally nothing in this world that can keep me from playing." (32)
"I simply cannot abide the hypocrisy of fighting for a man who supposedly embodies the ideals of freedom, while at home, dozens of slaves work his land." (131)
"People believed this trash, and they were spreading it around like it was nothing. Like they weren't even talking about humans." (137)
"How do you fight against a mountain? How do you move it when you don't even have a shovel?
Maybe you don't have to move it. Maybe you have to climb it." (207)
"Everything changes, when given enough time." (248)
"A bad idea is better than no idea." (252)
"What right did a man have to take the life of such a powerful creature, to prop up his own esteem?" (365)
"I cannot help but think, it matters not who you love, but only the quality of such a love." (409)
September 16, 2017
I ended up just skimming the rest of this book. Eventually, it just dragged on. I definitely loved the concept of this book, though. I loved the time traveling and how they had to go to different years to search for an object. I also loved the characters. They were very interesting to read about. Overall, I found the plot kind of boring and very slow.
February 1, 2016
Read with all my other buddy reading addicts at Buddies Books & Baubles
Well I finally finished. It’s not fair this book has an absolutely gorgeous cover and I really wanted to love it but I never really got carried away by the story. I actually set this book down and didn’t pick it up again for 3 weeks. That is unheard of for me.
A few of my issues are as follows.
❶ - I never connected with the characters really.
Etta is a master violinist with stage fright who never plays the violin through the entire book. Nicholas is a black man living in a time of slavery. Even though he is a free man he has had to work very hard for his place of respect on a pirate ship. Both characters have moments of likability but overall I just never connected with either deeply. This could be because the story is told in third person but most of the dialogue is in Etta’s head so I’m not sure what the purpose of having the story be in third person is.
❷- Timetravel
Okay this was just not flushed out extremely well. Some people are born with an ability to be able to go through portals in time that can be opened using various notes in music in a certain combination. While I understood some of the rules of the time travel in this story some of it just didn’t make sense. Parts of it just seemed like some arbitrary rules thrown together. You can’t go back and save people, you can’t run into yourself, you can’t go beyond a certain time and half a dozen others. But for many of them there just didn’t seem to be cohesive reasons.
❸ - YA Tropes
First there is the entire insta-love factor of the story, well at least it isn’t a love triangle. Etta and Nicholas just met but boom sparks fly and all that. It was maybe supposed to be a more complicated love story since his is black and she is white but I never really felt the tension of it. Nicholas spends most of his time fighting the attraction just based off social norms of his time. But Etta doesn’t really care about that so much since she is from this time. Then there is the forced we shouldn’t be together because we are from different times. It all seemed so forced and I never believed their reasoning for why things wouldn’t work out..
❹ - The Story Dragged
Here we are going to places in history and it should have been exciting to be in revolutionary America and England during WWII (or it could have been WWI) but I couldn’t distinguish which it was, but I found most of it to be lacking. There was no big connect to the time. They ended up in a bomb shelter in a subway for the time in England but still no big connection to the people of what was happening in each of the time jumps. I was a bit bored through most of it.
❺- Etta’s initial motivations
Okay Etta wants to get back to her own time to save Alice. Well that is all well and good but Alice is a 92 year old woman and sure she still gets around well but really she is ninety it is a bit of a stretch to be that desperate to save someone who is that old. Not her mother or a sibling or best friend that had their whole life to live but someone who is older than your grandmother. I just never really got it. Sure there are other reasons that crop up as the story moves along but again I just never bought into the beginning.
It did get better
The story did get a little better towards the middle and then again at the end. But I’m sad to say that most of the things I was the most interested in where only touched on in passing. I wanted to know more about the family war that led to there only being one family in control of the portals. I also wanted to know more about the Thorns the revolutionary group that is trying to overtake the one remaining family. Finally I wanted to get more into some of the places and times they went and why some people could travel through time while others couldn’t.
There are some interesting developments right at the end and a semi-shocking reveal that did make me curious about the next book. Since I’m completely OCD about many series it is entirely possible that I’ll read it. But a year is a ways off and maybe I’ll forget the interest I was feeling at the end.
Well I finally finished. It’s not fair this book has an absolutely gorgeous cover and I really wanted to love it but I never really got carried away by the story. I actually set this book down and didn’t pick it up again for 3 weeks. That is unheard of for me.
A few of my issues are as follows.
❶ - I never connected with the characters really.
Etta is a master violinist with stage fright who never plays the violin through the entire book. Nicholas is a black man living in a time of slavery. Even though he is a free man he has had to work very hard for his place of respect on a pirate ship. Both characters have moments of likability but overall I just never connected with either deeply. This could be because the story is told in third person but most of the dialogue is in Etta’s head so I’m not sure what the purpose of having the story be in third person is.
❷- Timetravel
Okay this was just not flushed out extremely well. Some people are born with an ability to be able to go through portals in time that can be opened using various notes in music in a certain combination. While I understood some of the rules of the time travel in this story some of it just didn’t make sense. Parts of it just seemed like some arbitrary rules thrown together. You can’t go back and save people, you can’t run into yourself, you can’t go beyond a certain time and half a dozen others. But for many of them there just didn’t seem to be cohesive reasons.
❸ - YA Tropes
First there is the entire insta-love factor of the story, well at least it isn’t a love triangle. Etta and Nicholas just met but boom sparks fly and all that. It was maybe supposed to be a more complicated love story since his is black and she is white but I never really felt the tension of it. Nicholas spends most of his time fighting the attraction just based off social norms of his time. But Etta doesn’t really care about that so much since she is from this time. Then there is the forced we shouldn’t be together because we are from different times. It all seemed so forced and I never believed their reasoning for why things wouldn’t work out..
❹ - The Story Dragged
Here we are going to places in history and it should have been exciting to be in revolutionary America and England during WWII (or it could have been WWI) but I couldn’t distinguish which it was, but I found most of it to be lacking. There was no big connect to the time. They ended up in a bomb shelter in a subway for the time in England but still no big connection to the people of what was happening in each of the time jumps. I was a bit bored through most of it.
❺- Etta’s initial motivations
Okay Etta wants to get back to her own time to save Alice. Well that is all well and good but Alice is a 92 year old woman and sure she still gets around well but really she is ninety it is a bit of a stretch to be that desperate to save someone who is that old. Not her mother or a sibling or best friend that had their whole life to live but someone who is older than your grandmother. I just never really got it. Sure there are other reasons that crop up as the story moves along but again I just never bought into the beginning.
It did get better
The story did get a little better towards the middle and then again at the end. But I’m sad to say that most of the things I was the most interested in where only touched on in passing. I wanted to know more about the family war that led to there only being one family in control of the portals. I also wanted to know more about the Thorns the revolutionary group that is trying to overtake the one remaining family. Finally I wanted to get more into some of the places and times they went and why some people could travel through time while others couldn’t.
There are some interesting developments right at the end and a semi-shocking reveal that did make me curious about the next book. Since I’m completely OCD about many series it is entirely possible that I’ll read it. But a year is a ways off and maybe I’ll forget the interest I was feeling at the end.
January 29, 2016
Oh my gosh, I loved this book so much! Everything about this book was perfect to me.
The writing was so amazing. I read Alex's other book, The Darkest Minds, last year so I had a pretty good idea of her writing style but I felt like Passenger was a million times better than The Darkest Minds. I thought the main characters, Etta and Nicholas, were so well written and beautiful. And I love that Nicholas is a person of color. That to me, is one of the biggest reasons I will recommend Passenger to everyone. Literature, especially the Young Adult genre, is so lacking in representation of people of color and Passenger is a step in the right direction. And I absolutely fell in love with Nicholas. He such an amazing character and I thought him and Etta made such a great team.
I'm so insanely excited to see the growth and development of these two in the next book.
I loved the concept of Passenger. I don't read a lot of books with time travel but Passenger is easily the best time travel book I've read.
Overall, I really loved this book. Even though it's only January, I know Passenger is going to be one of my favorites from 2016. I enjoyed every aspect of this book and I can't wait for the next installment.
The writing was so amazing. I read Alex's other book, The Darkest Minds, last year so I had a pretty good idea of her writing style but I felt like Passenger was a million times better than The Darkest Minds. I thought the main characters, Etta and Nicholas, were so well written and beautiful. And I love that Nicholas is a person of color. That to me, is one of the biggest reasons I will recommend Passenger to everyone. Literature, especially the Young Adult genre, is so lacking in representation of people of color and Passenger is a step in the right direction. And I absolutely fell in love with Nicholas. He such an amazing character and I thought him and Etta made such a great team.
I'm so insanely excited to see the growth and development of these two in the next book.
I loved the concept of Passenger. I don't read a lot of books with time travel but Passenger is easily the best time travel book I've read.
Overall, I really loved this book. Even though it's only January, I know Passenger is going to be one of my favorites from 2016. I enjoyed every aspect of this book and I can't wait for the next installment.
November 4, 2016
Soo, after I finished this, I posted my review on Netgalley only! Since the lovely author would like more reviews on the book online, I'm going to post it here (and Amazon, too). Just this little note because how I write on Netgalley (proper, mildly sophisticated, not as sassy) is different than how I write here (you can read what I have below--or basically every other review I have written, lol.) So yeah.
Anyway.
The Review
Naturally, I would love this. Alexandra Bracken has a way of writing that entices, agonises, pleases, and seduces you. It's magical. Immediately, you will be hooked into the story, and soon, so very involved with the characters.
I loved the complex relationship between Nicholas and Etta. It was slow, gradual, and so sweet! Bracken does her romance in a wonderful manner. But, more importantly, Nicholas and Etta know they have a job and the fact that they continuously look out for each other, have one another's back, shows a wonderful depiction of partnership.
The history was... wow, I was rendered speechless. Of course, there was only so much I know from 12 years of history, global or American. Bracken clearly knows her history, however. You can tell she did a LOT of research for this book. She did not gloss over the setting in the different times Etta and Nicholas travelled to. She wove her words so you can picture every new country in their respected century. The descriptions were lush and beautiful. Not only that, Bracken went above and beyond as to explaining some of the cultures, foods, and clothing!
Fans of Bracken will NOT be disappointed in passenger. While vastly different from her Darkest Minds trilogy, the storytelling is still up to par. There is action throughout the entire book, so you will not be bored. You are thrown into the story practically immediately. The characters were wonderfully, beautifully, and developed. I'm so excited to see where the second book takes us!
---
In case you were wondering, I am CONFUSED, IRRATIONAL, and NOT OKAY.
But otherwise, not only was this a wild ride, but it was super cute and fast paced and everything you love about Alex Bracken and more!!
---
BLESS DISNEY-HYPERION AND NETGALLEY BECAUSE oh my gosh I have it.
---
THAT COVER IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I ANTICIPATED!
---
I forget to check this for a few weeks and I'm hit in the face with:
that absolutely stunning typography. if that's the title on its own, holy hell, what about that cover?
a publication date. yaaaas, September 22nd 2015!!!!even though i'll be starting senior year by then whatever
and finally THE BLURB. how awesome does that fucking sound?? its like outlanders (which ive never read) and seraphina's musical sense and some other stuffim really bad at that
point is: this is going to be amazing.
---
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD.
yes. Just all of my yes to every Alexandra Bracken book.
Yes.
Anyway.
The Review
Naturally, I would love this. Alexandra Bracken has a way of writing that entices, agonises, pleases, and seduces you. It's magical. Immediately, you will be hooked into the story, and soon, so very involved with the characters.
I loved the complex relationship between Nicholas and Etta. It was slow, gradual, and so sweet! Bracken does her romance in a wonderful manner. But, more importantly, Nicholas and Etta know they have a job and the fact that they continuously look out for each other, have one another's back, shows a wonderful depiction of partnership.
The history was... wow, I was rendered speechless. Of course, there was only so much I know from 12 years of history, global or American. Bracken clearly knows her history, however. You can tell she did a LOT of research for this book. She did not gloss over the setting in the different times Etta and Nicholas travelled to. She wove her words so you can picture every new country in their respected century. The descriptions were lush and beautiful. Not only that, Bracken went above and beyond as to explaining some of the cultures, foods, and clothing!
Fans of Bracken will NOT be disappointed in passenger. While vastly different from her Darkest Minds trilogy, the storytelling is still up to par. There is action throughout the entire book, so you will not be bored. You are thrown into the story practically immediately. The characters were wonderfully, beautifully, and developed. I'm so excited to see where the second book takes us!
---
In case you were wondering, I am CONFUSED, IRRATIONAL, and NOT OKAY.
But otherwise, not only was this a wild ride, but it was super cute and fast paced and everything you love about Alex Bracken and more!!
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BLESS DISNEY-HYPERION AND NETGALLEY BECAUSE oh my gosh I have it.
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THAT COVER IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I ANTICIPATED!
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I forget to check this for a few weeks and I'm hit in the face with:
that absolutely stunning typography. if that's the title on its own, holy hell, what about that cover?
a publication date. yaaaas, September 22nd 2015!!!!
and finally THE BLURB. how awesome does that fucking sound?? its like outlanders (which ive never read) and seraphina's musical sense and some other stuff
point is: this is going to be amazing.
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OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD.
yes. Just all of my yes to every Alexandra Bracken book.
Yes.
January 15, 2016
“Good ideas had in the dark, he thought with a groan, were generally best left there.”
And time-travel is best left to Marty McFly, I thought with a yawn.
Passenger is one of my most anticipated reads for 2016. I liked Alexandra Bracken's The Darkest Minds trilogy and I've been working on the idea that whatever Bracken churns after the mentioned trilogy will be nothing short of golden, but as one can see from my rating it is not. I guess my high expectations sold me short, but even if I lowered them I'd probably still wouldn't give Passenger a rating higher than two.
Have you ever had the displeasure of being a sounding board to a person who loves listening to his/her own voice so much? That's how the narration of Passenger felt like to me. It just droned on and on and on about music, clothes and repetitive internal monologues. Examples:
"The Chaconne was considered by most, including herself, to be one of the most difficult violin pieces to master--a single progression repeated in dozens of dizzying, complex variations. It was emotionally powerful, and structurally near perfect. At least, it was when played by her. It should have been played by her."
and
"Two brilliant pearls rolled together softly, knocking against small, heart-shaped gold leaves. What Etta sincerely hoped were dark blue beads, not actual sapphires, were attached to the small hoops like charms. The gold curved up, etched in meticulous detail to look like tiny vines. Etta could tell by the quality of the metalwork—slightly rough—and the way the designs matched imperfectly, that these had been painstakingly handcrafted many years ago. Maybe hundreds of years ago."
The imagery is nice and all but life is too short to read about baubles that have little to zero bearing to the story. Both of the quotes above were from the first 5% of the e-book I got, and the rest of the book is peppered by random musings and description of things. It felt like a quarter of the book is just filler and another quarter of our main character's blushing, which is more filler. It hampered the flow of the story and made the main character, Etta, come off as a shallow and self-absorbed little brat.
Then there's our main character, Etta. I did not connect to her at all. I guess that happens when the character is a nearly perfect, yet humorless violin prodigy. I'm sure being trapped out of time in a life or death situation is no laughing matter, but jeesh her self torment is just torture to read. Nicholas, the male protagonist was alright, though he does have an almost embarrassing tendency to pine over Etta and her pale blonde hair. Together, they are an undeveloped romantic pairing. Having read the TDM, I expected that the author will write in romance, I just did not expect it will be this unconvincing.It's also a shame because the romance here had the potential to be really one of a kind given the disparity between the two main characters, but damn it if it was wasted on insta-love.
Time travel is a very cool, yet very tricky premise. So tricky, I have never read a time-travelling book that I liked. Passenger is no exception. As of this time, time travel is a fantasy, but even fantasy needs to make a smidgen of sense. So when I read the why of the time travel here, my interest dropped by 80%, because really it didn't make sense for me at least. Oh the things I'd do if I can time travel unhampered by a conscience.
There are also so many rules for time travel here, most of them make sense but some do not and if one violates a rule, does the time travel police or the Doctor apprehend him/her? The answer is somewhere in the book, but frankly the time travel concept and rules here are just absurd.
To wrap this up, I recommend this book as a shelf eye-candy because look at the purttty cover, and that's it.
***ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review***
December 31, 2016
I FINALLY FINISHED PASSENGER!!
*throws confetti*
Its our choices that matter in the end. Not wishes, not words, not promises.
The best way to describe this book is a treasure hunt through time mixed with a little bit of a Pirates of the Caribbean. There's time travel, romance, adventure, and it all ties in together with a nice big bow. We follow Etta, from our time, as she somehow finds herself stuck in the year 1776 with a dashing legal pirate and an adventure that's doomed to change the course of history.
There are rules, but rules may be rewritten if only one hand holds the ink.
Okay, I seriously did REALLY REALLY enjoy this book. For the life of me, I DONT KNOW WHY THIS BOOK TOOK ME SO LONG TO READ! As I was reading it, I loved it, but I couldn't find that drive and motivation to continue picking it up. I read a ton of other books in between, went to many book signings, I even met her and got this book signed, without having finished it yet! Now I have read every single Alexandra Bracken book and loved each and every one but for some strange reason this one took me a million years to read!! I think in the back of my head, I had heard it was a cliffhanger so maybe I avoided finishing it so I wouldn't be forced to wait like everyone else? Whatever the reason is, I truly enjoyed this book and this new world that Alex created.
Love was selfish, wasn't it? It made honest men want things they had no right to. It cocooned one from the rest of the world, erased time itself, knocked away reason. It made you live in defiance of the inevitable. It made you want another's mind,body; it made you feel as if you deserved to own their heart, and carve out a place in it.
It was very very DETAILED and the words were at most times, beautifully crafted and intricately woven, but at other times, it got to be a little too excessive. That being said, while I loved the plot and characters, it was easy to be taken out of the story. Her writing has grown SO MUCH since the Darkest Minds! I really enjoyed it at most times, but it did drag a little bit for me.
I loved the history aspect to the story and the idea of jumping through all these different passenges in time. It was such a unique way to interpret time travel! Very refreshing and not confusing at all! I love that even though, they're going back in time and all that, the calendar keeps moving! So cool!
"I forget myself with you, I forget the rules. I forget every other living soul in this world.Do you understand?"
My favorite part of this story though was THE CHARACTERS! I loved the relationship between Nicholas and Etta! It was so much fun to see that dynamic be explored. This is a girl from our time, falling in love with a boy from 1776 and to make things more interesting, Nicholas is man of color! Back then, this relationship was forbidden to him and I really loved that Alex showed us these two people, born and raised with completely different values and moral come together to work with one another and learn to grow and respect each other and of course, fall in love! It was a very very sweet love story! But then it was heartbreaking too because of the whole "we belong in two different time periods, how could this relationship work?" Just the right amount of angst to get our hearts stopping!
"You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you."
*swoon*
I'm super excited for Wayfarer! That cliffhanger was a killer!!! I'm so pumped to see how this doulogy wraps up! Can't wait to continue on!
"Look lively," he said. "We've a journey to make."
*throws confetti*
Its our choices that matter in the end. Not wishes, not words, not promises.
The best way to describe this book is a treasure hunt through time mixed with a little bit of a Pirates of the Caribbean. There's time travel, romance, adventure, and it all ties in together with a nice big bow. We follow Etta, from our time, as she somehow finds herself stuck in the year 1776 with a dashing legal pirate and an adventure that's doomed to change the course of history.
There are rules, but rules may be rewritten if only one hand holds the ink.
Okay, I seriously did REALLY REALLY enjoy this book. For the life of me, I DONT KNOW WHY THIS BOOK TOOK ME SO LONG TO READ! As I was reading it, I loved it, but I couldn't find that drive and motivation to continue picking it up. I read a ton of other books in between, went to many book signings, I even met her and got this book signed, without having finished it yet! Now I have read every single Alexandra Bracken book and loved each and every one but for some strange reason this one took me a million years to read!! I think in the back of my head, I had heard it was a cliffhanger so maybe I avoided finishing it so I wouldn't be forced to wait like everyone else? Whatever the reason is, I truly enjoyed this book and this new world that Alex created.
Love was selfish, wasn't it? It made honest men want things they had no right to. It cocooned one from the rest of the world, erased time itself, knocked away reason. It made you live in defiance of the inevitable. It made you want another's mind,body; it made you feel as if you deserved to own their heart, and carve out a place in it.
It was very very DETAILED and the words were at most times, beautifully crafted and intricately woven, but at other times, it got to be a little too excessive. That being said, while I loved the plot and characters, it was easy to be taken out of the story. Her writing has grown SO MUCH since the Darkest Minds! I really enjoyed it at most times, but it did drag a little bit for me.
I loved the history aspect to the story and the idea of jumping through all these different passenges in time. It was such a unique way to interpret time travel! Very refreshing and not confusing at all! I love that even though, they're going back in time and all that, the calendar keeps moving! So cool!
"I forget myself with you, I forget the rules. I forget every other living soul in this world.Do you understand?"
My favorite part of this story though was THE CHARACTERS! I loved the relationship between Nicholas and Etta! It was so much fun to see that dynamic be explored. This is a girl from our time, falling in love with a boy from 1776 and to make things more interesting, Nicholas is man of color! Back then, this relationship was forbidden to him and I really loved that Alex showed us these two people, born and raised with completely different values and moral come together to work with one another and learn to grow and respect each other and of course, fall in love! It was a very very sweet love story! But then it was heartbreaking too because of the whole "we belong in two different time periods, how could this relationship work?" Just the right amount of angst to get our hearts stopping!
"You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you."
*swoon*
I'm super excited for Wayfarer! That cliffhanger was a killer!!! I'm so pumped to see how this doulogy wraps up! Can't wait to continue on!
"Look lively," he said. "We've a journey to make."
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