Passenger by Alexandra Bracken Format: Paperback
Published by Disney-Hyperion on December 6th 2016
Pages: 512
Goodreads
"Expert . . . Passenger succeeds as an adventure, as a romance and as a comparison of cultural norms." -New York Times Book Review
"Riveting, romantic... Fans of Outlander will see so much of Claire in Etta, who holds a smart and headstrong lens to history. I can't wait to voyage through the next volume." -Victoria Aveyard, New York Times #1 best-selling author of Red Queen
"Ambitious and exquisite." -Sarah J. Maas, New York Times #1 best-selling author of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series
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, his passenger, can find. In order to protect her, Nick 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.
Alexandra Bracken is the author of several young adult books and sadly this is the first one of her’s that I have read. Not sure why I haven’t read her previous books but after this duology I will definitely be checking out her other books.
Can I just take a moment to comment on how beautiful this cover is? You have the New York skyline in the top bottle and a ship in the bottom bottle. The silver font blends in well with the book. Its by far a favorite cover to date.
Before beginning my review I should tell you that its been awhile since I have read a time traveler book and I never got into them so I never continued as it just wasn’t something that interested me. I am not a historical fiction, fantasy kind of person but after reading this I think I’m hooked.
I thought Alexandra did an excellent job with the writing of each era and what was going on. You can see alot of research went into the book to make it feel real and authentic. It made you feel like you were actually there with Etta and Nicholas.
Passenger is the first book in the duology which I have to say I really liked knowing that it was just this book and Wayfarer.
There are two main characters in Passenger and that is Etta and Nicholas. Etta is from the present day and is a violin prodigy from New York City. Nicholas is a sailor who is from the 18th century, colonial America.
As you can probably tell Etta is thrown from her present world into a world and era she has no idea about which starts off on Nicholas’s ship in 1776. Throughout the course of the book Etta and Nicholas travel various eras and places in history such as 1776 the Atlantic and New York City, 1940 London, 1685 Angkor, 1880 Paris, and then finally 1599 Damascus. It was interesting to read that they could actually go back and forth in time.
In the beginning Etta has no idea what is going on because she has no idea or experience but quickly realizes and learns along the way that this is a matter of life and death and the stakes are high in order to survive.
I must admit that this wasn’t a fast read and it took me awhile to get through the first half of the book and I am happy that I stuck with it because I got to enjoy the book. I thought there was a lot of information at first but then I realized how important it was to the over all story line because clues and details were revealed that made it all work out and make sense.
I really enjoyed the book once I got past that little hurdle and found the book to pick up in pace and I admit towards the end I wasn’t able to put the book down because I needed to know what was happening.
Another thing I loved about Passengers was that it literally ended in a cliff hanger that I didn’t see coming and I think that its a good thing when I book leaves you hanging like that and thankfully I have Wayfarer sitting here so I was able to continue reading it without having to wait.
Check back later on for my review of Wayfarer.