Book Review: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


More like 4.5 stars but I'll explain why in a moment.

First of all, I didn't like Etta much at the start of the book. I wasn't sure if she was going to make the right strides to be strong but after a while, I grew to respect her choices and her strength of mind, which in turn made her a better character. I wasn't very keen on her clinging to the idea of still making her debut, what with when considering her new circumstances, I felt she had a little more to concern herself with than making it back to New York for her violin debut, BUT when you take in account that the book takes place in what, 10 days?, I forgave that once more of the book went by.

I did, however, like Nicholas right off the bat. A bit of no-nonsense mixed with a hidden heart of gold and a dash of hope make for a stronger male lead than most books offer nowadays. He had honor and a struggle with his conscience and inspired others to trust him making him the best balance to the sometimes impulsive Etta. She needed his stability and was a better character for it.

In terms of setting, this book is all over the place but the detail given to each particular time and place was extremely well-researched, detailed enough to give me clear picture in my mind. Is it all accurate? I have NO idea, but I loved and respected the effort.

But that is where my drawback is, with the amount of information this book holds from jump to jump in the plot. Every time Etta and Nicholas move forward, there had to be time devoted to setting the place, to allow the charactets to process their surroundings. It dragged the tiniest bit to me because every time I felt settled back into the plot, there was another jump, and the information given is so dense that at times it was easy to put the book down, nay, it was necessary to put it down just take a break. Add to that the fact that there are a few questions I want answered about a group in the book, and you end up with me taking half a star off, even if it is only words on a page.

One thing is for certain though, I am so glad I waited to read this until after Wayfarer was released. I have no patience when it comes to books except in the act of reading them, and the wait for book 2 would have made me batty.



As a side note for my blog, I did finish Wayfarer and I loved it. I thought it was a wonderful end to the duology and I enjoyed the additional characters that Bracken included for the finishing adventure. As an extra bonus to the edition I bought, I received a separately bound novella about Etta's parents which just made me want more from this series.

Rating for both Books: 9.5 This duology was such a surprise to me. My next read from Bracken will be The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding, which I admit to putting off until I knew for sure there would be a second book for that series. Thankfully, there is a second book planned, called The Last Life of Prince Alastor, and the cover art is amazing.



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Rating: 9 Stars