Passenger
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Grade: B
Genre: YA/Romance/Fantasy
Etta and Nicholas are the main characters in this time-traveling, treasure hunt fantasy that came very well reviewed amongst some of my favorite reviewers. I am always a sucker for hype and this was no different.
While overall I liked the book, it was an interesting idea and a lot of places (and times periods) I don’t usually see in novels I read… it just felt like such a chore in places. This is one of those books that I didn’t hate at all but I was happy to be finished just to say I’d finished.
One big thing for me was that even though the action starts fairly quickly it still didn’t feel like the story was moving until halfway through the book and probably it’s most interesting development (and character) doesn’t come up until the end to set up the sequel.
Also- and this is personal I admit- I liked the characters, I liked them together but at a certain point I just wanted them to shut up about it. If these two were destroyed or shredded or torn apart all the times they said they were by each other’s looks it would have saved me and the bad guys a whole lot of trouble.
It is kind of odd because usually I appreciate characters who are honest about their feelings and about the hardships in their potential relationships. I liked that they sized things up and had each others back. But I just wanted to be like, “Can we concentrate on the task at hand here?” Which actually lead to my other nitpick but Etta is a modern girl whose thrown back into jungles and foreign lands (and times) and I kept wondering about inoculations and whether she was immunized against everything she could possibly catch.
Despite everything I can certainly see why some people would love this book. I liked the smart characters and the premise. I will probably read the sequel eventually but otherwise I think this one just wasn’t for me this time.
Recommend: Lean toward yes. If this is your kind of thing. It’s a two-book series and honestly, I see no problems with waiting until the other is out to pick it up.
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