And I wasn't going to do a review today, I was going to do a writing update, because NaNoWriMo was almost two months ago, so I wanted to update you all with all my writing stuff! (I am still working on my book, by the way).
But since I finished the sequel to this book mere moments ago, I thought it would be appropriate to do a review for Passenger, by Alexandra Bracken!
Passenger (Passenger #1), by Alexandra Bracken
Title: Passenger
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Genre: Fantasy
Release date: 5th January, 2016
Pages: 486
Blurb: " 'You cannot fathom the distance
I would travel for you...'
NEW YORK CITY, PRESENT DAY
In one night, Etta Spencer is wrenched from everything she knows
and loves. Thrown into an unfamiliar world, she can be certain of
only one thing: she has travelled not just miles, but years from home.
THE ATLANTIC, 1776
Captain Nicholas Carter is tasked with delivering Etta to the
dangerous Ironwood family. They are searching for something- a
stolen object they believe only she can reclaim. But Nicholas is
drawn to his mysterious passenger, and the closer he gets to her,
the further he is from freedom.
THE EDGES OF THE WORLD
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey
across centuries and continents, piercing together clues left behind
by a desperate thief. But as Etta plays deeper into the Ironwoods'
game, treacherous faces threaten to separate her not only from
Nicholas, but from her path home- for ever."
My Thoughts
I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. I wasn't completely in love with the idea of time-travelling pirates from the start, but the hype was so big for this book on Booktube, that I couldn't help but pick it up.
This was actually my second attempt at reading this book. Last time I got about 70 odd pages into it, and I just couldn't get back into it, no matter how much I tried.
I don't really know what it is about deadlines. I just get it into my head that if I don't finish this book by that deadline, then the world will either 1) descend into chaos, or 2) be destroyed in a massive explosion.
Because I finished it in less than one week.
This book was alright. I'm not going to say it was WOW, OMG AMAZING, because it wasn't. But for the most part, it was a pretty decent book.
This story follows Etta, a classical violin player that is a few weeks away from her biggest performance to date- cant remember what so I'll just tell you that.
But anyway, she is constantly pushed by her mother, who has been cautiously distant from her only daughter for as long as she can remember. Our story starts the night of a slightly smaller performance, but nevertheless an important one.
Then something happens and she is swept back in time, to where she meets TIME TRAVELLING PIRATES.
And a whole bunch of craziness that is this story happens.
To be honest, this book is decent, up to about the half-way point. And then, the whole thing just got a lot... denser. The relationships either got stronger, characters fell in love, or started to despise each-other with an intensity that near enough scared me, and the plot got a lot more interesting and deadly.
Basically, Nicholas and Etta have a number of days to search for an device that could potentially change all their lives for the better (it's too complicated to explain without giving away massive spoilers, so I'm not going to do that)- in the hope that she can help her mother (who is currently kidnapped somewhere). But you follow Nicholas and Etta as they journey through time and space, as they encounter so many different places and times in history. And those places that they visited, it really sparked an interest in me about the places they were visiting, and left me eager to see where they were going next, the places they went were so well described.
One thing Alexandra Bracken definitely got right was the feeling that you were actually in the time period that Nicholas and Etta were in. One specific time when I remember thinking this is when they visited London during WWII. That part definitely felt real to me.
What she also did well was the feeling of classes on the ship where Nicholas and Etta meet. I liked that aspect, that they weren't allowed to talk, because of different classes, but they talked anyway. It was downplayed after a while, but I still liked that aspect one the ship too.
As for the characters, they were okay, I mean I didn't hate any of them, I just didn't connect to any of them the way I thought I would. I loved the romance between Nicholas and Etta, but I didn't particularly relate to them individually.
I did get invested in the bad guys to be honest, though. They were the characters that you just love to hate, so my favourite parts were when there was a confrontation between them both, you didn't know what way was up, when all the mains got put against each-other.
Which leads me to the plot. It was deadly. It had me reading the pages as fast as I could, wanting more, and yet still hoping I could read it faster so I could know what the heck was happening. If I had to say one thing about this book, it would be that the plot saved this story. If that's harsh, sorry, but that's what I think.
Next, the writing. The writing style was just so detailed, it felt like I was actually there with them, it was that descriptive and amazing.
Now, the ending. The ending, oh my god! It made me actually glad that I waited until the second book was released before I read this, because it meant I could continue the duology straightaway! It was all like BAM, BAM BAM! Craziness was happening all over the place. And the best thing about the ending was that it didn't seem rushed at all.
The ending was the best part, in my opinion.
So overall, this book was actually decent, as hesitant as I'd been to read it at first, I'm glad I did eventually take the time to read it (because these books are 400-500 pages long). But I do recommend them to people who like time-travelling, or pirates. Or both!
Because this book is worth the time- trust me!
One last thing- if you're currently reading this book, or just about to start it, and are considering putting this book down, just bear in mind, that from approximately half-way, it gets a lot better. Trust me!
So that was my review of Passenger, by Alexandra Bracken! I hope you enjoyed it, and my review for Wayfarer, the second and last book in the duology will be up soon!
I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I will see you soon!
And if you have any thoughts, let me know in the comments below!
Byeeee!
-Abi xxxxxx
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