Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Published by Disney Book Group Disney-Hyperion

Published on January 05, 2016

Genres: Teens, Young Adult

Page Count: 512

Source: Purchased

Format: Paperback

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Description: Ages 14 and up
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.


Hello.

Today, I am reviewing Passenger by Alexandra Bracken. It was assigned in an online book group so I purchased a copy. Any quotes that may follow are from the text and not my own words.

This cover got to me. I saw it once and was on my way out of the store. It kept coming back to my thoughts but I could not for the life of me remember what it was titled or who wrote it. I could only picture the beautiful cover with the two worlds colliding yet coexisting. Some books are like that. I was delighted when it was chosen for the monthly read. I had found the book and I was so excited to read it.

This excitement was short lived.  It started so slowly that I could not get into it for the longest time. I am sure that the author thought that she was making it fast paced and exciting but this was not the case for me at all. I wondered if I was going to continue to read it on more than one occasion. When I have trouble getting into a book, I really need it to pick up or my interest is lost.

Thankfully, the pace picked up and the story started to really develop. We are taken into a world where time and events can be stimulated and altered. The actions of one person can impact the entire world in such a way that people can find themselves lost. Locations and times were obviously researched and it was nice to see how the characters responded to them. The concept is fantastic but I felt that the ideas were not fully realized in this book. It is probably a good thing that this is only the first book in a duology. There were so many opportunities to turn it around but the author came up short. I am hopeful that she addresses some of these opportunities in the next book.

With everything that I said above, I do need to take the time and address an aspect that I enjoyed. One thing that can be said is that the author is very talented with character development. Some were quite interesting and I hope that they will be present in the next volume. Other characters left me with the desire to stab them with a fork. The lines weren't always clear as to what side a character was on. In fact, some of them loved to straddle the fence. I am sure that the author will use the other book as a way to show their true selves. As a reader, you witness people growing and adapting to the world they are dealing with and it would be nice to see their evolution even if it is backwards.

This book is a hard one for me to review. In fact, I had issues determining the rating on it. In some ways, it was enjoyable. In other ways, I found it lacking greatly. I love a good book where the lines of time are blurred. I like mafia-esque stories. With that said, I kept going back and forth between rating it a Three or a Four. I am giving it Three Orange Books because as a single volume to a duology, I felt that it was lacking and failed to take the reader where it was intended for them to go. I am hopeful that the completed work may improve this rating but there is no guarantee.

InkedBookDragon