Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

passage, n

i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.

ii. A journey by water; a voyage.

iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

 

 

On the night of a major violin concert, Etta Spencer gets swept away from her life into a mess of revenge and family redemption. Originally from Present Day New York, Etta is transported to The Atlantic in the late 1700s, to settle a family feud she knew nothing about. As she learns of her family's secrets and history, Etta is forced to make a decision that could not put the lives of herself and mother at risk, but if she survives, drastically change the future she is trying to get back to.

Nicholas Carter has made a life for himself on boats, though he cannot seem to escape his ties from the overpowering Ironwood family. For a decent salary, Nicholas has one job, to get his mysterious passenger to the head of the Ironwood family and be finished with them forever. Or so he thinks. Upon completing his task, he continues to be bullied into working for Cyrus Ironwood, a job he cannot afford to say no to. Nicholas must accompany Etta on her journey through time to make sure she completes her task, finding what the Ironwoods have spent years looking for, sacrificed lives for. And Etta will return it to the Ironwoods or it will be given to them by force.

 

 

Passenger has gotten so much social media attention over the last 2 months, it's already considered one of the best Teen Reads of 2016. A title this huge was something I needed to experience myself, and I've never read anything by Alexandra Bracken so I was really excited when I picked this book up.

Passenger was a very intense ride of a book. Time traveling through history, three scheming families, endless betrayal, and one very important treasure. The more I read Passenger the more I couldn't put it down. I could feel the pressure Etta and Nick felt as they raced through time to meet the deadline set by the questionable Cyrus Ironwood.

As much as I loved the story line, I did have two little issues with this book. One is long chapters. The chapters in Passenger could be so long it could take me almost an hour just to read one. I just personally don't like long chapters, I find a lot of it could be made shorter and I can lose interest. This book takes time, there is a lot of information, a lot going on, and paying attention to their current place and time. Second (due to the long chapters), there were some moments that just went on way too long, they could have been cut shorter to get to the point faster. Nick and Etta could struggle with their personal feelings for pages at a time. Bracken did such an amazing job with her character outlines that I felt I really knew the characters, and how they felt. They all had strong, colourful personalities. I knew how these characters felt and how they thought and didn't always need 10 pages of explanation. These two points are personal issue, and the story was too amazing and unique to take away from it. I really loved Etta's character and could connect with her on a musical level. I felt very up in the air alongside Etta throughout the book and learned with her as she was on her adventure. Nick could not have been more perfect. The personal struggles with his appearances as he travelled through the decades was such an amazing and heartbreaking experience.

THE ENDING. The last few chapters was too intense for words. Bracken left us literally hanging off a cliff and set up the story for Wayfarer (Passenger #2) perfectly. I have absolutely no idea how this book is going to go and I love that. I cannot recommend this book enough, it's outstanding.

 

Book 2: Wayfarer

 

My Rating: 4/5 Stars