Review: Passenger

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: January 5th, 2016
Source: Borrowed
Date Read: 6/21/15 to 6/29/15
464 pages

Rating: ✰✰✰

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.

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, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he 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

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I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

First off, thank you Holly for letting me borrow your copy of Passenger! Even though I stood in the line at BEA 2015, I got the book for Shannon because I wasn't interested in having my own copy. And I guess I am glad, because I am the BLACK SHEEP. 

Also, I was debating on whether this should have been a mini review, seeing as I read this in June and it is now almost January, but oh well. Time to play the "Let's see how much Val remembers" game!

Surprisingly, I ended up liking the beginning of the novel more so than the rest of it. I enjoyed reading about Etta and her talent at playing the violin. However, once everything spiraled out of control (and into a different era), I grew a little discontent. My interest in the time travel genre stems from the disarray a character causes by entering either the past or the future. But I rarely got any of that in Passenger. Nicholas, the romantic interest, already knew who Etta was. Pretty much everyone did, so there was no element of surprise. In fact, it was actually planned? I didn't get to experience the whole "hiding of the origins" type of thing, no "Oh you don't look like you're around here". No "finding out more about you" from the romantic interest because wait he's also a time traveler.

I guess this is why the rest of the novel became such a blur. I was just stuck on what I thought the book would have been, when in fact it was something entirely different.

However, while saying that, I did end up enjoying the journey through time, the characters themselves (even though I remember nothing), and the mystery of the traveler who's doing everything they can to stop both Nicholas and Etta. So I definitely do not regret reading this, I just, expected a teeny tiny bit more than what I got (a completely different story, ha).

And for that reason, I feel like my review isn't really the greatest, when it comes to actually telling you about Passenger. Because please do not get me wrong, this is a marvelous, well developed story. I urge you to buy this or preorder it because it is worth your money.

Since I waited way too long to write up my review, and I'm being super unfair to you by pretty much only talking about my interests, I'm going to leave Holly's link right here. (She always reviews much better than me anyways).

*NOTE: This is a BEA ARC. Apparently the published copy is going to be pretty different. So, be aware of that.