Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: January 5, 2016
My Rating: ★★★★
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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.
--
Before I say anything else, kudos to Alexandra Bracken for an
appropriate use of a prologue. It
actually added to the plot by setting up one of the characters without being a
shameless info-dump.
It’s going to be hard to finish this review without some
level of fangirling. Basically, I love
this book. It had everything I like:
cute characters, action, adventure, romance, time travel. The overall
pacing of the book was nice. It didn’t
get bogged down in the beginning, which is fortunate, because the beginning was
slightly confusing.
The story starts
off with Etta, the main female protagonist, and her life as an up and coming
violinist. Not a lot is explained in the
beginning, which I understand for pacing.
But there are certain things that are mentioned early on that seem
important but are glossed over. It isn’t
until about half way through that things start clicking into place. Although I do understand why the author chose
to keep things a little vague. She
sacrifices initial clarity for the sake of pacing.
In the first
couple chapters Etta is playing at a banquet and a lot of things happen that I
can’t tell you because spoilers. But
suffice it to say everything is horrible. And she meets a girl named Sophia. At
this point we don’t know much about Sophia, but in the next chapter you kind of
want to strangle her, just a little… I hated her and I loved her. She’s the character that’s there specifically
for you to hate. But then she’ll have
these small moments that are so sad your heart breaks for her. She turns out to be an interesting and
complex character, and while she didn’t get a whole lot of time in this book I
have a feeling she’ll be central in the next.
But back to the
plot; through a series of weird events Etta suddenly finds herself with Sophia on
a British ship in the 1700s, which is also currently being invaded by
privateers called the Prize Crew. And
the Prize crew is very cute. That word
might not be the first to mind when you think of seamen, but trust me. Everyone is so polite to each other, even
towards their prisoners. One of my very
favorite scenes happens on this ship at dinner, where a British guy is being a
hoity-toity jerk and Etta is being a modern American girl. I giggled through the entire thing.
Aboard this ship
is also where we first meet Nicholas, the male protagonist, who is grumpy, but
also cute. He is also African American,
which I love. It’s too uncommon that we
get an ethnic character that gets to take center stage and isn’t just relegated
to the role of “best friend.” I love that
Nicholas is from a different time, because he thinks much differently than guys
would today. He’s chivalrous, which is
sweet. My only complaint is that he
seems to get attached to and over protective of Etta a little too quickly.
Some more stuff
happens that is full of spoilers, so skipping that…Etta and Nicholas set off (reluctantly)
on an adventure through time! This is
the part where Etta stated annoying me just a tad. For the most part, I
love her character. She’s your typical
21st century girl, smart and strong-willed. Buuuut sometimes a little
too strong-willed. There are certain
instances where she’ll get into a bad situation and she will insist that she
doesn’t need saving or anyone to help her.
Which is all fine and good, except that in these situations it’s obvious
she needs help, then when she gets help, she acts snippy.
Etta’s moments of snippy are balanced out by the
romance. Yes, there is romance, and it
is glorious. Admittedly, it all happens
rather quickly. These characters have
known each other for about two weeks.
But the plot moves along so quickly, and there’s just the right amount
of fluff that it’s honestly hard to care how rushed it is.
And then we get to
the end, and we’re lining up for the perfect closing and oh it’s going to be
adorable. Then BLAM! Plot Twist!
I’ll be honest, tears were shed that day…and then more tears when I
found out I have to wait until January 2017 for the second book to come out.
Final
verdict: This book was an exciting fun read.
The plot was solid and the characters aren’t just cardboard
cutouts. I absolutely cannot wait for
the next book in the series to come out.
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