Passenger (Passenger, #1)
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. 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. Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here
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0 0I enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would at its outset, but Bracken's drawn out way of writing did make certain parts of this book a pain to read. Due to this, elements like the inevitable romance or various place descriptions were situationally drawn out and under developed - the romance especially seems to be based on nothing, yet also takes up a large amount of the word count. This made certain character interactions, plot points or scene changes feel odd at times.
Also, the book's ending is at best, lacking and anti-climatic, and at worst a cynical tie into to the next book. This is a shame, as I feel this would have worked as a stand alone title, and I'm not sure how invested I am in these characters to wait for the next book.
However, there was a lot I liked about this novel: Bracken built a world with interesting mythology and a slightly new spin on time travel, as well as using time travel to weave in elements of social issues, like racism and sexism in interesting ways. Whilst there are better time travel fictional stories available, this is by no means a bad addiction. Further, the diversity of locations was nice, and was not as European centric as one would assume.
Overall, I felt Passenger to be a pretty average book, not being a particularly great piece of work nor a bad one: A fun, yet probably forgettable read.
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