Hello Everyone!
When Passenger first came out in January of 2016, I was so excited for it! I got it on the day that it came out and I had all the intention in the world to read it right as I put it on my shelf. I adore Alexandra Bracken and The Darkest Minds is still one of my favorite series, so I was confident that I was going to read this book the moment I got my hands on it. And then life hit me like a bullet train going a million miles an hour. By that I mean that this book came out at the beginning of my last semester of high school and a month before our production of a Sound of Music was going to open. These two things alone would have been enough to keep this book unread for a little longer but then the lovely universe decided that it was going to bless me with a reading slump the very moment that I started to have time to even think about picking this book up. All of this is to say that Passenger has been sitting on my shelf for a year now and I just got around to reading it.
This.
Was.
A.
Mistake.
Holy moly this book was good.
Let’s start with the world building. I haven’t read many time travel books but I know that it takes a lot to make a time travel book work. Each author has to come up with their own time traveling system, with its own rules and regulations, and then they have to create a plot that doesn’t abuse the fact that the novel has time travel. I don’t want to feel like the author didn’t have a way to make their book work and so they threw time travel into it in hopes of fixing their problems. I don’t want it to be SO convenient that you know exactly what is going to happen to all the characters, or there is no peril because everything can be undone by time travel. I also don’t want to be told what is going to happen by someone who came back from the future to meet our protagonists in the present, and then just watch the plot unfold in exactly the way that character described. Basically, time travel is very difficult to pull off but Alexandra Bracken did it flawlessly. Every time that Nickolas and Edda landed in a new place, it was believable. From deserts, to cities, to a giant sailing ship in colonial times, I was engrossed in every environment that was established. The best part for me was that not only was every location interesting, but every environment was necessary. It wasn’t like Alex was sitting at her computer and decided, “I really like desert tombs so let's go to a desert!” It was easy to follow where the characters where at all times, what the society and culture was like, what part of the mission needed to be conquered and how quickly Nickolas and Edda needed to move.
Secondly, the characters. I will have to admit that there was just a tad too much romance in Passenger for my taste. I am really not that big of a fan of romance, and this book was pretty much centered around one. There was a little bit of instalove at the beginning that I wasn’t a huge fan of either. However, I did like how naturally Nickolas and Edda grew together. I enjoyed that Nickolas was thinking about turning the astrolabe over to Ironwood even though he was in love with Edda. It felt like he had no other choice. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for their relationship. I also like that they argued a lot throughout the book. It made sure that they had real, unique and understandable concerns that needed to be addresses if they were going to continue their relationship (or survive). I also enjoyed all of the side characters. Young Rose was a total badass. Young Alice felt like someone that I wanted to spend ages with and was an old friend. Sophia was understandably driven by her desire to make a difference and mean something in a society, in a time, that didn’t let her achieve much of anything. Ironwood was evil and made me feel unsettled whenever I was reading about him. One of my favorite things about Alex’s books are her characters. I was nervous that I wouldn’t fall as in love with this new crew of characters, because I absolutely adore Ruby and the gang. However, I found myself loving Nickolas and Edda in a different way. Ruby, Pudge, Zu and Liam felt like the perfect gang of friend that banded together to make a family. Nickolas and Edda felt like long lost loves that would fight for each other across time and space. Each cast of characters is fantastic in their own right and I ended up loving them both.
Lastly, this book has a powerful impact. It discusses a lot of subject that you would not expect from a time traveling YA novel. Alex conquers themes of race, gender, class, identity and love with grace and ease. She didn’t write a novel and then thought, “I need some really deep and pertinent themes in my book!” It makes sense that Sophia would yearn for a time where women could walk the streets on their own and vote. It makes sense that Nickolas would yearn for a time where interracial couples weren’t hunted, where slavery didn’t run rampant and where he could own his own ship if he wanted to. However, Alex also manages to acknowledge that our time isn’t perfect. Racial struggles and prejudices are still rampant. Women still aren’t treated equally. Society is still struggling with unity, social restrictions and what identity means for millions of people who live in the melting pot we call the world. I didn’t expect any of these themes to be covered, but I am excited that they were and that they were executed skillfully.
Overall, this book did not let me down. It was a wild, fun and exciting ride that left me wanting more. I can’t wait to jump right into Wayfarer (one upside of waiting so long was that I don’t have to wait a year for the next book) and see how Alex can wrap this adventure up. If you love historical fiction, romance, deeper topics that are handled really well, diversity and action, then I encourage you to pick up Passenger (or take it off of your shelf) and give it a read. You won’t be disappointed.
Overall:
5 out of 5 stars
93% out of 100%
-Jaime