Time travel treasure hunt! Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

And can we just appreciate this cover!

                I can hardly believe Christmas is in four days!  I hope everyone is enjoying their time and staying safe.  I will be posting my normally scheduled Top Ten Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday post this week but for the holiday I will not be posting Thursday or Friday as I’m sure you understand.  I just wanted to make it official and also wish you all a wonderful, safe, and Merry Christmas!  In the mean time I had to get my thoughts out on Passenger by Alexandra Bracken after finishing it Saturday night.  This book was provided to me as an ARC by NetGalley  and Disney-Hyperion/Disney Book Group for an honest review.  Thank you so much!  I was jumping up and down to get my hands on this beauty.  Passenger comes out January 5th.

Rating: 5 Stars

                Can I just say how thankful and happy I am to have received an ARC of this book?  Well I am!  My only pitfall of the ARC of a series anyways is that you then have an even longer time to wait for more!  That is where I am craving the next book and more of this whole world as possible.  I had one expectation of where the story was going to go, and what I thought would happen but then….nope it went a different route.  I was hooked in from the start.  From the description of time travel and a treasure hunt I was on board.  Etta is thrust into a world she never knew existed and Nicholas is pulled back into the Ironwoods orbit, one where they demand servitude.  They must work together and travel through time to find the prize, crossing times and continents, to figure out the clues and riddles left behind. 

                Etta is thrown into this world without any knowledge and is forced to learn quickly the way of the traveler.  Still she is only given half-truths on some things while being insulted and ordered around.  I love how strong willed she is despite her limited information and understanding.  She stands up for what she believes is right and reacts like an enlightened person of her era.  She has that fire and passion in her that I enjoy.  Full of schemes and running options for her next move and not waiting for others to guide her along blindly.  Still she is a sweet soul.  Nicholas has been through a lot in his life, the life he lives never an easy one.  He has had his trials but he is content in his current life on the ship, his own little paradise where he is judged by what matters: his ability and character not the color of his skin.  He has distanced himself from his past but is pulled back in by the lure of a payday and clearing his slate of a past wrong.  Hard to pass up.

                We see the story from both perspectives which I really enjoyed.  They both have their own secrets, fears, and reactions to different stimuli.  Traveling, while new for Etta is full of wonder and horror.  I love how she put it, to read about things in history books and know they were wrong is one thing but to see them in action is something all-together different.  Her adapting to and trying to blend into the past she clearly doesn’t fit into with her modern sensibilities; and him, while partially trained, seeing more modern technologies and feats that seem so far past his natural time it’s unsettling.  Their connection is slow and builds.  They become friends with a cause, partners on the journey.  They interact in a way that flows naturally.  They are alike and equally opposite which made for a good read. 

                The world itself was fully developed.  I was never confused with the worlds, well not after it was explained naturally.  The rules are in place.  The passages open to a specific year not day, the day is that of which you left still moving forward which makes keeping track of time moving through time much easier to process.  At least it was for me.  Time zones still suck but they do with any travel.  Most important with time travel everything flowed naturally without confusing me with technical babble.  Each time and place we are taken to have unique elements to set it apart.  I’m not a huge fan of history and normally stray from historical fiction but this had the authenticity but it also focused on the story as a whole and the hunt for the prize. 

                Passenger also deals with real issues that would arise in historical periods.  Being a woman or being a black man were not always pleasant things.  The reactions and views of people, the laws and overall feel dealt with that head on and didn’t shy away from it.  There is never one easy solution to the story; one little thing and it’d all be perfect and work itself out.  This story is beyond complex and weaved beautifully.  Now aside from the whole family lineage stuff, everything was easy to follow.  Which let’s be honest I don’t even follow my own family past the immediate, then it’s ‘we’re related somehow’ and I go with it I don’t have time for 2^nd or 3^rd this on this side by blah blah blah.  I was enticed through the whole book wanting to know more. 

                Overall I want more.  I need the sequel now.  I’m currently trying to figure out how many books are intended for the series and how long I’ll have to wait to find out what happens next.  It left a mark on me and I will eagerly count the days.  I look forward to learning even more about characters we only get a brief glimpse into with Passenger, paths crossed shortly and all.  I hope some return in the sequel because I would love to know more about Sophie, Hall, Chase, Julian, Alice, and Rose.  After everything that happened I just want more.  I’d also like to learn more about the Thorns as well.  So much going through my head after finishing this book.  Let’s discuss it below.  I would love to hear your thoughts about this book, characters, the concept, time travel in general in the comments. 

                Until next time…Merry Christmas!