Passenger (Passenger, #1) in Hype or Like Friday

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Apr 13, 2016 Meggy Chocolate'n'Waffles rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review was originally published on my blog. Find it here https://chocolatenwafflesblog.wordpre...

Etta is a regular teenager who has cut herself from everything to focus on her passion: the violin. Her world revolves around her mother, with who she has a complicated relationship, and her violin teacher. She doesn’t have anything else. I am not sensible to music in general. Yes, I cry if I hear a special song, but an instrument alone has never moved me. I am lyrics girl. Still, the recurrence This review was originally published on my blog. Find it here https://chocolatenwafflesblog.wordpre...

Etta is a regular teenager who has cut herself from everything to focus on her passion: the violin. Her world revolves around her mother, with who she has a complicated relationship, and her violin teacher. She doesn’t have anything else. I am not sensible to music in general. Yes, I cry if I hear a special song, but an instrument alone has never moved me. I am lyrics girl. Still, the recurrence of a certain musicality and the references to music, either in words spoken by Etta or in the writing itself did not bother me. I found it a good tool to try and understand Etta. You get to learn about her through the events and her reactions, I appreciated it better than if I had been told “she is blablabla.”

Now, let’s get to Nicolas. Contrary to Etta, Nicolas was born in the 18th century. He is a pirate with quite an interesting background. His presence brings an interesting contrast with Etta’s reactions to the places and times they visit. Their reactions are a mirror of their own society. Most other characters are familiar with time traveling, being able to adapt and fit in, but the rules of the century they were born in just never really fades away. It is also worth mentioning Nicolas is an Afro-American, and the subject is tackled throughout the book. I thought it was a nice touch to give depth to the story itself as well as the experience narrated. Also, isn’t it nice not to have a fair and tall blond guy with blue eyes and a killer smile as a love interest? Etta’s mother has a particular role in the story and the reader’s feelings towards her change as the story unfolds. Still, at the end of the book, I did not know if I liked her, understood her, or hated her.

Welcome to Passenger Airlines, we wish you a pleasant journey.
Dear authors, if you’re going for time travel, beware I am a Doctor Who fan (RTD era, not Moffat, please.).
If handled badly, your journey will leave the reader bored, confused or both. Thankfully, the matter was handled quite well in the Passenger. I won’t reveal where the story takes you but I was relieved (that being an euphemism) when the characters escaped the whole boat and pirates area. I am not a fan of pirates, legal or not. The transitions are smooth and do have a nice coherent feeling as we discover the entire time traveling process with Etta. Many details about each time and place are set for the reader to connect with the story and the problems encountered; clothes, manners, society issues. Nothing is left behind, Bracken has done her share of homework.

Etta is sent on a mission by someone she doesn’t know, surrounded by people she had never heard of before, far away from the regular life of a teenager. Imagine being told you can travel through time and space, that the closest people to you have left you in the dark about it, and that now you need to use your ability to save them by retrieving an ancient object. Said object being extremely dangerous if left in the wrong hands. Should Etta follow the orders or make sure the object, which was hidden for a reason, stays away forever? Everyone has an agenda, riddles need to be worked on, historical events come in the way, unwelcoming places are visited. All events build up a tension that reaches its peak at the end of the book. I felt just like Etta most of the time. The beginning left me confused, a little bored at time (thanks, pirates!) but once the quest began, I just had to keep going. On the side, and slowly making its way into the characters’ hearts is a love story that is hinted throughout the first part of the book, and becomes a major matter as we follow Etta and Nicolas’ adventure. Their relationship is not rushed or imposed on us out of nowhere but grows with the hardships both have to go through, which I thought was refreshing.

Overall, I did like Passenger, although I wish the prologue weren't so soporific. ...more

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