The Passage (The Passage, #1) in Bookworm Buddies

May 23, 2019 Celeste rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

The Passage has been on my TBR list for years, but for some reason has always been pushed to the side in favor of something newer and shinier. Which is strange, because it contains a lot of elements that I really enjoy, or at least enjoy reading about, like vampires and the world spiraling into a dystopian apocalypse. Better late than never, I suppose. Once I finally picked this up, I was engrossed.

Before she became the Girl from Nowhere—the On

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

The Passage has been on my TBR list for years, but for some reason has always been pushed to the side in favor of something newer and shinier. Which is strange, because it contains a lot of elements that I really enjoy, or at least enjoy reading about, like vampires and the world spiraling into a dystopian apocalypse. Better late than never, I suppose. Once I finally picked this up, I was engrossed.

Before she became the Girl from Nowhere—the One Who Walked In, the First and Last and Only, who lived a thousand years—she was just a little girl in Iowa, named Amy. Amy Harper Bellafonte.

The story begins with the birth of one of our protagonists, Amy. Despite her mother’s best intentions and efforts, Amy gets a rough start in life. However, as the world begins to spiral into madness, Amy makes two very good friends who would do anything to protect her. Because unbeknownst to world, Amy might be the only person who can save it.

The world was a world of dreaming souls who could not die.

Something I found incredibly interesting about this book is the fact that it honestly felt like a self-contained trilogy, even though it’s only the first book of an actual trilogy. The second part of this book takes place nearly ninety years after the events that wreck the United States and lead to the few survivors having no idea what has happened in the rest of the world. We are introduced to a community of people who are the offspring of children shipped out of large cities by train, to save them from the horrors approaching their homes. This community believes that they are likely all that’s left of the world. Their problem is that the batteries that power the lights, lights which burn all night every night to keep the monsters away, are beginning to fail. Without the lights, they are doomed. While trying to find an answer to this battery problem, our new cast of characters suddenly see something they thought was impossible: a Walker, someone from outside their walls who is still alive and unchanged. In the Walker’s wake, the community is forever changed.

A baby wasn’t an idea, as love was an idea. A baby was a fact. It was a being with a mind and a nature, and you could feel about it any way you liked, but a baby wouldn’t care. Just by existing, it demanded that you believe in a future: the future it would crawl in, walk in, live in. A baby was a piece of time; it was a promise you made that the world made back to you. A baby was the oldest deal there was, to go on living.

There were quite a few characters from this community that I really enjoyed. Theo, a fledgling leader growing into his roll. Auntie, the only person still alive who remembers the Time Before. Sara, a nurse with a bruised heart and most courage then she thought. Michael, the tech on whose shoulders the battery problem lays, and whose intelligence is through the roof. Alicia, a warrior unlike any woman her world has ever seen. But my favorite is Peter, Theo’s brother who finds himself questioning his place and part in his community. Peter’s character development was honestly incredible. His personality reminded me a bit of Nick from Stephen King’s The Stand, which for me is pretty high praise. Peter goes from a boy who tries to fade into the background without disappointing anyone, to a brave and thoughtful leader. I really enjoyed watching him grow.

Such a simple thing to want. To be a person; to live a human life.

I felt that this particular apocalypse was fairly original. The government wants a super soldier serum, but ends up turning their death-row guinea pigs into freaky vampire things. When these vamps find a way to basically take over the world, everything spirals into chaos. The mind control and broadcasted dreams and hive mind mentality were all very interesting and different additions to this vampire apocalypse that I thought were well handled.

Courage is easy, when the alternative is getting killed. It’s hope that’s hard.

I only had two problems with this book, and they were both fairly minor. First, over the nearly 800 pages there were multiple instances were the narrative dragged, and I would find myself inadvertently skimming and having to go back and reread sections. I think the book could have been tightened up and shortened by about 100 pages, which would have made the story stronger. Also, there were quite a few plot twists that ended up feeling too convenient, which is strange to say about a dystopian novel. There were too many miraculous saves.

What strange places our lives can carry us to, what dark passages.

The Passage was a very enjoyable first installment of a trilogy that I definitely intend to continue. It was action-packed and original, and I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn’t reading. I can’t help comparing it to other novels I’ve read in this genre. The Passage felt like a mix of The Stand and The Girl with All the Gifts, but less literary and with vamps instead of zombies. I would highly recommend this book to any fan of dystopian fiction. ...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Janie Johnson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

Now for being a first for me from Cronin this was a great read IMO. I have read and heard a lot of mixed reviews on this story. Something always seemed to happen to perk you back up just when you thought it was 'down time'. The premise of this story is great and I loved the way it kinda flowed. I also love post apocalyptic stories, and this is one of the greats I think. Near the middle of the book however there is a pretty big shift in the storyline, where you get introduced to new people, and a Now for being a first for me from Cronin this was a great read IMO. I have read and heard a lot of mixed reviews on this story. Something always seemed to happen to perk you back up just when you thought it was 'down time'. The premise of this story is great and I loved the way it kinda flowed. I also love post apocalyptic stories, and this is one of the greats I think. Near the middle of the book however there is a pretty big shift in the storyline, where you get introduced to new people, and a significant shift in time as well. I thought it was pretty easy to settle into though. There were a few times where I felt like throwing the book across the room asking Cronin how he could do what he just did.

I love the characters in this series so far. But it is not always happy endings with them. I have heard from others who have read this that is was hard to follow the characters in this story and I did not really find that to be an issue for me. I think Cronin did well with introducing and developing his characters. He is pretty clear cut and to the point for the most part with all of them.

My favorite character I would have to say is Peter. The author may have made him a little to unrealistic, or maybe a little to fortunate to always seem to come out on top like he does in many instances. But I still find that I like him a lot. He is pretty strong and I thought that questionable in the beginning, be he grew on me easily throughout the course of the story. Alisha to me is also a great character. She can rub the reader the wrong way sometimes but she is someone that you know you can trust when the going gets tough.

I did run into a part of the book near the end that seemed a little abrupt without much explanation. It just kind of happened. It was almost like Cronin was in a hurry and thought that we, the readers, would figure it out. One minute there was total mayhem and the next it was all cotton candy and sunshine. Kinda threw me for a loop and almost wondered if there were pages missing from my book.

For the most part this was an incredible read, very well written and I look forward to now reading The Twelve. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves Post Apocalyptic stories without the zombies. A 4.5 rating from me. ...more

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Mar 05, 2017 Paula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have read 'The Passage' twice (this is my second time reading it). I enjoyed it this time as much as I did the first time. 'The Passage' is the start of an epic story, the characters are well written and memorable. I found myself enthralled in the story very quickly and could not wait to find out what happened next.

Now on to 'The Twelve'.

Highly recommended. ...more

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Apr 28, 2013 J.S. Bailey rated it liked it

I would have enjoyed this book more if it had not been so bleak. Seriously. The Passage makes Stephen King's "The Stand" look like a summer holiday.

This does not mean that I didn't like The Passage. It has an intricate plot that unfolds over the course of a century, and many interesting characters. However, I found that portions of the narrative had entirely too much description and back story that didn't add to the plot, making for very slow reading.

That being said, I'm dying to know what happe ...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Chris rated it liked it · review of another edition

So since the book feels like two books mashed into one I will try to review this as such. The first half was a very slow starter. If I hadn't known this fact, and been listening to it in audio I would have stopped and not continued with this book. Still a part of me wondered why I was continuing when there are so many other books I really want to read. I had to press on to see what everyone is talking about. The main point about this whole section is to get to know the little girl named Amy. As So since the book feels like two books mashed into one I will try to review this as such. The first half was a very slow starter. If I hadn't known this fact, and been listening to it in audio I would have stopped and not continued with this book. Still a part of me wondered why I was continuing when there are so many other books I really want to read. I had to press on to see what everyone is talking about. The main point about this whole section is to get to know the little girl named Amy. As far as the reader knows at this point there is nothing special about her, but the government is risking everything to kidnap this girl so she can be part of a secret medical research project that has only tested on convicted felons. This is all build up to the rest of the book and in my opinion was just way to long.

It does pick up when the setting is in the compound that they do the testing, but other than that it was a struggle to get through, and we still don’t know why Amy is so important to the progression of this research. The virus begins to take over the country slowly and the government is quickly destroying cities and moving, giving up territories to the vampires.

Once you get to Part 4 in the book the second half of the story starts. This is why I say this felt like two different books in one collection. We start over, a century after the events of the earlier parts. We now have to get to know all new characters, and where the setting has evolved to all this time after the outbreak. It really is like picking up a different book and starting at the beginning. I just felt the story was starting to pick up and then nothing. Getting to know the colony wasn't as drawn out as the characters in the first half, and there is more action in part four alone so I kept going.

Clearly after reading this much of the review you can tell I was not a big fan of this book so you might be asking why did I give it three stars? Well, I gave it three stars because no matter how bored I was at times or how drawn out the book felt; by the end I wanted to go on. It took three fourths of the book but by the last few chapters I liked the characters that were left, and as frustrating as it was to admit, I want to know what happens. Initially I didn't want to continue this trilogy, all I wanted was to finish this book. Well now I need to find out what happens, I think I will take some time before I continue but I will continue.

The only advice I can give you is if you can last through just over half of this book you might just come to enjoy it somewhat. If you can’t struggle through and get to the points that were interesting then don’t bother. I should have given up and moved on, but I didn't and I am glad I finished.
...more

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Apr 19, 2020 Adeeb rated it liked it · review of another edition

Somewhere between 3 and 4. I really liked the beginning part, where they show how the virus outbreaks, but then there was a very random change in tone that I could not wrap my head around.

And also it could’ve easily been 200 or so pages shorter. But still, Cronin has great ideas.

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Mar 09, 2019 Mom2triplets04 rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-books

Listened to this on audio. It was very long took me months to finish. Personally I only liked half of the story. Felt it was way too long and not scary. I’m watching the tv series and feel the series is doing a great job making the vampires more to life then the book did. Amy is my favorite so glad she’s more in the tv show then the book. It’s worth the read to find out more.

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