Review: Passenger – Alexandra Bracken

Posted January 7, 2016 by Andi in Books, Review / 5 Comments

Review: Passenger – Alexandra BrackenPassenger by Alexandra Bracken
Series: Passenger #1
Published by Disney-Hyperion
Published: January 5th 2016
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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

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.



Passenger has been a high priority read for me for a long time. I’m a huge sucker for time travel books and the mind warp that happens with them. And even though I haven’t finished the series yet I loved Alexandra Bracken’s first book The Darkest Minds. Excellent combination if you ask me. So basically I was really excited to read Passenger. It took me a while because of my timing of reading it during the holidays but in the end I really enjoyed it.

Passenger is about Etta, a violinist that lives in modern day 2015 with her mother. Etta is about to make her debut as a premier violist when everything changes. Suddenly Etta is in 1776, kidnapped, and being forced to find something her mother ‘stole’ years ago by the family that her mother ran from. Up until this point Etta had no idea travelers existed and now she finds she is one herself. All she does know is she needs to find what was stolen and save herself and her mother but she needs the help of Nicholas Carter, a handsome man around her age from 1776. Nicholas hates the family Etta is being forced to help for his own reasons but need them for others. Soon Etta and Nicholas find themselves jumping from time to time while running from danger and their relationship blossoming. But really what is more important, their selfish interests or their interest in each other?

This book was jam packed with action. Etta and Nicholas find themselves in a boatload of danger/trouble as they follow clues left by Etta’s mother to find the ‘stolen’ item. It’s pretty cool to see the two of them land in historic events and ancient places. The time travel aspect leaves everything open for discovery which is what I love about time travel books in general. But Bracken worked with these events for her story and didn’t make the event just be a back drop. The action and adventure was my favorite part to be honest.

The events were huge details in the backdrop of Passenger. They really told the story of change and time of war and what life was like. Without these events that Etta’s mother chose to visit, to leave a trail, I don’t think we would have understood what the character was really like. That right there is what fed the story. The backdrop was essentially the story.

I loved Etta and Nicholas together and separate. But they were more interesting together for sure. To be honest I’m not sure how I felt about the romance (one of the minor things that bugged me at times) but they worked so well together as people. They both here determined and fighters. They both did whatever they needed to to survive. I felt really badly for some of the choices they had to make a lot of the time but they always did what they needed to. Now the Ironwoods? Hated them (as I’m sure we are supposed to). But I also didn’t like Etta’s mother so there was that. I did like all the connections to people. That was fun to try and figure out.

I really enjoyed Passenger. Even with the parts that bugged me (which I won’t point out as to not ruin the book) I was happy with the progress and story telling. Honestly I think book 2 is going to be off the charts good with the set up that Passenger gave us. There are so many things still left to be explored and dealt with and I just can’t wait. Definitely a solid start to a new series.

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5 responses to “Review: Passenger – Alexandra Bracken

  1. I loved Passenger! Alex’s take on time travel was really great. And she brought Nicholas and Etta to life so darn well that I felt like they were my friends. I definitely need the second book, stat. 😉

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