Title: Passenger

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Be warned, this is a bad review. I did not like this book.

I’ve heard so many good things about this book. The BookTube community adores it. The premise sounds super promising. I guess that’s why I had some pretty darn high expectations for Bracken. Boy was I disappointed.

Now, many would argue otherwise, but I really didn’t enjoy the writing style. It was overly descriptive and lots of the details were pointless. The premise is actually a highly interesting one, but the author decided to infodump by making two characters have Q&A sessions. Literally.

“How old are you, exactly?” Sophia asked, returning to the bed again. “That’s my next question.”

“Seventeen,” Etta said, pulling the gown over her head. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen,” Sophia said. “And a half.”

I mean, seriously? That’s not even the worse of it all.

Plot-wise, it’s excruciatingly slow and boring. Until 200 pages in, we don’t really know what the main character’s goals are. Time travel is awesome, but we hardly even get that until the last half of the book.

The main character, Etta, is unremarkable the epitome of a perfect YA character. You know, tough, strong, righteous, independent, noble, blah blah. Also, apparently she’s a badass fighter who delights in being called “pirate” although she’s never picked up a gun before, had no friends and spent her waking hours glued to a violin.

Finally, let’s talk about Etta, Nicholas and the painfully lack of chemistry between them. I think the romance here is just plain ridiculous. Within days of meeting her (not to mention the lack of interaction), our male love interest has this talk with his best friend:

“She’s not for me.”

“I think she is,” Chase insisted. “Yet you can’t see it.”

“What I see is that there’s no future there, even if the lady were amendable.” The words were sour in his mouth. “What do you expect, for me to marry her? The match is forbidden by law.”

Cringe, right? Or if that was sarcasm at its finest, then call me foolish, because I don’t get it. Here’s another cheesy passage, which took part when Etta and Nicholas was seeking shelter during a bombing (I must say Nicholas sounds outright stupid here. Wake up, boy, you’re not some invincible god):

“Would you like me to go take that violin for you? I’d glady fight whatever angry mob rises if it might make you smile.”

Her heart just about burst at that.

Be brave. “I would only want to play for you.”

Please, stop.

However, let’s look at what little bright side there is about this book. Like the cover. I love love love the illustration and I think the colors are stunning. And, well, um… I got to see a bit of old-day London, Cambodia, Paris and Damascus. So, yeah.

It took me a week to finish “Passenger” and I’m just glad it’s over. Nearly 500 pages of tediousness, I still couldn’t bond with the characters or the world. I’m not curious about what happens next, and won’t be looking for its sequel.

Enough said.