Passenger by Alexandra Bracken | Rating: ★★★★★“You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you.”
Was that a quote from the book or from myself to Alexandra Bracken’s books? Answer: both. I literally had to drive to a bookstore that was an hour and a half away to get this little baby. And that was without the traffic. But it was so, so, so worth it.
As a massive fan of Alexandra Bracken and her absolutely glorious and captivating series The Darkest Minds, I’ve been looking forward to her next release since it was announced. And by that, I mean I’ve been impatiently fiddling with my fingers and doing some sort of awkward “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so scared!” dance.
Passenger promised to be many things: romantic, mysterious, thrilling. Really, who can resist a good old fashioned time travel romp? I know I can’t. It’s the biggest plus in the history of pluses that Alexandra Bracken is the author who is bringing us the latest.
Our story begins in present day New York City and introduces us to our latest heroine: Etta Spencer. Etta is really smart and badass and a great narrator to peak into. I couldn’t help but to love her instantaneously and wept with her as her life becomes something unexpected. You see, our dear Etta (her full name is Henrietta, if you were wondering) has the normal life of a violin prodigy.
Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken | Rating: ★★★★★“Oh, I’m sorry, apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted the beginning of yours. Do continue.” / “I don’t want to just see someone’s face; I want to know his shadow, too.”
It’s no secret that out of a majority of series on the young adult book market The Darkest Minds was one of my favorites of recent years. It combines all familiar tactics of story telling for this reading range and it manages to come across as smart and witty without coming across as cheesy.
Which goes without saying: I was super-duper excited to buy the sequel of this planned trilogy.
Unlike most young adult series in this genre The Darkest Minds and Never Fade are extremely well written. Alexandra Bracken continues to paint a clear image of Ruby and CO’s world that is haunting and will also warm your heart to see the way these kids eventually care for one another. And that while there is romance in the story, she doesn’t carry it over the top and cram it down our throat.
By the end of The Darkest Minds we were all left with many, many questions: Will Liam ever remember Ruby? Will Ruby ever be the same? What is going to happen to all those kids in all those camps? Did Chubs survive? Will we ever see Zu again? What is really the story behind the League? Can we trust Cate? When will Clancy and his cocky, troubling mind make a reappearance?
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken | Rating: ★★★★★“He’s so busy looking inside people to find the good that he misses the knife they’re holding in their hand.”
For me, between this and Splintered by A.G Howard, this novel is one of the best available in young adult literature these days. I’d heard a small buzz of hype about it on Tumblr last year and decided to purchase it on a whim to check it out. And honestly, I’m glad I did — not only is it entertaining, it’s definitely written a lot better than some current YA titles.
It took me such a small frame of time to read it because I didn’t want to put it down. There’s something about the novel that keeps you reading, keeps you glued to the story, because I honestly did not want to put it down until I reached the last page. I just had to know what happened.
The Darkest Minds was very suspenseful. There was a lot of action in it and it kept the novel all the more interesting when tied into the mysterious disease which has taken the lives of so many kids in this fictional world. With the controlling government and the surviving kids there were only two options: one being they were locked away at a, and I quote, rehabilitation camp (which was horrendous) and the second option meant living a life on the run and in constant fear.
It's nuts.
