Passenger - Alexandra Bracken

Title: Passenger
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Pages: 496
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads rating: 

About: 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 have an immediate two-fold reaction to things involving time travel: 1) too complicated.  No time travel story plays with exactly the same rules, so a significant portion of the store becomes establishing boundaries, and 2) it’s too easy to mess up your own timeline and that makes me so nervous.  But, it’s Alex Bracken, so I knew I was going to read it no matter what it was about.

First off, I want to say that I am 100% in love with this cover.  It’s freaking gorgeous, big gold star for the cover designer.

The beginning of this one was a little slow.  Because of the world building involved and having a narrator that is totally ignorant of the world she’s thrust into to there’s a lot of information to slog through. I really liked how time travel worked in this story – there are set passages that take you to certain places and certain years, but it’s always the same date that it is when you started.  So, like, if it’s January 5, 2015 and you go through a portal to 1940s London, it’s still going to be January 5^th.

Both main characters are great, but I think Nicholas stands out just a little bit more for me.  He’s a pirate!  

Okay, he’s a privateer, which is like a legal pirate?  (Everything seemed very gentlemanly when he was overtaking the other ship’s crew in the beginning.)  Being the half-black, illegitimate son of the ruling time traveling family, based in the 1700s, he’s had a bit of a hard life.  All he wants is to get away from his terror of a family and spend his life in his own time, sailing the open seas.  That is, until Etta comes along.

He is tasked with “helping” Etta (read: making sure she doesn’t take off with it) bring a valuable time traveling artifact back to the Ironwood family.  Etta wants this artifact for her own purposes: to get back to her own time and save someone’s life. Also, you know, to keep it out of the hands of the corrupt Ironwood family.  I loved how Etta's mom had given her a map of sorts without actually giving her a map.  Or any idea that she could time travel.  Or that time travel was an actual thing.  Whatever, it was awesome.

Of course Nicholas and Etta fall in love along the way.  The build up of this relationship was perfect. There's a lot of denying their own feelings, which was frustrating, but in the best possible way.  I'm a sucker for a good 'this will never work' couple.  I really loved seeing how their views (stemming from their different time periods) on race affected their relationship.  Nicholas’s amazement that they would be able to dance together out in the open in her time was such a lovely moment.

Although there was a lot of set up to get through in the beginning, I loved Passenger.  Having an evil-ish ruling family and a treasure hunt through time was such cool way to see all different periods of history.  Etta and Nicholas have such a complex relationship and were the perfect duo to travel through time with.  Of course, we’re left with a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I can’t wait to see what Wayfarer brings!

The Darkest Minds - Alexandra Bracken

Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Pages: 488
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

From goodreads.com: When Ruby wakes up on her tenth birthday, something about her has changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control. 

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. 
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her--East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. 
When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

My favorite moments in The Darkest Minds were the ones where the horrific world around the characters kind of fell away.  The ones where they were able to be normal kids despite the circumstances.  Zu and Ruby "shopping" at the store, Liam and Ruby dancing to the Beach Boys, Chubs and Ruby just having conversations.  Those were the moments I lived for in this book.  They're really highlighted by the fact that the world they live in is so bleak and tragic.

My absolute favorite thing about this book was its characters.  Spending so much time with the main foursome really connects you to them.  Whenever someone was separated from the rest of the group, keeping watch or whatever, I was on high alert the whole time, waiting for something terrible to happen.  Bracken really has the ability to make you feel like you're there with Ruby and the rest as they journey for answers.  I absolutely adored Liam.  He was always so worried about making sure everyone else was okay.  And he was so accepting of Ruby.  No question, of course they were going to take her with them.

What I remember most clearly about this book though, is crying all through the end.  Even afterwards, after I put the book down I couldn't stop.  My sister looked over at me like I was a crazy person, I was sitting in one of our living room chairs and I just had tears streaming down my face and I couldn't stop them.  So if you like dystopian/paranormal books or books that give you a lot of feelings definitely check out The Darkest Minds.

I feel I cheated a little bit on this one because this song, Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys, is actually in a scene in the book, but I think these lyrics fit pretty well.  Also, I grew up listening to The Beach Boys and I'll take any excuse to feature one of my favorite songs by them.

(Click on the lyrics to hear the song on youtube.)

EW reveals cover for Never Fade

Entertainment Weekly revealed the cover for the second book in the Darkest Minds trilogy this morning.  Take a look

Now, I loved The Darkest Minds, and I especially loved its cover.  It was so shiny and pretty.  Honestly, it was probably my favorite cover of last year.

(Okay, you don't really get the shininess part here, but whatever.)  I think the NF cover does the series justice, though I do hope that it will have the same shimmery shine to it as TDM does.  This series is going to look so gorgeous on my bookshelf.  What do you guys think of the cover?