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lesserjoke's review against another edition
3.0
This post-apocalyptic vampire novel has a real early Stephen King feel to it. The most direct King parallel is probably The Stand, which similarly details the outbreak and aftermath of a deadly plague virus, but there are also classic King tropes like a psychic child and the gradual corrosive destruction of a small-town community, to say nothing of the vampire/zombie creatures themselves. I did prefer the first third of this novel, spanning the buildup to the outbreak, over the remainder of the text, which then jumps forward a century to show how society has adapted. Still, the whole book is definitely worth reading for any Stephen King fans, and I'll probably check out the two sequels at some point as well.
mridzyreads's review against another edition
4.0
Oh boy, this was long pending.
Welcome to the end of the world. As the world explores immortality, life fucks you back.
I'm not a big fan of post-apocalyptic books but this one hit where it hurts. The Passage brings out the horror in a realistic model of the current world. Amy, a child of a thousand years is probably the answer to everything that went horribly wrong.
The book started with intrigue, continued with boredom and ended with the question "there's more?" What was supposed to be an uber secret mission to extract super bat DNA to make soldiers turned out to be the key to doomsday. Trust the armed forces to fuck things up. Fast forward to the future and there's no technology and a lot of vamps/virals roaming the world, hunting for game, breeding to continue existence and probably pod in pod with the girl you once slept with.
The first half set the ball rolling, the second half struggled to keep up and the climax was over before I could pull out. I'm fucking glad that this wasn't a "shoot-you-in-the-head" vampire story. I was expecting them to become smart as the years progressed and am glad that they did. There wasn't a vamp as classy as Count Drac but some of them were pretty neat sans the fashion sense.
I just read the synopsis of the second book and saw none of the characters from book 1. Well except Amy and god knows what she's becoming.
Should I continue this series? Hmmm...
Oh yes, worth the bullshit midway.
Welcome to the end of the world. As the world explores immortality, life fucks you back.
I'm not a big fan of post-apocalyptic books but this one hit where it hurts. The Passage brings out the horror in a realistic model of the current world. Amy, a child of a thousand years is probably the answer to everything that went horribly wrong.
The book started with intrigue, continued with boredom and ended with the question "there's more?" What was supposed to be an uber secret mission to extract super bat DNA to make soldiers turned out to be the key to doomsday. Trust the armed forces to fuck things up. Fast forward to the future and there's no technology and a lot of vamps/virals roaming the world, hunting for game, breeding to continue existence and probably pod in pod with the girl you once slept with.
The first half set the ball rolling, the second half struggled to keep up and the climax was over before I could pull out. I'm fucking glad that this wasn't a "shoot-you-in-the-head" vampire story. I was expecting them to become smart as the years progressed and am glad that they did. There wasn't a vamp as classy as Count Drac but some of them were pretty neat sans the fashion sense.
I just read the synopsis of the second book and saw none of the characters from book 1. Well except Amy and god knows what she's becoming.
Should I continue this series? Hmmm...
Oh yes, worth the bullshit midway.
jordanb94's review against another edition
3.0
Man idk. I'm trying to get into this guy after The Ferryman. But he has a tendency to start out so strong and build an incredible world then BAM he includes a time jump or a world jump and it just doesn't work for me. As soon as he turns the sci-fi meter to 11 it just falls apart in my opinion. Which sucks because I REALLY want to like his writing.
mollylooby's review against another edition
5.0
Blurb
Amy Harper Bellafonte is six years old and her mother thinks she's the most important person in the whole world. She is. Anthony Carter doesn't think he could ever be in a worse place than Death Row. He's wrong. FBI agent Brad Wolgast thinks something beyond imagination is coming. It is.
Unaware of each other's existence but bound together in ways none of them could ever have imagined, they are about to embark on a journey. An epic journey that will take them through a world transformed by man's darkest dreams, to the very heart of what it means to be human. And beyond.
Because something is coming. A tidal wave of darkness ready to engulf the world. And Amy is the only person who can stop it.
My Review
I have to say first of The Passage that it's a huge commitment. But once committed, there's no turning back. The book is mammoth - 950 pages - and it took me four weeks to read it. And I'm a fast reader. But it was worth every minute I put into it.
The Passage had been on my shelf for a couple of years and I've always been terrified to pick it up based on its hugeness. But I thought, I'm ahead of my book target this year. (At this point I'd read 9 books in 6 weeks - but quite a few of them were my own books) So I could afford a few weeks of not finishing a book.
What struck me first was how different The Passage was from books I normally read. Those of you who read this blog regularly or know me, know that I read teen fiction almost exclusively. But since discovering this book a few years earlier, I knew I wanted to break my usual genre. Though nothing like anything I'd ever read, I fell into The Passage with ease. The narrative was complexly woven and I wanted to keep reading to find out how these characters fit together.
At first I thought it'd be difficult to separate all the characters from one another because the whole thing's so wildly ambitious, but it was surprisingly easy - not trouble free, but most of the time I knew exactly who everyone was and how they were related to everyone else.
All the characters, be them huge major characters like Amy or tiny minor characters, felt so whole, round, and real, I was blown away. It really felt like every single character had a story. And what's more, the story was relevant. Nothing was irrelevant in the whole book. I ate it up. Everything. As it went on I just fell further in love with it.
Masterfully crafted and filled with action, I only have one more thing to say about The Passage. Jane Austen has never been more correct. "If a book is well written I always find it too short." At 950 pages, the longest book I've ever read, this is still true of The Passage. I just didn't want it to end.
Evaluation
Overall 9/10
Would I recommend it? Yes. It was just incredible on so many levels I don't know how I wouldn't.
Would I look up the author? Yes. But I don't fancy the sequel to The Passage. I'm happy with the ending I was given in book one.
The Passage was an incredible journey I didn't want to end.
Amy Harper Bellafonte is six years old and her mother thinks she's the most important person in the whole world. She is. Anthony Carter doesn't think he could ever be in a worse place than Death Row. He's wrong. FBI agent Brad Wolgast thinks something beyond imagination is coming. It is.
Unaware of each other's existence but bound together in ways none of them could ever have imagined, they are about to embark on a journey. An epic journey that will take them through a world transformed by man's darkest dreams, to the very heart of what it means to be human. And beyond.
Because something is coming. A tidal wave of darkness ready to engulf the world. And Amy is the only person who can stop it.
My Review
I have to say first of The Passage that it's a huge commitment. But once committed, there's no turning back. The book is mammoth - 950 pages - and it took me four weeks to read it. And I'm a fast reader. But it was worth every minute I put into it.
The Passage had been on my shelf for a couple of years and I've always been terrified to pick it up based on its hugeness. But I thought, I'm ahead of my book target this year. (At this point I'd read 9 books in 6 weeks - but quite a few of them were my own books) So I could afford a few weeks of not finishing a book.
What struck me first was how different The Passage was from books I normally read. Those of you who read this blog regularly or know me, know that I read teen fiction almost exclusively. But since discovering this book a few years earlier, I knew I wanted to break my usual genre. Though nothing like anything I'd ever read, I fell into The Passage with ease. The narrative was complexly woven and I wanted to keep reading to find out how these characters fit together.
At first I thought it'd be difficult to separate all the characters from one another because the whole thing's so wildly ambitious, but it was surprisingly easy - not trouble free, but most of the time I knew exactly who everyone was and how they were related to everyone else.
All the characters, be them huge major characters like Amy or tiny minor characters, felt so whole, round, and real, I was blown away. It really felt like every single character had a story. And what's more, the story was relevant. Nothing was irrelevant in the whole book. I ate it up. Everything. As it went on I just fell further in love with it.
Masterfully crafted and filled with action, I only have one more thing to say about The Passage. Jane Austen has never been more correct. "If a book is well written I always find it too short." At 950 pages, the longest book I've ever read, this is still true of The Passage. I just didn't want it to end.
Evaluation
Overall 9/10
Would I recommend it? Yes. It was just incredible on so many levels I don't know how I wouldn't.
Would I look up the author? Yes. But I don't fancy the sequel to The Passage. I'm happy with the ending I was given in book one.
The Passage was an incredible journey I didn't want to end.
ms_yall's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
books_venture's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
guywhelon's review against another edition
1.0
more backstory than the usual 'some government lab experiment went wrong and now everyone's infected', the first 30% of the book was fantastic because of this, really great story telling and world building; I couldn't wait for this to continue.
AND then, we jump a hundred years to the future, and the next 30% is about a colony dealing with the impacts of the outbreak.... Why introduce the first people originally?!
The remaining 40% covers some stupid plot to go to Colorado to some lab where apparently the chosen one can save humanity, but the ways the tribe are intercepted on the way are honestly laughable, including two massive 'end-game' confrontations with Babcock, who is supposedly the main villain, yet isn't really talked about until it feels like a big boss fight is needed.
AND then, we jump a hundred years to the future, and the next 30% is about a colony dealing with the impacts of the outbreak.... Why introduce the first people originally?!
The remaining 40% covers some stupid plot to go to Colorado to some lab where apparently the chosen one can save humanity, but the ways the tribe are intercepted on the way are honestly laughable, including two massive 'end-game' confrontations with Babcock, who is supposedly the main villain, yet isn't really talked about until it feels like a big boss fight is needed.
mhockenson's review against another edition
4.0
Started off great, got a little boring in the middle and finished pretty strong. A different take on the Vampire theme that's for sure. Looking forward to where the rest of the story goes.
bailey_philip's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5