Reviews

The Passage by Justin Cronin

jimodonnell's review against another edition

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1.0

I won’t beat around the bush. This is an awful book. First of all, it’s hundreds of pages too long. Hundreds. There are endless pages of meaningless, incoherent ramblings, lots of unnecessary detours and blather. The story itself is interesting enough but the way its told is painful. Much of the writing is very elementary. The author violates that basic “show don’t tell” rule by telling us everything and showing us next to nothing. Every time he gets a little bit of flow it crashes and burns with some inane email exchange or insertion of information, newspaper article, etc. that just bogs us down. And dialogue. Wow. Never seen a worse handling of dialogue. And...vampires. I didn’t realize before picking this up that it was a vampire book. I’m so sick of vampires.

One of the most jarring things about the book is how Cronin starts off in 2018 and, although he does it poorly, he at least gives us some characters we can invest in a bit. Then, abruptly, we are far in the future with new characters and it’s like starting all over.

Maybe this just isn’t my type of book. I can’t believe the positive reviews it gets. I honestly couldn’t finish it. I fought it for months and finally made it to about page 500. Then I just couldn’t take it anymore.

cecilyvee's review against another edition

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5.0

Epic!

bbaird's review against another edition

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5.0

My favorite apocalyptic book! I've read the trilogy twice so far.

melorox's review against another edition

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4.0

To be honest I almost put this book down 30% in. The characters changed, the timeline shifted, and I wasn't ready to commit to something new all over again. But since I was so far in I pushed on and soon became engrossed in the developments of the new characters. The story became the sort of edge of your seat dystopian thriller I am such a sucker for with one huge difference: it is also beautifully written. I'm definitely downloading the 2nd book.

ja9bird's review against another edition

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4.0

still amazing. on to book two

kaora4's review against another edition

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5.0

It had never occurred to her that God would cry, but of course that was wrong. God would be crying all the time. He would cry and cry and never stop.

I don't normally like vampire books. Vampires have become integrated in a formula for an instant best seller, thanks to books like Twilight, much like World War Z and zombies. So I avoid books like these in general.

However, The Passage is so much more than a vampire book. It is a book that focuses more on courage, relationships, heartbreak, survival and hope. It isn't a small book by any means, having approximately 800 pages but it is a book that I enjoyed so much those pages just flew by, leaving me wanting more because Cronin can WRITE.

It takes a great author to introduce you to a character who may only be present for a few chapters in the book, but remains with you.

We live, we die. Somewhere along the way, if we're lucky, we may find someone to help lighten the load.

I don't want to reveal too much about this book as part of what makes this book amazing is the slow unfolding of events. This is my second time reading through, so that should tell you how much I enjoyed it. It is quite an undertaking, but I feel like it is completely worth it.

Cross posted at Kaora's Corner.

ithinktfiam's review against another edition

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1.0

Abysmal direct rip-off of the big zombie book, Dragonball Z or something... ;)

The only differences are he creates vampires rather than zombie and the use of magic. Yes, magic. Somehow, the "virus" creates armored beings who, just somehow, happen to have a single soft spot to hit that is deadly even by bows and arrows. Oh, yeah, and telepathy.

Overwritten, not the least interesting. If you do try to read it, skip the first 200 pages. He spends that long to set up the fall of civilization with boring, dull, imagery that adds nothing to the post-collapse story.

rubyrubay's review against another edition

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3.0

This was about 300 pages longer than it really needed to be. An interesting story but dear god was it a hell of a slog.

marissax89's review against another edition

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2.0

It took me about 3/4 of the book to truly grasp what was happening but once I did I got into it. There are lots of characters that you meet really fast and some are quickly forgotten and some really stick with you. Cronin is a bit different that I'm used to. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. But no complaints.

jlitsch's review against another edition

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5.0

Exceptional. If you are toying with the idea of embarking on this epic journey, do so when you have ample time to let every word sink into your skin and your soul. This odyssey lived and breathed with me. I thought about the story and my new friends on the pages when I wasn't reading. I had every kind of emotion imaginable from the first page to the last. I am excited and terrified by the fact that there are 2 more books to this series that I am able to enjoy, and if I'm being honest, be completely possessed by. 5 strong stars.