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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’m not the biggest fan of time travel but this book has a good way of explaining away some of my issues with the concept. The plot was action-packed and entertaining. The relationship between Nicholas and Etta was heartwarming. The ending was rushed in my opinion and slightly underwhelming but had its sweet moments. Overall, a very fun read.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"It wasn't a weakness to have those thoughts, to feel that need to help another, to save lives. It made one human."
I AM DONE WITH THIS BOOK, FINALLY! Gosh, it took me so long! And I really don't know why, because I liked it. Yes, it was not as good as Passanger, in my opnion, and not as gripping, but it was not a bad book by all means. I don't know why I kept stalling.
First of all, I really liked how Bracken expanded the world she created, adding some mythology and introducing us to the history of the travelers and how it interferes in the present of our characters. Also, we got to finally meet the Thorns in a deeper way and understand it's motives, and honestly I LOVED them, especially Etta's father (maybe my favorite new character). His relationship with Etta in this book was just so beautiful! He loved her so much and was willing to do anything to protect her and make up for lost time. Sophia was a pleasant surprise as well, along with Lin Mei. They made for the best parts of the book. I got to understand Sophia's character a little more, and came to love her and HER LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH NICHOLAS WAS JUST SO GOOD! Another returning character was Julian, who was also amazing. I loved the character development and how we came to actually know him.
Nicholas for me was the star of this book. He's a precious little cupcake that needs to be protected at all costs and he's suffered enough for two lifetimes. But, despite everything, he never loses himself, he never doubts the ones he loves and he persists, with courage and honor and bravery. I love him so so much. He was the character that carried the book for me. I would have liked for him and Etta to find each other sooner in the book, because all the time apart really hurt their dynamic, but I still like the ship. Etta, on the other hand...she fell so flat in this installment! She could never impose herself, and she lets people drag her around without so much as a weak protest. She only became the brave, confident girl I was expecting in the last 100 or so pages. And, idk, she's so judgy sometimes. All I managed to feel for her was irritation.
Like I said, there were many good things about this book, but some not so good ones as well. First of all, the plot was kind of confusing. Yes, I understand the searching for Etta, searching for the astrolab, trying to stop Ironwood, but then there was the whole plot with the shadows and the ending was kind of messy and the explanations were confusing. And it all was solved kind of quickly.
Overall, I enjoyed, and I still don't understand what hold up my reading. Still, it's not as good as book one. I like Bracken's writing and her descriptions and I plan to read her other books soon!
Actual rating: 3.5 stars.
2.5 stars
This sequel and conclusion to [b:Passenger|20983362|Passenger (Passenger, #1)|Alexandra Bracken|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446749751s/20983362.jpg|40360384] (which I enjoyed a lot) was disappointing. The first half of the 500+ pages were so boring, I tended to only skim the pages because I was bored. It was very slow and nothing really happened. The only reason I did not dnf it was Julian Ironwood, he is hilarious. Also, the writing is great and I did like the ending.
This sequel and conclusion to [b:Passenger|20983362|Passenger (Passenger, #1)|Alexandra Bracken|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446749751s/20983362.jpg|40360384] (which I enjoyed a lot) was disappointing. The first half of the 500+ pages were so boring, I tended to only skim the pages because I was bored. It was very slow and nothing really happened. The only reason I did not dnf it was Julian Ironwood, he is hilarious. Also, the writing is great and I did like the ending.
It is no shameful thing to be beaten when outnumbered, not when you were brave enough to try. Nor is a scar or injury something to despair over, for it is a mark that you were strong enough to survive
8/10 stars.
This book, even tho better than [b:Passenger|20983362|Passenger (Passenger, #1)|Alexandra Bracken|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446749751s/20983362.jpg|40360384], still lacked in feelings, which still bothered me to no end, but to be honest I was already expecting this and was actually surprised because it felt less numb (maybe because I was more attached to the characters?)
This was the main reason why I didn't gave this book a higher rating but there's a smaller one: this book felt huge, and yes, he is quite big, but that's not what I mean, what I mean is that the book felt stretched and then, the ending wasn't as slow-written as the rest of the book; this made me feel, on one or two occasions, bored as hell; still, that didn't happen often and I could pass over it.
Now, the good things are, pretty much, the same as Passenger: I still loved the writing style, the small historic facts (even if they were less in this book), the plot, the whole time-travelling issue, the moral dillemma and the diverse characters (God, so good!) but I found the ending much more satisfying in this book. I'm just going to talk a bit more about these last two things because they were, by far, my favourite part in the whole book.
The diversity in this book was something I absolutely loved! We already had Nicholas, an african-american love interest
Spoiler
and now we had the whole romance between Li Min and SophiaThe finale of the book was really well done and I was really happy with it, it answered most of the questions we had, wasn't out of character or rushed and made me feel, in the overall, fulfilled and happy.
I wouldn't recommed this book to everyone (the writing can be, for some, too boring but, as I said multiple times, I loved) but if you're not easily bored, if you like a slow writing style (that's the only way I could find to describe it) or if you're just really into time travelling I am pretty sure you will like it.
Last year I really fell in love with the time travel and characters in Passenger so reading the sequel when it came out was a must. When I love the first book, I'm usually happy if the second book comes close to giving me the same feeling. For this one, I loved it even more than Passenger. It added some new characters that I loved, developed some of the minor characters from the first, and between the dynamics of the two groups of characters and this sequel added new elements to plot, both in regards to time travel and the fight against Ironwood.
The book was told again in the dual POVs of Etta and Nicholas, picking up where the first book left off. With them being separated, I was a little worried the plot would feel like it was dragging in the same direction too much, too much focus on them trying to find each other through time. Instead if gave both characters a chance to really develop on figure themselves out on their own while giving them new characters to interact with, or focusing more on the dynamics we saw little of in the first book. Nicholas and Sophia's testy history was really pushed to the forefront as they were forced to work together and I really enjoyed seeing them work together for their different goals. I also enjoyed the addition of Li Min to their group. She was this unknown element who could match Sophia burn for burn and flirted with her, but also added a 'can she be trusted' aspect to the group.
My favourite was the growing dynamic between Etta and Julian. She was so determined to reach her goals, of finding out what happened to her, of finding Nicholas, of stopping Ironwood, of finding answers, but she knew she couldn't do it alone. Julian walked the line of being annoying in his rich privilege and being terrified without knowing how to protect himself. I loved the banter between him and Etta as they kept being forced together by circumstances and that the growth between them stayed platonic(no love triangles!). I also loved that we saw growth in Julian's character through his journey with Etta and he got to a point where I would definitely pick up a book with his story in it.
The plot, like in the first book, unfolded slowly, and it was something that I enjoyed. Sometimes I prefer fast paced books that really grab me and sometimes I prefer slowly paced books where I can really get absorbed into a complicated plotline. I thought this book, this duology, did a great job in keeping me pulled into the storyline and invested in the characters. I enjoyed the twists and the additional world-building in this one, plus traveling within the book to so many historical places, some which of were altered because of Ironwood. I could definitely understand the need to stop him no matter what the cost.
I would definitely read more books in this universe if they were written. It works so well as a duology but if there were short stories about the minor characters, I would be there. I'm not quite ready to leave this time traveling world behind.
The book was told again in the dual POVs of Etta and Nicholas, picking up where the first book left off. With them being separated, I was a little worried the plot would feel like it was dragging in the same direction too much, too much focus on them trying to find each other through time. Instead if gave both characters a chance to really develop on figure themselves out on their own while giving them new characters to interact with, or focusing more on the dynamics we saw little of in the first book. Nicholas and Sophia's testy history was really pushed to the forefront as they were forced to work together and I really enjoyed seeing them work together for their different goals. I also enjoyed the addition of Li Min to their group. She was this unknown element who could match Sophia burn for burn and flirted with her, but also added a 'can she be trusted' aspect to the group.
My favourite was the growing dynamic between Etta and Julian. She was so determined to reach her goals, of finding out what happened to her, of finding Nicholas, of stopping Ironwood, of finding answers, but she knew she couldn't do it alone. Julian walked the line of being annoying in his rich privilege and being terrified without knowing how to protect himself. I loved the banter between him and Etta as they kept being forced together by circumstances and that the growth between them stayed platonic(no love triangles!). I also loved that we saw growth in Julian's character through his journey with Etta and he got to a point where I would definitely pick up a book with his story in it.
The plot, like in the first book, unfolded slowly, and it was something that I enjoyed. Sometimes I prefer fast paced books that really grab me and sometimes I prefer slowly paced books where I can really get absorbed into a complicated plotline. I thought this book, this duology, did a great job in keeping me pulled into the storyline and invested in the characters. I enjoyed the twists and the additional world-building in this one, plus traveling within the book to so many historical places, some which of were altered because of Ironwood. I could definitely understand the need to stop him no matter what the cost.
I would definitely read more books in this universe if they were written. It works so well as a duology but if there were short stories about the minor characters, I would be there. I'm not quite ready to leave this time traveling world behind.
I am disappointed.
There is just something about this book, passenger included, that irked me. I don't know. I feel that there is something missing from this book. I was so excited for this story when I first heard about it but after reading Passenger, it was such a let down. It was boring and long and just confused me so much. I had hope that book two would be better but NOPE, just as boring,long and confusing and one of my MOST HATED TROPES was in this book.
The characters I do love and the diversity in the book and really good. I also love the bonds in this book. Friendship, lovers, family. It is all done really well.
But . . . the story is toooo long and drawn out and like literally nothing happened in this book. Like what it is even about? I finished the story this morning and I have already forgotten because nothing happened. I was waiting for more action and the second half was defiantly a step up but still. I just don't know why I don't like it.
There is also too much going into the time-travel of the story. It is so confusing and I would be constantly re-reading pages to try and make scene of what I was reading.
Overall, a very average read. It got 3 stars because I was there for the characters and they were quite funny in the book, but everything else was disappointing.
There is just something about this book, passenger included, that irked me. I don't know. I feel that there is something missing from this book. I was so excited for this story when I first heard about it but after reading Passenger, it was such a let down. It was boring and long and just confused me so much. I had hope that book two would be better but NOPE, just as boring,long and confusing and one of my MOST HATED TROPES was in this book.
The characters I do love and the diversity in the book and really good. I also love the bonds in this book. Friendship, lovers, family. It is all done really well.
But . . . the story is toooo long and drawn out and like literally nothing happened in this book. Like what it is even about? I finished the story this morning and I have already forgotten because nothing happened. I was waiting for more action and the second half was defiantly a step up but still. I just don't know why I don't like it.
There is also too much going into the time-travel of the story. It is so confusing and I would be constantly re-reading pages to try and make scene of what I was reading.
Overall, a very average read. It got 3 stars because I was there for the characters and they were quite funny in the book, but everything else was disappointing.
The end of this book confused the hell out of me BUT I liked it. I was so excited when you know who found out he could you know what. It felt like a totally separate story than the first book, and I kind of wished the whole Belladonna/Ancient one thing had been brought up in Passenger. Still, liked the duology as a whole. And definitely going to read something else by this author.