A review by rachelsread
The Secret of Safe Passage by Martin Baynton

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I both loved and hated this book - loved because it had such a wonderful and intriguing mystery and hated because now I have to wait a year for the sequel! Admittedly, I wasn't expecting to like the story as much as I did - I initially believed this was more of a children's book than general fiction. Still, I was soon proven wrong by the delightfully abrasive character of Ali. There were so many dimensions to her character that it made her feel like a real person, someone I could talk to as a friend rather than a fictional character. The blending of the "real world" with that of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was done brilliantly to such an extent that at one point I sat down and seriously considered if Wonderland (or, at least, someplace like it) could actually exist given what we currently know about gravity wells and the multiverse theory. The only "criticism" I have, if you can even call it that, is the ending of the book. I won't give away any spoilers, I'll just say that it ended very abruptly and although I know that this is the first book in a series, it still felt to me that it was like finishing a TV show episode rather than completing an actual novel. But other than that, and asides from a few very small technicalities that didn't add up for me, it was an interesting and captivating story that I'll definitely be recommending to all my friends!