Hello guys!
A new week is here and I'm highly awaiting my Illumicrate in the mail and hoping The Book Depository will ship my preorder of The Vanishing Throne soon, but it still won't arrive by release date... oh well!!
For this week's Mark This Book Monday entry I have an ARC review from one of my BEA ARCs! So far I only have 3 pending to read, and only two are behind schedule, so not doing too bad!
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
WOAH! Holy revelations at the end Batman!! And I seriously dislike Sophia with a passion, even karma seems to be doing its work!
My BEA ARC is nowhere near the finished book and I really really loved it, so I cannot wait till I can read the finished book!
Reading Passanger as an ARC was a new experience for me, because it underwent revisions and a new beginning was added, with changes that had to span the rest of the book, more minor as they might be. So while I had the new beginning because the author had sent them on her newsletter, I had already read the old beginning too (stopped reading when I heard about the changes) and when I started reading again, I had both beginnings in my head, so to speak.
That made for a different reading experience, because not only I was reading the book but I was also wondering about how some things might be affected by the changes to come in the final book, and how some other things would have been changed. If you're wondering if that somehow affected my reading negatively, nope! It made reading the book even more fascinating!
And I must confess to be absolutely in love with the essence of the story and the characters! No matter what changes have happened to the story, I love Nicholas, I love Etta and I love their world of time travelling families and passages!
The world building was fantastic, with little details here and there that might have not seem all that relevant until they became crucial! I loved how Alexandra Bracken took us to many different places and times in the world and how very real each of them felt! There were so many lil tiny details added here and there that you might not notice too easily but that do create a great atmosphere!
Etta was a great character even if it took me a lil while to relate to her. I could see her love for playing the violin and her drive and ambition but once she was thrown into completely uncharted waters it's when I began to really like her. She was trying her best to adapt and understand but she couldn't stop being herself and that got her in trouble a few times. It's true that she sometimes run without thinking, but being treated as if she ought to know everything and be grateful for her choices being taken from her can make anyone make a few rash (and slightly unwise) choices.
Nicholas is a fantastic character, with a troubled and difficult past, hard choices made for him and others he had to make himself, and despite his justified hate of the family, he's not one to judge others too easily or too fast, even when he is judged and dismissed too easily too often. I don't want to talk too much about him because you simply need to meet him yourselves!
If you're wondering if there's romance, yes there is, and the romancephobe that I am doesn't really complain about it! There was a bit of instantaneous fascination at first, and they're thrown together by fate and family interests but their connection and chemistry felt quite intense and real, so I do ship this ship, very much!!
As far as the plot goes, you are not really sure about where things are going at first, so we're very much like Etta, but as she figures things out, everything seems to be taking shape. But don't get too comfortable because there are some serious plot twists thrown here and there, and the bomb at the end of the book is quite something too! Cliffhanger warning here for all of those like me who need to be prepared for them!
I cannot wait to re-read my finished copy of Passenger once I can finally get my greedy hands on it. This ARC got 4 stars but I get the feeling the finished book might get 5 stars once I read it!
View all my reviews
A new week is here and I'm highly awaiting my Illumicrate in the mail and hoping The Book Depository will ship my preorder of The Vanishing Throne soon, but it still won't arrive by release date... oh well!!
For this week's Mark This Book Monday entry I have an ARC review from one of my BEA ARCs! So far I only have 3 pending to read, and only two are behind schedule, so not doing too bad!
Passenger by Alexandra BrackenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
WOAH! Holy revelations at the end Batman!! And I seriously dislike Sophia with a passion, even karma seems to be doing its work!
My BEA ARC is nowhere near the finished book and I really really loved it, so I cannot wait till I can read the finished book!
Reading Passanger as an ARC was a new experience for me, because it underwent revisions and a new beginning was added, with changes that had to span the rest of the book, more minor as they might be. So while I had the new beginning because the author had sent them on her newsletter, I had already read the old beginning too (stopped reading when I heard about the changes) and when I started reading again, I had both beginnings in my head, so to speak.
That made for a different reading experience, because not only I was reading the book but I was also wondering about how some things might be affected by the changes to come in the final book, and how some other things would have been changed. If you're wondering if that somehow affected my reading negatively, nope! It made reading the book even more fascinating!
And I must confess to be absolutely in love with the essence of the story and the characters! No matter what changes have happened to the story, I love Nicholas, I love Etta and I love their world of time travelling families and passages!
The world building was fantastic, with little details here and there that might have not seem all that relevant until they became crucial! I loved how Alexandra Bracken took us to many different places and times in the world and how very real each of them felt! There were so many lil tiny details added here and there that you might not notice too easily but that do create a great atmosphere!
Etta was a great character even if it took me a lil while to relate to her. I could see her love for playing the violin and her drive and ambition but once she was thrown into completely uncharted waters it's when I began to really like her. She was trying her best to adapt and understand but she couldn't stop being herself and that got her in trouble a few times. It's true that she sometimes run without thinking, but being treated as if she ought to know everything and be grateful for her choices being taken from her can make anyone make a few rash (and slightly unwise) choices.
Nicholas is a fantastic character, with a troubled and difficult past, hard choices made for him and others he had to make himself, and despite his justified hate of the family, he's not one to judge others too easily or too fast, even when he is judged and dismissed too easily too often. I don't want to talk too much about him because you simply need to meet him yourselves!
If you're wondering if there's romance, yes there is, and the romancephobe that I am doesn't really complain about it! There was a bit of instantaneous fascination at first, and they're thrown together by fate and family interests but their connection and chemistry felt quite intense and real, so I do ship this ship, very much!!
As far as the plot goes, you are not really sure about where things are going at first, so we're very much like Etta, but as she figures things out, everything seems to be taking shape. But don't get too comfortable because there are some serious plot twists thrown here and there, and the bomb at the end of the book is quite something too! Cliffhanger warning here for all of those like me who need to be prepared for them!
I cannot wait to re-read my finished copy of Passenger once I can finally get my greedy hands on it. This ARC got 4 stars but I get the feeling the finished book might get 5 stars once I read it!
View all my reviews
