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Passenger | February 17, 2016

by Alexandra Bracken (Disney-Hyperion, January 2016)

Time travel, tangled family lines, and heart-pounding adventure and romance—Passenger by Alexandra Bracken has enough to last several lifetimes!

Etta Spencer, a violin prodigy, is a modern-day girl who is suddenly whisked back to the American Revolution–era 1700s. There she learns of her mother’s secret past, or more aptly, pasts: her mother is a time traveler and has hidden an important relic that opens time “passages” from the all-powerful Ironwood family who controls the time-traveling community. Now Etta must find this relic for the Ironwoods, or she will never see her mother again.

Passenger is told in third-person POV, but focused on two characters: Etta and Nicholas, who becomes her travel companion. Nicholas has his own reasons for traveling; he wants to buy his own ship, guaranteeing his freedom in a time where a person of color is not granted that. The split POV allows for a more intimate look at the developing relationship between Nicholas and Etta, as well as their individual motives and desires. Etta is headstrong, and Nicholas is rational, due to his familiarity with the Ironwoods’ “rules”—together they complement and strengthen each other. Nicholas and Etta’s companionship and eventual romance is one of the highlights of this novel.

Passenger is a book steeped in the cultures of various countries at various points in history. It was refreshing to see a time-travel story where the characters hop around rather than stay in one place, looking to get back to their present. I give this book a standing ovation!

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