Did you know Michael David Rosenberg's stage name in #passenger ? Check out his super hit #musicvideos on #sdtunes http://www.sdtunes.com/.../passenger-huge-hit-music-video...

Release Date: January 5th, 2016
Source: ARC via publisher
Published by: Disney Hyperion

Passenger - Alexandra Bracken | Goodreads

passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever.

With any book that heavily features cinematic action, there's always the danger (for me) of dissociating from the characters because the focus is more on the plot than their plight. However, this did not happen with Passenger. From the opening pages, I identified with the main characters, Nicholas and Etta, and their character struggles. In the prologue, we are shown a crucial, character-defining moment in Nicholas's life; from that moment on, it's easy to understand his bitterness, his dissociation with the world around him and the privileges and legacy he cannot claim. In the first chapter, Etta is revealed to be a violin prodigy with a competitive, ambitious attitude; she's been waiting a long time for her debut, and she will not back down, a quite refreshing outlook (to me) for a young female character. Both characters are immediately rendered flawed yet sympathetic, with their own struggles to overcome in the duology.

Because Outlander is so successful, it seems like there is an increase in YA time-travel novels (for 2016 and beyond). Honestly, I like this trend, and I want to emphasize how Passenger is different from others in YA that I've read. Perhaps the most key element to this difference is the emphasis in Passenger on travelers not belonging to any one culture. In Passenger, time-traveling has become heavily regulated due to one family bending the others under its heel and a diminished ability to time-travel because of a decline in the population of the genetic predisposition therein. Alex Bracken has imagined several details to accompany the time-traveler "belonging" aspect of her world-building: people being orphaned from their time, shifting timelines because of the actions of certain characters and the war between families for power over the time passages; the discussion of wealth and power inherent to the privilege of time traveling and changing history. In order to survive the trials put by the dominating family with the most time travelers, people have been forced to take desperate action. People from that family, and others, have to learn several languages and the ability to blend in with the tenor and feel of a time period, even when its attitudes are so different from their own. Alex Bracken doesn't seem to skimp on historical detail, even when they're not accepted in our own time but are clearly markers of the struggles faced by characters from their own time period. Altogether Passenger is a fascinating look into history and culture with its well-developed world-building. I once saw that teachers recommended YA historical fiction to their students as a way of encouraging their interest in history; I can see Passenger among these novels, for it is clear that Alexandra Bracken has done her research to make the atmosphere and attitudes realistic.

The romance between Etta and Nicholas is of the slow-burn kind. While the two are indeed instantly attracted to each other, neither knows what to make of and whether to trust the other. Through their shared trials on their quest to retrieve a valuable object, they get to know one another and that attraction is allowed to simmer. However, the romance never takes over the main quest plot or the suspense that Alex Bracken builds about their motives and those of the other characters. In short, Passenger will have a huge audience. Also, it would make for an amazing movie, and I would not be surprised if, in the coming weeks, we hear of a Hollywood studio snatching the rights to this book. Check out the book trailer if you don't believe me.

If you're a The Darkest Minds fan, I do think that you're going like Passenger; there's a similar blend of cinematic action, romance, suspense, and emotionally charged situations. I also would recommend this to fans of A Thousand Pieces of You. Of the time travel YA novels published so far (that I have read!), ATPoY seems the most similar. Cinematic in scope and sharpened by suspense, family drama, flawed, interesting characters, and an intense romantic bond, Passenger is sure to nab its own legion of fans eager for the sequel, especially after that explosive ending.

Are you all excited for Passenger by Alexandra Bracken? I definitely am. The only other book I've read that combines time travel and historical romance is Outlander, and I enjoyed the book and the show quite a bit (though I've still got to finish watching the last three episodes! ack!). Oh, wait, I also read Lisa Bergren's River of Time series. But it's been so long since I read some of those books, and there's always room for more. More YA + time-travel + romance + historical speculative fiction, please! More Alexandra Bracken please!

"You are my passenger, and I will be damned before I let any harm come to you." -back cover on the ARC of Passenger. Could this be the mysterious Nicholas from the synopsis?

If you're as excited as I am, check out the giveaway below!

Release Date: January 5, 2016
Published by: Disney-Hyperion

Passenger - Alexandra Bracken | Goodreads

passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever.

First: if you are really excited for this book, you can actually download the ebook sampler on either Amazon, Nook, or iBooks.

I love reading samplers before adding books to my TBR. They really help determine whether I'd jive with the writing style. I highly encourage you to check those links out!

Second: even if you don't win this giveaway, please consider pre-ordering the book. Pre-order sales can be vital to the success of a book. And look, handy links ahead: Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million,  Indiebound, Indigo, iBooks.

Third: While waiting for Passenger to hit shelves, be sure to check out the newly released Darkest Minds collection, Through the Dark. Don't miss this breathtaking collection of stories set in the world of the New York Times best-selling Darkest Minds trilogy. Featuring ebook original novellas, In Time and Sparks Rise, available in print for the first time, and a gripping, brand-new novella, Through the Dark is a must-have for fans of The Darkest Minds. This collection contains three novellas: In Time, Sparks Rise, and Beyond the Night, as well as a sneak peek at the first novel in Alexandra Bracken's new series, Passenger.

Fourth: You can enter the giveaway below -- and it's easy! Just tell me why you're excited to readPassenger. Have you read one of Alexandra Bracken's books before? Do you like the sound ofPassenger? Did you read the sampler?

 

Prizing and samples provided by Disney-Hyperion.

Please note prizing will ship early January following release of the book.
Giveaway ends 11/14/15.

RAFFLECOPTER ENTRY FORM IS AT THE ORIGINAL LINK

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alexandra Bracken is the New York Times bestselling author of The Darkest Minds andNever Fade. Born and raised in Arizona, she moved east to study history and English at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Alex now lives in New York City, where you can find her hard at work on her next novel in a charming little apartment that's perpetually overflowing with books. Visit her online at www.alexandrabracken.com and on Twitter @alexbracken.  

Hi, everyone! Today I've got another tag, this time to celebrate new releases -- or releases coming now/late summer/fall (or even later, with Passenger, which just made for an easy question). You can change the questions by putting in titles that you'd like to promote if you want. Mostly I just want to help promote these titles & bring your awareness to them, especially as a few of them are being released really soon!

Also feel free to answer as many of the questions as you'd like, whether that's only one or them all :). And and and! Feel free to interpret them as you like (e.g. Q1: not just tropes but characteristics of a fave; Q7: monsters on your feels as in favorites instead of psychological thrillers, etc.).

1. What makes you MORE HAPPY THAN NOT (in books)?
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera | Release Date: June 2, 2015

A book to anticipate!

So this question is actually the reason I started this tag. I received an email from SoHo Press about the #MoreHappyThanNot tour where people across social media were meant to answer: What Makes You More Happy Than Not? But I wanted to promote more than one book, and because I'm a cheeseball, I'd probably answer that my friends and family and the love and connections that I have make me more happy than not, so ANYWAY I figured that I would mention both the book & BOOKS in general.

So! What tropes make me happy in books? What elements are like "key words" to me to pick up the book? Alternatively, I could've interpreted this question to mean what sort of things make for favorite books - not necessarily tropes - but oh well. I was filming at midnight lol. Be glad I'm awake.

Essentially I said that the trope of the Hidden Identity was one of the things that I absolutely loved in fantasy when done well and two examples I give are: The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas & The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, the latter of which inspired ToG.

2. (I) MADE YOU UP: which fictional character do you wish was real?
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia | Release Date: May 19, 2015

Read my review here.

Read my first interview here.

Read my second interview here.

I actually refilmed this question! I didn't like my first answer. So I gave two answers: if I were to interpret this question a la book boyfriend type, I'd say Cricket Bell from Lola and the Boy Next Door because Nerdy Sweet Boy Next Door types = my fave. Also the kind of guy I'm probably going to end up with later in my life, as that seems to be my type hahaha.

But if I were to choose a best friend type, I'd go for Fire by Kristin Cashore. It upsets me a little when I see people complain about Fire's "hand-wringing." NGL, I judge people a little bit by how they react to this book / Fire as a main character. If they don't like the writing style or the book, totally fine. But if they think that Fire is somehow weak, my inner judgment meter rises a notch. I don't like being that person but hey, everyone has a character who's like that for them, no? And I admire Fire's quiet strength A LOT. I also love the way Cashore wrote a heroine who has extraordinary powers but who is not a Mary Sue at ALL.

3. In high school, you were THE BOY (/girl) MOST LIKELY to ...?
The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick | Release Date: August 18, 2015

A book to anticipate!

My middle school actually had one of those yearbook category things. We all voted. I was in the "Best Eyes" category. Does it count if you're voted into something you're literally not responsible for having and/or doing? Lol, well, even if I weren't voted into that category in my middle school, I would've been voted into "Most Academic."

In high school, as arrogant as it sounds, probably Most Likely to Succeed as I did all those cliche things to pad my resume and was pretty high in rank for GPA/SAT/again all the cliche markers of "success" that don't actually mean much.

4. Which century would you like to be a PASSENGER to?
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken | Release Date: January 5, 2016

A book to anticipate!

Well, if I had my choice, I wouldn't want to leave our century as women have historically been treated awfully and at least we may? be getting better.

 

But if I really had to time travel, which centuries am I most fascinated by? Well, even though the Victorian period has been used by so many books, I'm still fascinated by it. Also by the Romans, especially if I can just be a Passenger & leave that brutality by the end of the day.

5. P.S. I STILL LOVE YOU: which of your childhood reads gets this letter?
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han | Release Date: May 26, 2015

I've been told that I read a lot when I was a kid, but I only vaguely remember reading. I remember reading what few Nancy Drew hardcovers there were. I remember a lot of other books on the shelf but not whether I read them. The real exception were those American Girl novels. I devoured them. They were my first exposure to diverse books, girls of different heritage or class and how they coped with the challenges presented to them. Don't remember if they were stereotypes, but I guess I would write that letter to them because they definitely also encouraged my enthusiasm for reading.

Also, lol, Harry Potter. #hpforlife

6. You're not a DUMPLIN' but a ...?
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy | Release Date: September 15, 2015

Read my review here.

Dumplin' is the main character's nickname, so this is a sort of "get to know you better" question. What nicknames do you have? Well, I'm a Chris, Stina, Xtina, Tina, Stinkle, Teenie, Teen, C, Cree Cree, Cokiri, Crystal, Kawthar. Probably more. Kawthar was given to me by my Arabic professor in college. For whatever reason, the other Arabic professor decided to give me another "Arabic name," but LOL Crystal is not Arabic. *shrug*

7. Which books are DELICATE MONSTERS on your feels?
Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn | Release Date: June 9, 2015
Read my review here.

So, multiple ways to answer this question. Monsters on your feels as in your faves, or monsters on your feels like Kuehn's psychological thriller, heart-pounding & intense? I did the latter & recommended BLACK IRIS. You can read my review of that here :) but essentially: gorgeous, magical writing + dreamy atmosphere + unreliable narrator who says she's an unreliable narrator + total unpredictability + dark revenge + suspense = pulse-pounding AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

 

Like that formula?!?!?

A.) I seriously tag all of you. You don't need me to specifically tag you to do this but if you want, I will edit this post to mention you :)

B.) I tag Ameriie at Books Beauty Ameriie, Mel at the Daily Prophecy, Tara at Literally Tara, andAmber at Books of Amber.

C.) And I also tag all the people who I tagged in my Extraordinary Means tag because hey, if you didn't like the questions there, maybe you'll like them here & want to promote some upcoming new releases?

How would y'all answer these questions?