{WOW} WAYFARER by Alexandra Bracken

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...








's Pick:



Title: Wayfarer
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Series: Passenger, book #2
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: January 3, 2017

All Etta Spencer wanted was to make her violin debut when she was thrust into a treacherous world where the struggle for power could alter history. After losing the one thing that would have allowed her to protect the Timeline, and the one person worth fighting for, Etta awakens alone in an unknown place and time, exposed to the threat of the two groups who would rather see her dead than succeed. When help arrives, it comes from the last person Etta ever expected—Julian Ironwood, the Grand Master’s heir who has long been presumed dead, and whose dangerous alliance with a man from Etta’s past could put them both at risk.

Meanwhile, Nicholas and Sophia are racing through time in order to locate Etta and the missing astrolabe with Ironwood travelers hot on their trail. They cross paths with a mercenary-for-hire, a cheeky girl named Li Min who quickly develops a flirtation with Sophia. But as the three of them attempt to evade their pursuers, Nicholas soon realizes that one of his companions may have ulterior motives.

As Etta and Nicholas fight to make their way back to one another, from Imperial Russia to the Vatican catacombs, time is rapidly shifting and changing into something unrecognizable… and might just run out on both of them.

I don't know how I missed the cover reveal for this one, but I saw it on Amazon over the weekend and was like, YEP. I know Passenger was rather hit-or-miss for most people, but it was a hit with me. I've always liked Bracken's writing, and these books are no different. Plus, the premise for this sequel is just so compelling. Characters back from the dead. Mercenaries and girls with ulterior motives. And the possible destruction of time as we know it? YES, PLEASE!

What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

Read More

Labels: alexandra bracken, beautiful covers, disney, diversity, fantasy, grabby hands, passenger, time travel, waiting on wednesday (wow)

{Review} PASSENGER Will Take You on an UNFORGETTABLE Voyage Through Time

Title: Passenger
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Series: Passenger, book #1
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: January 5, 2016
Source: ARC received from publisher/Big Honcho Media
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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.

Passenger is everything I'm looking for in a time travel book. For one, there's actually quite a bit of travelling going on...not just one jump but several from one time to another and from one locale to another. This is only the first book, so the origin of the particular method of time travel in this story is still relatively unclear, but it's not confusing either.

There's an evil madman, hell-bent on making time travel his bitch, with total world domination likely on the agenda. There are chase scenes and gun fights and pirates and all manner of action sequences. Plus, there's a bit of romance. And it's a multi-racial one that breaks ALL THE RULES. In other words, I don't think there's anyone who won't like this book to some degree.

Etta's life has been one big deception. She doesn't even know she can travel through time until she's being dragged through a passage into Nassau in 1776. But this girl is tough as nails and not to be underestimated. Though she doesn't know it yet, her mother has given her everything she needs to surmount every obstacle she encounters.

The fiercely protective Nicholas has his own plans, but he'll die before he sees any harm come to Etta. Theirs is not a love-at-first-sight type of romance, but it is one of immediate mutual respect. And it only grew from there. I didn't feel any deep connection to these characters until nearly halfway through the story, but once that connection was made, there was no turning back. But that probably stems from the fact that the main characters themselves are so guarded up until that point that they weren't even sure they were connected.

All of the characters in this story are so full of surprises. At every turn, I'd think I knew what to expect, and then my theories would be completely turned upside down with their antics. I love a story that can constantly keep me guessing, and that's exactly what I got with Passenger. Even the ending was shocking in a way I hadn't expected. I know from experience that Bracken can create an intricate world and make me believe in it completely, but she's really outdone herself with this book. I've only read this first book and I'm already completely invested in Etta and Nicholas's future.

And I love that Bracken didn't skimp on the racial injustices or the societal expectations when representing previous centuries. Nicholas, having been born in the 18th century, knows about limits and expectations better than anyone, but for Etta, it all comes as a bit of culture shock. It was honestly hard to read the gritty depictions of how Nicholas was treated and viewed at times, but it also fired up my inner feminist when it came to how Etta was expected to behave. It also intensely fueled my hope that both would end up in the 21st century where things aren't exactly perfect but are still better.

I've already added Wayfarer to my TBR, and I'm ardently waiting for its release. Like, if I had a magic book genie, that book would be the first I'd ask for. If you're a fan of time travel, pirates, and have a healthy sense of adventure, this series should definitely be in your future.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

I’m Alex. I write about telekinetic teens and floppy-haired wizards. I love Star Wars, classic rock, and 18th century gentlemen. When I’m not up at 4 AM writing, you can find me running around the DC area, where I now live and write full time..

Find Alex:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram | Tumblr

Read More

Labels: alexandra bracken, book trailers, disney hyperion, favorite authors, favorites, must-read, passenger, reviews, time travel

Waiting on Wednesday: A Whole New World & Passenger

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selections are...








's Pick:




Title: A Whole New World
Author: Liz Braswell
Series: Twisted Tales #1
Publisher: Disney Press
Publication Date: September 1st, 2015

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A street rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

I'm a big fan of retellings, so I'm super excited to read this one. I actually just got approved for it on Netgalley, I hadn't heard of it before I saw it on there. So yay for that! :)





's Pick:



Title: Passenger
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Series: untitled series, book #1
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: January 5, 2016

Violin prodigy Etta Spencer had big plans for her future, but a tragedy has put her once-bright career at risk. Closely tied to her musical skill, however, is a mysterious power she doesn't even know she has. When her two talents collide during a stressful performance, Etta is drawn back hundreds of years through time.

Etta wakes, confused and terrified, in 1776, in the midst a fierce sea battle. Nicholas Carter, the handsome young prize master of a privateering ship, has been hired to retrieve Etta and deliver her unharmed to the Ironwoods, a powerful family in the Colonies--the very same one that orchestrated her jump back, and one Nicholas himself has ties to. But discovering she can time travel is nothing compared to the shock of discovering the true reason the Ironwoods have ensnared her in their web.

Another traveler has stolen an object of untold value from them, and, if Etta can find it, they will return her to her own time. Out of options, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the mysterious traveler. But as they draw closer to each other and the end of their search, the true nature of the object, and the dangerous game the Ironwoods are playing, comes to light -- threatening to separate her not only from Nicholas, but her path home... forever.

I absolutely adored Alexandra Bracken's The Darkest Minds trilogy from start to finish, and I have a feeling I'm going to love this new series even more. Especially with the promise of time travel. And gawd, isn't that cover unbelievably gorgeous?!? January...why you so far away?


What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

Read More

Labels: alexandra bracken, beautiful covers, disney hyperion, fairy tales, liz braswell, passenger, retellings, time travel, twisted tales, waiting on wednesday (wow)