Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken

*spoilers*

Read: May 21-27, 2017
Published: January 3, 2017
Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction


          Etta Spencer didn't know she was a traveler until the day she emerged both miles and years from her home.  Now, robbed of the powerful object that was her only hope of saving her mother, Etta finds herself stranded once more, cut off from Nicholas—the eighteenth-century privateer she loves—and her natural time.
          When Etta inadvertently stumbles into the heart of the Thorns, the renegade travelers who stole the astrolabe from her, she vows to finish what she started and destroy the astrolabe once and for all. Instead, she's blindsided by a bombshell revelation from their leader, Henry Hemlock: he is her father. Suddenly questioning everything she's been fighting for, Etta must choose a path—one that could transform her future.
          Still devastated by Etta's disappearance, Nicholas has enlisted the unlikely help of Sophia Ironwood and a cheeky mercenary-for-hire to track her down. But after a deadly mistake derails their search, they discover an ancient power far more frightening than the rival travelers currently locked in a battle for control—a power that threatens to eradicate the timeline as they know it.
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Why did you read this book?
I finished reading Passenger a week ago, and I adored it. Naturally, I made a trip to the library the same day to get Wayfarer. (I actually sprinted into the library because I made it there with five minutes to spare before it closed.)

What did you like about this book?
I liked Passenger better than Wayfarer, but it was still very good. All of the things I loved about the first book, I loved about this one. I really liked every interaction between Etta and Nicholas, especially since they they are confident in their love for each other and have already gone through all of their angst in the previous book (and there wasn't much to begin with). The end of this book was so satisfying and exciting to read. The last quarter of the book, everything just came together and all the story lines converged to one moment, which, considering all of the time traveling, had such a small chance of happening. The sense of adventure was still here and this book and satisfied (or fed) my yearning to travel again. Although, this adventure was more urgent, with more on the line. The stakes were definitely raised in this book. Nicholas and Etta were still great characters, but I loved the introduction of Henry Hemlock and Li Min. I didn't trust Henry at first. I kept waiting for him to betray Etta, and then, even as I was waiting for it to happen, I was desperately hoping it wouldn't happen. Henry and Etta's growing relationship was beautiful to watch. I just loved all of their interactions. And Li Min was fantastic. She was tough and razor sharp, but somehow managed to soften Sophia's hard edges. She was a great asset and friend to Nicholas and really came in clutch on multiple occasions.

What didn't you like about this book?
I was pretty disappointed that Etta and Nicholas were separated for the majority of the book. Their relationship was my favorite part of the first book and I was really looking forward to more of that. This book also felt much slower to me than the first one. It wasn't as exciting (except for the end) and it did lose my interest a lot in the beginning. I was still not a fan of Sophia, even though I'm pretty sure she is meant to grow on the reader in this book. And she did grow on me, despite the fact that I still didn't like her. Julian was another character that I wasn't too fond of. I honestly think he was a character better left dead. Speaking of characters being left dead, I also think that Rose should have actually died, rather than there being the 'surprise, she's alive!' at the end. As much as I did love the end of the book, it was a little to peachy. After everything that happened, it's hard to believe that it could all end perfectly. I'm a bit biased I guess, because I think Rose deserved to receive consequences for her actions (particularly and especially after what she did to Alice), and she was taken back into the folds of her family without so much as a good smack to her head. While she was doing what she did for the greater good, I don't believe good intentions excuse terrible actions.

Bottom-Line:
I loved this book. I loved Passenger. I've come to realize that I love duologies. I definitely recommend reading both of these books and I am most definitely going to buy them (I can't help it, I have a problem). If you're stuck where you are, you will find adventure in these pages.




"'Imagine what you could accomplish with your life,' she said, 'if you weren't so damn afraid all the time.'" -Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken