WIJFR: The Passage (sp)

[snshne322]

aurora

In the interest of complete disclosure, I didn't finish the book 100%.  My audio loan ended with 47 minutes left, mid sentence.  SO MAD.  I thought I had two hours left, I was trying so hard!  But since I got through 28.5 of 29 parts, I'm calling it read.  I haven't done it yet, but I plan to go spoil it for myself or see if I can stop in my library to read the last damn 20 pages.

That said, I have mixed feelings about the book.  I think it was a really interesting take on Vampirism.  Kind of like Outbreak meets I Am Legend meets Dracula.  I wonder if the issues I have with the book are going to be ironed out over the next two books, but I'm in no hurry to start those, if ever.

I don't think I started enjoying the book until we met The First Colony characters.  I really liked Peter. He was a hero yet not, good guy, but not.  He felt like a true character if that makes any sense.  I kind of wished he'd figured out his feelings for Alicia a little sooner, but I wonder if that would have ruined it if it had happened.  I'm a sucker for a little romance, but I wonder if it would have taken away from the book, much as I wanted it there.

I don't know what to think about Amy.  She's so all powerful, but she's so one dimensional to me.  She's the key to the downfall (or resurrection) of society, but I don't think there was enough focus on that.  I imagine that's one of the things that must be solved and fleshed out later.

I really liked the interactions with the rest of First Colony travelers.  One thing I couldn't quite figure out was how old they were.  For some reason I felt like they were in their late teens, but the relationships/babies etc made me think they were older.  And I can't reconcile Hollis (who must be 40 or 50? He rode with Peter's dad, right?) being with Sara if she's under 20.  I might have missed where it indicated their ages, but I couldn't check with the audio.

I did like seeing Lacey again at the end.  I kind of felt like she was going to be the one to save everyone in the end, so I was disappointed when they killed her off in the beginning.  But no one in this book is ever really dead, right?

[rainbowchip]

I'm currently reading this and I'm loving it so far. I will come bacj and read this when I finish!

[aurora]

Sorry I'm late to this! I think you captured a lot of my thoughts, snshne322. There was a lot I really liked about the book, but then some things that just didn't feel right. I did read The Twelve and will read City of Mirrors, but didn't come away from any of them so captivated that I just had to read the next one NOW.

I also really liked the First Colony part, but the part that first captured me was actually the exchange of emails showing the scientific expedition in South America running into trouble in the first place.

I totally agree about the one-dimensionality of Amy, but it's intriguing that the entire trilogy began with a conversation between Cronin and his daughter in which she yearned for a female heroine (from Wiki: "his daughter asked him to write a book about a 'girl who saves the world.' ") So, it actually makes more sense from that perspective, even if it still feels odd. I think imagining her as a damaged child helped me with that (not very emotionally connected based on the trauma she suffered being removed from her mom and having a hard life).

I agree that Lacey was a compelling character.

There is more to the Amy storyline in The Twelve that I won't spoil here.

I assumed the first colonists we saw on the expedition were in the teens to 50-ish age range. I don't remember if Hollis rode with Peter's dad, but you might be right that he's older than Sarah.

[aurora]

Additional thoughts: I'm not personally captivated by vampire novels, but I do like post-apocalyptic, so that tension probably impacted my impression of the book overall.

I felt like it was a letdown that at the end they only managed to get Babcock, leaving still 11 "bad" virals (as opposed to ones treated with the more benign serum like Amy, Lacey, and Lish). How many books will it take to save the world???

Usually I like books told by multiple perspectives, and I think overall it's necessary in this book because of the different time periods and the scope, but it also felt like we left people for too long and lost connections.

I think maybe overall the book could have been improved by being shortened a bit to keep the critical storylines moving. But, I'm also not sure what I would have removed so maybe it's not actually possible.

[snshne322]

Mar 30, 2017 11:54:05 GMT -5 aurora said:

Sorry I'm late to this! I think you captured a lot of my thoughts, snshne322 . There was a lot I really liked about the book, but then some things that just didn't feel right. I did read The Twelve and will read City of Mirrors, but didn't come away from any of them so captivated that I just had to read the next one NOW.

I also really liked the First Colony part, but the part that first captured me was actually the exchange of emails showing the scientific expedition in South America running into trouble in the first place.

I totally agree about the one-dimensionality of Amy, but it's intriguing that the entire trilogy began with a conversation between Cronin and his daughter in which she yearned for a female heroine (from Wiki: "his daughter asked him to write a book about a 'girl who saves the world.' ") So, it actually makes more sense from that perspective, even if it still feels odd. I think imagining her as a damaged child helped me with that (not very emotionally connected based on the trauma she suffered being removed from her mom and having a hard life).

I agree that Lacey was a compelling character.

There is more to the Amy storyline in The Twelve that I won't spoil here.

I assumed the first colonists we saw on the expedition were in the teens to 50-ish age range. I don't remember if Hollis rode with Peter's dad, but you might be right that he's older than Sarah.

To the bolded, I was grabbed by that, too.  I did have some trouble wrapping my brain around the timeline of it though.  I wonder if this is a book best read in print.  The narrator did a good job, but I did have some trouble with things like that.  It would have been easy to go back in book form to confirm things.  I think it goes against the typical logic, but I like to listen to longer books.  I have a lot of time to dedicate to audio and it keeps me from starting to skim when I get restless with the length.  It bites me sometimes.

Thinking back on Amy's lack of intrigue and your thoughts on it, it might be more interesting that we don't hear from the hero.  She isn't really doing much herself beyond the occasional bit on insight.  You reminding me that she is damaged sheds light on that.  She isn't a really reliable character so we have to rely on the supporting characters to teach us or to learn along with them.  

[aurora]

Mar 31, 2017 10:04:33 GMT -5 snshne322 said:

Mar 30, 2017 11:54:05 GMT -5 aurora said:

Sorry I'm late to this! I think you captured a lot of my thoughts, snshne322 . There was a lot I really liked about the book, but then some things that just didn't feel right. I did read The Twelve and will read City of Mirrors, but didn't come away from any of them so captivated that I just had to read the next one NOW.

I also really liked the First Colony part, but the part that first captured me was actually the exchange of emails showing the scientific expedition in South America running into trouble in the first place.

I totally agree about the one-dimensionality of Amy, but it's intriguing that the entire trilogy began with a conversation between Cronin and his daughter in which she yearned for a female heroine (from Wiki: "his daughter asked him to write a book about a 'girl who saves the world.' ") So, it actually makes more sense from that perspective, even if it still feels odd. I think imagining her as a damaged child helped me with that (not very emotionally connected based on the trauma she suffered being removed from her mom and having a hard life).

I agree that Lacey was a compelling character.

There is more to the Amy storyline in The Twelve that I won't spoil here.

I assumed the first colonists we saw on the expedition were in the teens to 50-ish age range. I don't remember if Hollis rode with Peter's dad, but you might be right that he's older than Sarah.

To the bolded, I was grabbed by that, too.  I did have some trouble wrapping my brain around the timeline of it though.  I wonder if this is a book best read in print.  The narrator did a good job, but I did have some trouble with things like that.  It would have been easy to go back in book form to confirm things.  I think it goes against the typical logic, but I like to listen to longer books.  I have a lot of time to dedicate to audio and it keeps me from starting to skim when I get restless with the length.  It bites me sometimes.

Thinking back on Amy's lack of intrigue and your thoughts on it, it might be more interesting that we don't hear from the hero.  She isn't really doing much herself beyond the occasional bit on insight.  You reminding me that she is damaged sheds light on that.  She isn't a really reliable character so we have to rely on the supporting characters to teach us or to learn along with them.  

So you made it further in the audiobook than I did. I was only at 60% or so when my loan expired, and so I picked up the paperback from my local used book store. The first thing I did was go back and read those emails in print form. Definitely easier to follow.

[snshne322]

Mar 30, 2017 12:00:16 GMT -5 aurora said:

Additional thoughts: I'm not personally captivated by vampire novels, but I do like post-apocalyptic, so that tension probably impacted my impression of the book overall.

I felt like it was a letdown that at the end they only managed to get Babcock, leaving still 11 "bad" virals (as opposed to ones treated with the more benign serum like Amy, Lacey, and Lish). How many books will it take to save the world???

Usually I like books told by multiple perspectives, and I think overall it's necessary in this book because of the different time periods and the scope, but it also felt like we left people for too long and lost connections.

I think maybe overall the book could have been improved by being shortened a bit to keep the critical storylines moving. But, I'm also not sure what I would have removed so maybe it's not actually possible.

I shamelessly love vampire novels, but in the PNR sense.  I like it coming from a magic standpoint than a science one.  I don't mind science minded books, but when it comes to vampires, zombies and the like, I feel like I have to work too hard on the hows and whys.  It gets distracting.

On the point of Babcock, it annoyed me too.  Mostly because he spent so much time talking about Carter and why he was in prison, his perspective, but we didn't really hear about Babcock much in terms of before he was infected.  We knew the dream, but not a whole lot else. Maybe that's something else that gets discussed in more depth in the next two books, but I was invested in Carter, but didn't get the story line wrapped up.

[farfalla2011]

Mar 30, 2017 12:00:16 GMT -5 aurora said:

Usually I like books told by multiple perspectives, and I think overall it's necessary in this book because of the different time periods and the scope, but it also felt like we left people for too long and lost connections.

I think maybe overall the book could have been improved by being shortened a bit to keep the critical storylines moving. But, I'm also not sure what I would have removed so maybe it's not actually possible.

I actually read this a couple years ago and came away with these same feelings. I wanted to like it, but I struggled with it a lot simply due to the length and really drawn out narrative of it all. I'm curious what happens in the other 2 books, however, at this point I think I'd need to reread/listen to refresh my brain before moving on which that will never happen.

[rainbowchip]

I finally finished this book! I agree with aurora that I felt like it should have been shorter butcI have no idea what should have been left out.
I got annoyed that just when you seemed to get invested with the perspective and the characters, they would switch.
Auntie's sorry had me crying. Being a parent, I can't imagine sending my kids off knowing that's what is their best chance but also knowing that I will never see them again and they will be on their own.
There's still so much that I'm processing and the ending kind of made me sick to my stomach.
Also, who shot the viral (Galen) in the barn before it killed Theo? I need to know!

[expectantsteelerfan]

So I read all 3, and man was it long and hard to get through! I'm a sucker for epics and wide-scope novels/series, and I'm a fan of vampire books, especially more scientifically grounded ones (unlike more magical ones like pp prefers). I was glad I read the whole thing, but it definitely could have been improved with a LOT of editing. I had to look back at my goodreads ratings to even remember what I really thought of the books, and I gave them 3 stars, 2, and 3 respectively. And not much of the books have stayed with me or left a lasting impression either. I feel like it had such potential from the beginning, but I just didn't fall in love with the characters the way I did with say, Stephen King's Dark Tower series.