What do you think?
Rate this book
The Marbury Lens #2
Passenger
Best friends Jack and Conner can’t stay away from Marbury. It’s partly because of their obsession with this alternate world and the unresolved war that still wages there. But it’s also because forces in Marbury—including the darkest of the dark, who were not revealed in The Marbury Lens—are beckoning the boys back in order to save their friends . . . and themselves.
The boys try to destroy the lens that transports them to Marbury. But that dark world is not so easily reckoned with. Reality and fantasy, good and evil—Andrew Smith’s masterpiece closes the loop that began with The Marbury Lens. But is it really closed? Can it ever be?
The boys try to destroy the lens that transports them to Marbury. But that dark world is not so easily reckoned with. Reality and fantasy, good and evil—Andrew Smith’s masterpiece closes the loop that began with The Marbury Lens. But is it really closed? Can it ever be?
480 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 2, 2012
26 people are currently reading
1610 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Smith
19 books1,706 followersAndrew Smith is the author of Winger, Grasshopper Jungle, The Alex Crow, 100 Sideways Miles, and Rabbit & Robot, among others. Exile from Eden: Or, After the Hole, the long-awaited sequel to Grasshopper Jungle, is coming from Simon & Schuster on September 24, 2019.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
December 5, 2012
5 Stars
"Roll. Tap. Tap."
For those of you that have read the first book in the series, The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith, this one, Passenger, will take you on a journey, an endless exploration, of the mind, and of the world. And all the while our main protagonist Jack will be there, egging us on, messing with our mind, and pulling our strings… Fuck Jack!
Queue the narrator, pan out to see a ..land, and on this ..land, all of our returning heroes, Jack, Ben, Griffin, and Henry. Now you hear our hear our narrator say, “Previously on Lost” ….images, images, images, action, killing, jump forward, jump backward, jump, ????, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42… and then the crescendo, the massive crash of drum and bass. You see I found that this series is so much like the amazing TV series Lost…including the main hero being named Jack. Freaking Sweet.
I enjoyed tML book one in the series the first time I read it through, and I loved it after I reread it a week ago. Passenger, book two, blows away the first and expands everything in ways that will leave your head in a twisted up, messed up knot. You will reread parts as you go because you will want to pick up on the subtle nuances, the clues, and the repetition. Andrew Smith’s writing is both stylish and full of quality. His story telling make reading a fun way to pass some time.
““There was always a peculiar weight to the Marbury lens. It wasn’t from gravity; it came from something else wasn’t from gravity; it came from something else altogether. And even though the lens was dead to me now, I could still feel the heaviness it contained when Griffin placed the fragment onto my open palm. And as soon as he did, the boy whispered a hushed “What the fuck, Jack?”
Then the world went red, as if I were looking at it through a glass of wine.
Ben turned and stared at me. His mouth hung open, and when I lifted my hand in front of us, everything began to change, dissolve before our eyes; like being back in that garage on the day I smashed the lens.
Something pulled me up, by my hand, like it was on a string.
Ben and Griffin, the Hunters, the wreckage in front of us, the endless scorched nothingness of Marbury, all of it began smearing together in the red light, melting, liquefying.”
Let me start by saying that this series to me is the Twilight / Hunger Games books for boys and for men. This is a series geared for the YA crowd but only for those that have the stomach for the gore, the patience for a blurry reality, and the demeanor to handle lots of sex, violence, and vulgarity. In a nutshell the perfect read for the immature man, or growing teen age boy. There is plenty for girls to like in this too, I just thought that it was worth the time to point out how this is the Twilight series for boys. This is a dark and disturbing series that is a head trip of multiple realities, fucked up worlds, and killings. It is filled with monsters and bugs, guns and knives, and filled with a vast cast of sickos and assholes. Of course if that is not enough, it is also a coming of age story for our young male cast.
A snippet that gives you the feel:
* * *
“The first time Quinn showed me that thing in the sky, I knew it had something to do with me. Or, more likely, that I had something to do with it.
I felt it.
It was like a wound, a stab, an incision that somehow cuts through all the layers, stack after stack after stack, piercing all the insides and outsides that collapse down and converge at the center of Jack’s universe.
And here I am now, standing with my hand open in front of Quinn Cahill’s face. I accept it.
I accept the fact that I fucked up—that all of this isn’t happening to me—it’s happening because of me.
I knew it all along.
I knew it when I was tied to a fucking bed at Freddie Horvath’s house.
But I just didn’t want to think about it.
* * *
I open my hand.
The light comes first. It is always the light, and then the sound.
Of course the mark is the same. Everyone can see that.
The scar in my hand.
The hole in the sky.
The center of the universe.
The boys are saying something. I can’t hear them. We are standing inside a thousand jet engines, beneath a churning wall of water that endlessly crashes upon sawtoothed rocks.
And I am looking directly through my fucking hand.
I am looking directly through.
The boys are saying something.
Quinn is screaming.
He’s afraid.
Fucking prick should have left me alone.
So I am looking.
In my bathroom, at Wynn and Stella’s house, a house that is in a place called Glenbrook, the mirrored door of Jack’s medicine cabinet opens in such a way that I could put my head between the door and the larger mirror above the sink, where Wynn taught me how to shave before I ever needed to. And there would be an infinity of layers there, accordioned together, blurring away into dark blue nothingness ahead of me, behind me, and I am the center.
That’s what this looks like now.”
* * *
This book is a no hold barred trip down a very dark rabbit hole that sucked me in. I loved this book!! I had so much fun hearing Jack repeat to himself over and over again that “This is it”, and “Fuck Jack”. I applaud the boldness of Andrew Smith in leaving so many questions unanswered, to leaving things to the reader to perceive, and to wrap things up with complete closure, or no closure at all depending on your point of view. Does this sound familiar to you? Yep. Like I said earlier, this book shares a great deal with ABC’s Lost, a show that I loved and that I miss today. This is a quality Young Adult series that will clearly appeal to the boys and should have a great following too. I highly recommend it.
"Roll. Tap. Tap."
For those of you that have read the first book in the series, The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith, this one, Passenger, will take you on a journey, an endless exploration, of the mind, and of the world. And all the while our main protagonist Jack will be there, egging us on, messing with our mind, and pulling our strings… Fuck Jack!
Queue the narrator, pan out to see a ..land, and on this ..land, all of our returning heroes, Jack, Ben, Griffin, and Henry. Now you hear our hear our narrator say, “Previously on Lost” ….images, images, images, action, killing, jump forward, jump backward, jump, ????, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42… and then the crescendo, the massive crash of drum and bass. You see I found that this series is so much like the amazing TV series Lost…including the main hero being named Jack. Freaking Sweet.
I enjoyed tML book one in the series the first time I read it through, and I loved it after I reread it a week ago. Passenger, book two, blows away the first and expands everything in ways that will leave your head in a twisted up, messed up knot. You will reread parts as you go because you will want to pick up on the subtle nuances, the clues, and the repetition. Andrew Smith’s writing is both stylish and full of quality. His story telling make reading a fun way to pass some time.
““There was always a peculiar weight to the Marbury lens. It wasn’t from gravity; it came from something else wasn’t from gravity; it came from something else altogether. And even though the lens was dead to me now, I could still feel the heaviness it contained when Griffin placed the fragment onto my open palm. And as soon as he did, the boy whispered a hushed “What the fuck, Jack?”
Then the world went red, as if I were looking at it through a glass of wine.
Ben turned and stared at me. His mouth hung open, and when I lifted my hand in front of us, everything began to change, dissolve before our eyes; like being back in that garage on the day I smashed the lens.
Something pulled me up, by my hand, like it was on a string.
Ben and Griffin, the Hunters, the wreckage in front of us, the endless scorched nothingness of Marbury, all of it began smearing together in the red light, melting, liquefying.”
Let me start by saying that this series to me is the Twilight / Hunger Games books for boys and for men. This is a series geared for the YA crowd but only for those that have the stomach for the gore, the patience for a blurry reality, and the demeanor to handle lots of sex, violence, and vulgarity. In a nutshell the perfect read for the immature man, or growing teen age boy. There is plenty for girls to like in this too, I just thought that it was worth the time to point out how this is the Twilight series for boys. This is a dark and disturbing series that is a head trip of multiple realities, fucked up worlds, and killings. It is filled with monsters and bugs, guns and knives, and filled with a vast cast of sickos and assholes. Of course if that is not enough, it is also a coming of age story for our young male cast.
A snippet that gives you the feel:
* * *
“The first time Quinn showed me that thing in the sky, I knew it had something to do with me. Or, more likely, that I had something to do with it.
I felt it.
It was like a wound, a stab, an incision that somehow cuts through all the layers, stack after stack after stack, piercing all the insides and outsides that collapse down and converge at the center of Jack’s universe.
And here I am now, standing with my hand open in front of Quinn Cahill’s face. I accept it.
I accept the fact that I fucked up—that all of this isn’t happening to me—it’s happening because of me.
I knew it all along.
I knew it when I was tied to a fucking bed at Freddie Horvath’s house.
But I just didn’t want to think about it.
* * *
I open my hand.
The light comes first. It is always the light, and then the sound.
Of course the mark is the same. Everyone can see that.
The scar in my hand.
The hole in the sky.
The center of the universe.
The boys are saying something. I can’t hear them. We are standing inside a thousand jet engines, beneath a churning wall of water that endlessly crashes upon sawtoothed rocks.
And I am looking directly through my fucking hand.
I am looking directly through.
The boys are saying something.
Quinn is screaming.
He’s afraid.
Fucking prick should have left me alone.
So I am looking.
In my bathroom, at Wynn and Stella’s house, a house that is in a place called Glenbrook, the mirrored door of Jack’s medicine cabinet opens in such a way that I could put my head between the door and the larger mirror above the sink, where Wynn taught me how to shave before I ever needed to. And there would be an infinity of layers there, accordioned together, blurring away into dark blue nothingness ahead of me, behind me, and I am the center.
That’s what this looks like now.”
* * *
This book is a no hold barred trip down a very dark rabbit hole that sucked me in. I loved this book!! I had so much fun hearing Jack repeat to himself over and over again that “This is it”, and “Fuck Jack”. I applaud the boldness of Andrew Smith in leaving so many questions unanswered, to leaving things to the reader to perceive, and to wrap things up with complete closure, or no closure at all depending on your point of view. Does this sound familiar to you? Yep. Like I said earlier, this book shares a great deal with ABC’s Lost, a show that I loved and that I miss today. This is a quality Young Adult series that will clearly appeal to the boys and should have a great following too. I highly recommend it.
November 5, 2012
Before reading: There's a sequel. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. OH YEAH!!!!
During: Will this be as freaky as tML? I kind of want it to be, but I kind of don't.
After:
Let’s go back all the way to 2010 for a minute. Little freshman girl goes into the library, picks up a copy of The Marbury Lens, and reads it. It’s freaky and illogical and haunting. It’s wonderfully written with compelling characters. The whole reality of the story is up for interpretation.
It’s freaky.
So when I found out that it was going to have a sequel, I had two trains of thought going through my head. 1. Why would anyone want to read this? tML was creepy enough—even though it’s awesome, why would anyone want to read more of it? 2. Oh my goodness, I can’t wait! In words that are not my own, “It’s gonna be totally awesome!”
The number two though process overruled number one. And so I got my hands on a copy of Passenger as soon as possible. I don’t think I have any complaints or nitpicks with this, actually. Part of this probably comes from the fact that after a certain point, you realize that none of it makes any sense, so you just go along with everything.
That’s how the entire book is. Anybody who’s read tML will know what I’m talking about. There are so many dimensions, Marburys, Glenbrooks, not-Marburys, and not-Glenbrooks. That’s part of the beauty of this book. Jack gets pulled around to all these different variations of Marbury and Glenbrook, yet you know they’re all connected. You know Jack’s at the heart of it all. You know it’s all reality, in one form or other.
I like how this book actually does not answer the major question I was left with at the end of tML: Is Marbury real, or just the product of something Freddie Horvath did to Jack's mind? If Andrew Smith had answered this question, though, the book would not have had as much of an effect. It is not in the nature of this book to be closed and complete at the end.
My only complaint with this book is the language. This book has enough f-bombs to start and end WWIII. As I said on a Goodreads status update, there are enough f-bombs to defend the US against a nuclear attack from every other country on the planet.
Let's talk about the end, for a minute. Jack realizes something about himself. Some people love it. Some people hate it. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. On one side, it is a bit too sudden and doesn't quite match up with previous events (for those of you who know what I'm talking about--why was he so in love with Nickie on the train, then he comes back, and then...?) On the other side, this revelation makes you realize that Connor maybe wasn't being a jerk when he kept making fun of Jack in tML. Maybe it's a fitting ending for both boys, to have this happen. I'm not quite sure.
But then, who am I to criticize this for being illogical? That's like criticizing Romeo and Juliet for not being funny. It wasn't meant to be funny. You can't try to make it something it isn't. I don't think Passenger was really meant to make sense. In a weird way, it does, but it also doesn't.
This review probably makes no sense at all, to those who have not read the book. There's nothing I can do about that. This book messes with you. It makes you think. And yes, it is freaky. It's intense. It is not fluffy reading but at least I didn't have to read MLIA for an hour afterwards this time. There are many parts that are definitely cringe-worthy. There are parts that make you say "I never, ever want to have a look inside this author's brain."
Worth a read? Yes. Illogical? Yes. Everything you could expect from a Marbury Lens sequel? Definitely.
Roll. Tap. Tap. You haven't gotten away from anything, readers.
Similar Books: It's creepy like Raven's Gate, gritty like Gone , with a writing style that reminds me of The Knife of Never Letting Go . Also, Goodreads compares it to Hold Me Closer, Necromancer , though I'm not really sure why. Possibly because they both are varying levels on bizarre, though in different ways.
During: Will this be as freaky as tML? I kind of want it to be, but I kind of don't.
After:
Let’s go back all the way to 2010 for a minute. Little freshman girl goes into the library, picks up a copy of The Marbury Lens, and reads it. It’s freaky and illogical and haunting. It’s wonderfully written with compelling characters. The whole reality of the story is up for interpretation.
It’s freaky.
So when I found out that it was going to have a sequel, I had two trains of thought going through my head. 1. Why would anyone want to read this? tML was creepy enough—even though it’s awesome, why would anyone want to read more of it? 2. Oh my goodness, I can’t wait! In words that are not my own, “It’s gonna be totally awesome!”
The number two though process overruled number one. And so I got my hands on a copy of Passenger as soon as possible. I don’t think I have any complaints or nitpicks with this, actually. Part of this probably comes from the fact that after a certain point, you realize that none of it makes any sense, so you just go along with everything.
That’s how the entire book is. Anybody who’s read tML will know what I’m talking about. There are so many dimensions, Marburys, Glenbrooks, not-Marburys, and not-Glenbrooks. That’s part of the beauty of this book. Jack gets pulled around to all these different variations of Marbury and Glenbrook, yet you know they’re all connected. You know Jack’s at the heart of it all. You know it’s all reality, in one form or other.
I like how this book actually does not answer the major question I was left with at the end of tML: Is Marbury real, or just the product of something Freddie Horvath did to Jack's mind? If Andrew Smith had answered this question, though, the book would not have had as much of an effect. It is not in the nature of this book to be closed and complete at the end.
My only complaint with this book is the language. This book has enough f-bombs to start and end WWIII. As I said on a Goodreads status update, there are enough f-bombs to defend the US against a nuclear attack from every other country on the planet.
Let's talk about the end, for a minute. Jack realizes something about himself. Some people love it. Some people hate it. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. On one side, it is a bit too sudden and doesn't quite match up with previous events (for those of you who know what I'm talking about--why was he so in love with Nickie on the train, then he comes back, and then...?) On the other side, this revelation makes you realize that Connor maybe wasn't being a jerk when he kept making fun of Jack in tML. Maybe it's a fitting ending for both boys, to have this happen. I'm not quite sure.
But then, who am I to criticize this for being illogical? That's like criticizing Romeo and Juliet for not being funny. It wasn't meant to be funny. You can't try to make it something it isn't. I don't think Passenger was really meant to make sense. In a weird way, it does, but it also doesn't.
This review probably makes no sense at all, to those who have not read the book. There's nothing I can do about that. This book messes with you. It makes you think. And yes, it is freaky. It's intense. It is not fluffy reading but at least I didn't have to read MLIA for an hour afterwards this time. There are many parts that are definitely cringe-worthy. There are parts that make you say "I never, ever want to have a look inside this author's brain."
Worth a read? Yes. Illogical? Yes. Everything you could expect from a Marbury Lens sequel? Definitely.
Roll. Tap. Tap. You haven't gotten away from anything, readers.
Similar Books: It's creepy like Raven's Gate, gritty like Gone , with a writing style that reminds me of The Knife of Never Letting Go . Also, Goodreads compares it to Hold Me Closer, Necromancer , though I'm not really sure why. Possibly because they both are varying levels on bizarre, though in different ways.
December 29, 2012
I hated being forced into doing the "guy thing," but I couldn't let Frankie start off this new day by labeling me as some kind of enemy outsider in front of the other boys, either.
That's just how things were.
It meant there was going to be a fight, and neither one of us questioned or doubted the laws that dictated our nature.
-----
He didn't even swing back one time; didn't even try to defend himself against me, which made me feel even more disgusted by him. The fucker didn't even know how to act like a real boy. His nose trickled blood over his lips and down to his chin. The kid was crying, trying to cover his wet and blood-streaked face with quaking hands.
-----
Conner never cries. . . . like Conner, Jack doesn't do that, either.
-----
I wished I had the balls to hold Conner and tell him how sorry I was for everything I'd done.
-----
I believe it's my God-given right
To destroy everything in my sight.
It never gets dull, it never gets old,
The only it gets is more bold.
Drinkin', fightin', goin' to the game,
In our world it's a way to stay sane.
If you're askin' me, to have it my way
I'd say that's one fine day.
- The Offspring, "One Fine Day"
-----
Jack worries about being "a guy." He wants acceptance and security. But his sense of masculinity has been violated in a way he can't get past. Freddie Horvath kidnapped Jack and nearly raped him. Jack blames himself, but his guy code doesn't allow him to feel shame or embarrassment, doesn't allow him to express--or even admit--the way it's made him feel, the hurt and pain and helplessness of the moment. It doesn't allow him to cry. All it allows for is anger and hatred, which he channels at anyone and everyone. Most of all, at himself.
-----
Dr. Enbody tried to be nice.
He told me how long he'd known me, and how much I'd grown, but he asked if I'd been eating enough, too . . .
Then he asked me if I'd been "sexually active with girls or with other boys," and I almost choked. But I told him yes, that I had a girlfriend. And that pissed me off, too, but I wasn't sure exactly why.
I was so embarrassed, I guess. So Dr. Enbody told me that I'd better be using condoms, and I lied and said I always used condoms because I just wanted him to shut the fuck up and go away. I'd never even touched a rubber, and I couldn't imagine having balls enough to go into a 7-11 and buy a box of them.
It was the stupidest thing I ever had to talk about in my life.
When I closed my eyes, I saw Freddie Horvath, so I just kept watching Dr. Enbody until my eyes started watering.
-----
Repressed feelings don't just go away, though, even after turning into anger. No, they still find ways to have their say if you won't express them. In Jack's case, they turn into Marbury, a desolated wasteland of a world that mirrors our own. A different version of Jack exists there, along with versions of his best friend Conner and the two brothers he looks after, Ben and Griffin, as well as everyone else he meets. Despite its violence and desolation, Marbury is addictive, and the four boys keep traveling back there by way of the lens Jack has. Except Jack and Conner are heading to England for school at the end of the summer and Ben and Griffin don't want to lose their access to Marbury, so they decide to break the lens in half.
Breaking the lens doesn't divide it, however; instead it shatters Marbury. Now the boys are split up at different places and times, jumping between layer upon layer of Marbury and not-Marbury and not-California and not-England. Everywhere they go is a hostile puzzle. They are isolated and lost and scared, and don't know if they'll ever find a way back to each other or their real lives. Heck, most of the time they don't even know if they'll survive long enough to try. Because, in all the different layers of Marbury, everyone is desperately vicious and life is a matter of kill or be killed.
In Marbury, everything is anger.
-----
I never fucking got us back home.
Maybe I was just drunk, but as I sat there in The Prince of Wales, I decided that the reason I never told anyone except Conner about what Freddie Horvath did to me was that I believed everyone else would think it was my fault.
Everything was Jack's fault.
-----
I accept the fact that I fucked up--that all of this isn't happening to me--it's happening because of me.
-----
This is Marbury.
It was me.
I did this.
That's just how things were.
It meant there was going to be a fight, and neither one of us questioned or doubted the laws that dictated our nature.
-----
He didn't even swing back one time; didn't even try to defend himself against me, which made me feel even more disgusted by him. The fucker didn't even know how to act like a real boy. His nose trickled blood over his lips and down to his chin. The kid was crying, trying to cover his wet and blood-streaked face with quaking hands.
-----
Conner never cries. . . . like Conner, Jack doesn't do that, either.
-----
I wished I had the balls to hold Conner and tell him how sorry I was for everything I'd done.
-----
I believe it's my God-given right
To destroy everything in my sight.
It never gets dull, it never gets old,
The only it gets is more bold.
Drinkin', fightin', goin' to the game,
In our world it's a way to stay sane.
If you're askin' me, to have it my way
I'd say that's one fine day.
- The Offspring, "One Fine Day"
-----
Jack worries about being "a guy." He wants acceptance and security. But his sense of masculinity has been violated in a way he can't get past. Freddie Horvath kidnapped Jack and nearly raped him. Jack blames himself, but his guy code doesn't allow him to feel shame or embarrassment, doesn't allow him to express--or even admit--the way it's made him feel, the hurt and pain and helplessness of the moment. It doesn't allow him to cry. All it allows for is anger and hatred, which he channels at anyone and everyone. Most of all, at himself.
-----
Dr. Enbody tried to be nice.
He told me how long he'd known me, and how much I'd grown, but he asked if I'd been eating enough, too . . .
Then he asked me if I'd been "sexually active with girls or with other boys," and I almost choked. But I told him yes, that I had a girlfriend. And that pissed me off, too, but I wasn't sure exactly why.
I was so embarrassed, I guess. So Dr. Enbody told me that I'd better be using condoms, and I lied and said I always used condoms because I just wanted him to shut the fuck up and go away. I'd never even touched a rubber, and I couldn't imagine having balls enough to go into a 7-11 and buy a box of them.
It was the stupidest thing I ever had to talk about in my life.
When I closed my eyes, I saw Freddie Horvath, so I just kept watching Dr. Enbody until my eyes started watering.
-----
Repressed feelings don't just go away, though, even after turning into anger. No, they still find ways to have their say if you won't express them. In Jack's case, they turn into Marbury, a desolated wasteland of a world that mirrors our own. A different version of Jack exists there, along with versions of his best friend Conner and the two brothers he looks after, Ben and Griffin, as well as everyone else he meets. Despite its violence and desolation, Marbury is addictive, and the four boys keep traveling back there by way of the lens Jack has. Except Jack and Conner are heading to England for school at the end of the summer and Ben and Griffin don't want to lose their access to Marbury, so they decide to break the lens in half.
Breaking the lens doesn't divide it, however; instead it shatters Marbury. Now the boys are split up at different places and times, jumping between layer upon layer of Marbury and not-Marbury and not-California and not-England. Everywhere they go is a hostile puzzle. They are isolated and lost and scared, and don't know if they'll ever find a way back to each other or their real lives. Heck, most of the time they don't even know if they'll survive long enough to try. Because, in all the different layers of Marbury, everyone is desperately vicious and life is a matter of kill or be killed.
In Marbury, everything is anger.
-----
I never fucking got us back home.
Maybe I was just drunk, but as I sat there in The Prince of Wales, I decided that the reason I never told anyone except Conner about what Freddie Horvath did to me was that I believed everyone else would think it was my fault.
Everything was Jack's fault.
-----
I accept the fact that I fucked up--that all of this isn't happening to me--it's happening because of me.
-----
This is Marbury.
It was me.
I did this.
September 7, 2012
Spoilers!!!!
Given how exciting the first book was I jumped immediately into the second and I was rewarded with another breath taking leap into the dark world of Marbury. Jack and his best friend Conner decide that the best thing to do is destroy the glasses that transport them to Marbury but really the shattering of the lens creates a crack between the parallel worlds. Jack and company flip back and forth between realities, each darker then the preceding one, until jack begins to realize that he can not only cause the shift but that he is responsible for the changes and the safety of those around him.
Serious spoilers
I really enjoyed this until the end. It's not that I didn't like the ending but it left with few things unanswered and maybe that's a good thing. One part of the ending was very obvious but it then forces you to question what caused jack to go to Marbury. My first reaction to that answer left me feeling a little short; jack is not capable of being himself until he journeys into himself (classic adventure story here.) but if that's the case the next question is does Marbury even exist? And that answer is probably not so did he create this dark world to deal with his sexuality? I felt that cheapened the Marbury experience until I really thought about the quest self journey genre as a whole, and how realistically are the questions fully explained. I also thought about the different sub plots that Smith weaved throughout the two books- Freddie, Seth the ghost, and the Hunters. What was their role? I thought about the stories my friends have told me about coming out and how the judgement that follows them in their daily life? I thought about the fact that it has been a long while since a book has challenged me this much and then I thought that Marbury was real after all.
Thank you Clay Carmichael!
Given how exciting the first book was I jumped immediately into the second and I was rewarded with another breath taking leap into the dark world of Marbury. Jack and his best friend Conner decide that the best thing to do is destroy the glasses that transport them to Marbury but really the shattering of the lens creates a crack between the parallel worlds. Jack and company flip back and forth between realities, each darker then the preceding one, until jack begins to realize that he can not only cause the shift but that he is responsible for the changes and the safety of those around him.
Serious spoilers
I really enjoyed this until the end. It's not that I didn't like the ending but it left with few things unanswered and maybe that's a good thing. One part of the ending was very obvious but it then forces you to question what caused jack to go to Marbury. My first reaction to that answer left me feeling a little short; jack is not capable of being himself until he journeys into himself (classic adventure story here.) but if that's the case the next question is does Marbury even exist? And that answer is probably not so did he create this dark world to deal with his sexuality? I felt that cheapened the Marbury experience until I really thought about the quest self journey genre as a whole, and how realistically are the questions fully explained. I also thought about the different sub plots that Smith weaved throughout the two books- Freddie, Seth the ghost, and the Hunters. What was their role? I thought about the stories my friends have told me about coming out and how the judgement that follows them in their daily life? I thought about the fact that it has been a long while since a book has challenged me this much and then I thought that Marbury was real after all.
Thank you Clay Carmichael!
Want to read
April 30, 2012So looking forward to this one!
November 23, 2014
i wish thete was more kissing at the end!
December 23, 2021
It took me so long to get to this book.
The Marbury Lens is such an iconic book in my mind. It was a unique level of messed up and evocative that few things have really been. That unsettling effect was somehow matched in the short story that served as an intermediary sequel, The King of Marbury, and further elucidated upon here in Passenger. Andrew Smith just started and never seemed to stop.
Marbury is like a drug, once you start the urge to know and not let go only grows. This book sees Conner and Jack trying to break the hold that Marbury has upon them - with questionable success. The further layers of Marbury are explored, as well as Ben and Griffin and their connection to it all. It's... a difficult book to explain or to spoil, much as the first one was. I mean - I think all of us that read it are still trying to figure out just what it all meant or is.
The particular ending everyone is questioning - man, I want to talk about it. I want to talk about the book as a whole and what it means, what happened with Freddie and Scott Avery - how Quinn might fit into it all. It's... such a mess, but such a fascinating one. It's something I really hope to see explored even more, although the intermediary sequel did explain a lot of it.
It's like an earworm, just impossible to get out of your head once it gets in there. I want to know more about it, and yet... and yet...
The Marbury Lens is such an iconic book in my mind. It was a unique level of messed up and evocative that few things have really been. That unsettling effect was somehow matched in the short story that served as an intermediary sequel, The King of Marbury, and further elucidated upon here in Passenger. Andrew Smith just started and never seemed to stop.
Marbury is like a drug, once you start the urge to know and not let go only grows. This book sees Conner and Jack trying to break the hold that Marbury has upon them - with questionable success. The further layers of Marbury are explored, as well as Ben and Griffin and their connection to it all. It's... a difficult book to explain or to spoil, much as the first one was. I mean - I think all of us that read it are still trying to figure out just what it all meant or is.
The particular ending everyone is questioning - man, I want to talk about it. I want to talk about the book as a whole and what it means, what happened with Freddie and Scott Avery - how Quinn might fit into it all. It's... such a mess, but such a fascinating one. It's something I really hope to see explored even more, although the intermediary sequel did explain a lot of it.
It's like an earworm, just impossible to get out of your head once it gets in there. I want to know more about it, and yet... and yet...
August 20, 2014
3.5
The big (not-so) spoiler, so, it took two books for the boys to finally admit what I knew since page one. They're in love. All of Marbury, even Freddie Horvath and Henry Hewitt and Quinn Cahill and the Hunters and the Bug all of that because Jack and Connor couldn't be men enough to admit to their feelings. Just think, if Jack had admitted he wanted Connor in the beginning of book one he would probably have never found himself on that park bench. What would have changed then? Would Jack have still met Henry Hewitt in London and gotten the lenses?
The other thing I kept thinking while I read the book (this one didn't come in audio from the library, which I guess was nice since I think people could hear all the swearing when I stopped at lights), was the fact that although the boys never cried (until that last bit...maybe) they sure did puke a lot. They'd see a harvester and they'd puke, they'd return from Marbury and they'd puke, they'd get drunk and puke, they'd get hurt and they'd puke, binge and purge Jack, binge and purge.
The constant question of the Marbury Lens and Passenger is what is real? Is Marbury real or is Glenbrook? Is Jack still tied up on that bed or is he in a barrel? Or is he surfing with Connor, is he the Falling Man? I think in a way this book answered the first question to me more or less. There will always be some doubt, but like Jack I'm going to go with good enough. Not to mention who the heck is "Falling Man?"
What I think is that all of those places are real, parallel worlds based on different decisions and different outcomes. When Jack put on the Marbury Lens he transported himself to a different one, but I think where the Marbury Lens and Passenger differ is that in the first book the Lens was whole, it took Jack only between two places, one version of Glenbrook, the one he'd always lived in and one version of Marbury.
In Passenger when Jack broke the Lens he broke the link between those two places and unleashed the whole of the parallel worlds upon himself and his friends, every time he used the lens he ended up somewhere slightly different.
Did they get back to Jack's Glenbrook? Does it matter?
Jack wasn't the most reliable narrator, nor the most sympathetic. He continued to refer to himself in the third person and swear repeatedly at himself throughout the book, yet he doggedly pursues the protection of his friends, so he's not irredeemable. However, he also commits the first act of thought-out and deliberate murder. Even if I didn't already hear rumors of a third book going around, I'd think there had to be one, just to deal with Quinn.
The thing about girls. So, in Smith's story women play a bizarre non-role. Although he's not overtly sexist the women in his stories don't seem real to me, not to mention that there are so very few of them. They are never really given much voice and always rather ethereal beings, mentioned at the edges but never really in the action. The story wasn't really about women and men though, so I can almost excuse it. It was really about these two best friends who go through a traumatic event together and about survival of that trauma.
The big (not-so) spoiler, so, it took two books for the boys to finally admit what I knew since page one. They're in love. All of Marbury, even Freddie Horvath and Henry Hewitt and Quinn Cahill and the Hunters and the Bug all of that because Jack and Connor couldn't be men enough to admit to their feelings. Just think, if Jack had admitted he wanted Connor in the beginning of book one he would probably have never found himself on that park bench. What would have changed then? Would Jack have still met Henry Hewitt in London and gotten the lenses?
The other thing I kept thinking while I read the book (this one didn't come in audio from the library, which I guess was nice since I think people could hear all the swearing when I stopped at lights), was the fact that although the boys never cried (until that last bit...maybe) they sure did puke a lot. They'd see a harvester and they'd puke, they'd return from Marbury and they'd puke, they'd get drunk and puke, they'd get hurt and they'd puke, binge and purge Jack, binge and purge.
The constant question of the Marbury Lens and Passenger is what is real? Is Marbury real or is Glenbrook? Is Jack still tied up on that bed or is he in a barrel? Or is he surfing with Connor, is he the Falling Man? I think in a way this book answered the first question to me more or less. There will always be some doubt, but like Jack I'm going to go with good enough. Not to mention who the heck is "Falling Man?"
What I think is that all of those places are real, parallel worlds based on different decisions and different outcomes. When Jack put on the Marbury Lens he transported himself to a different one, but I think where the Marbury Lens and Passenger differ is that in the first book the Lens was whole, it took Jack only between two places, one version of Glenbrook, the one he'd always lived in and one version of Marbury.
In Passenger when Jack broke the Lens he broke the link between those two places and unleashed the whole of the parallel worlds upon himself and his friends, every time he used the lens he ended up somewhere slightly different.
Did they get back to Jack's Glenbrook? Does it matter?
Jack wasn't the most reliable narrator, nor the most sympathetic. He continued to refer to himself in the third person and swear repeatedly at himself throughout the book, yet he doggedly pursues the protection of his friends, so he's not irredeemable. However, he also commits the first act of thought-out and deliberate murder. Even if I didn't already hear rumors of a third book going around, I'd think there had to be one, just to deal with Quinn.
The thing about girls. So, in Smith's story women play a bizarre non-role. Although he's not overtly sexist the women in his stories don't seem real to me, not to mention that there are so very few of them. They are never really given much voice and always rather ethereal beings, mentioned at the edges but never really in the action. The story wasn't really about women and men though, so I can almost excuse it. It was really about these two best friends who go through a traumatic event together and about survival of that trauma.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2014
-- Before reading --
Holy CRAP.
If you've read my review of the first book, you'll know that I was extremely unsatisfied with the ending. AND NOW THERE'S GONNA BE A SEQUEL.
Andrew Smith, I love you.
Just...
-- After reading --
Well, as usual, I have no idea how to start.
This book was so different from the first one, and yet somehow exactly the same.
My thoughts are all really jumbled. Sorry. Anyway, I don't think I enjoyed this book quite as much as it's predecessor. Although I'm not even sure if enjoyed is the right word, because I don't know if I ever actually enjoyed these books? I wasn't left with the same sickened what-just-happened-I-think-I-just-died feeling that I had during and after The Marbury Lens. This one still had several "WHOA" moments in it, of course, but for the most part I was just slogging through (I think slogging is the wrong word, but I can't find the right one). That might be partly because of how I've changed since I first started this series, though, because the same thing kind of happened when I re-read TML right before starting this book. So I don't know if it's just me or if it is the book itself.
Anyway, overall, these books are still the most graphic, brutal things I've ever read, and they certainly are mind-blowing. I can't decide how I feel about the ending; if you've read both books, please let me know what you thought of it!
Holy CRAP.
If you've read my review of the first book, you'll know that I was extremely unsatisfied with the ending. AND NOW THERE'S GONNA BE A SEQUEL.
Andrew Smith, I love you.
Just...
-- After reading --
Well, as usual, I have no idea how to start.
This book was so different from the first one, and yet somehow exactly the same.
My thoughts are all really jumbled. Sorry. Anyway, I don't think I enjoyed this book quite as much as it's predecessor. Although I'm not even sure if enjoyed is the right word, because I don't know if I ever actually enjoyed these books? I wasn't left with the same sickened what-just-happened-I-think-I-just-died feeling that I had during and after The Marbury Lens. This one still had several "WHOA" moments in it, of course, but for the most part I was just slogging through (I think slogging is the wrong word, but I can't find the right one). That might be partly because of how I've changed since I first started this series, though, because the same thing kind of happened when I re-read TML right before starting this book. So I don't know if it's just me or if it is the book itself.
Anyway, overall, these books are still the most graphic, brutal things I've ever read, and they certainly are mind-blowing. I can't decide how I feel about the ending; if you've read both books, please let me know what you thought of it!
March 30, 2013
I read the first one in the series and was interested enough to read the sequel. I really hope this is it. There were some interesting ideas here of parallel universes but it never really came to anything. Lots of detail about sweat, feeling sick, vomiting, peeing etc - which to be frank I really don't enjoy reading about. Jack again spent most of the story throwing up. I guess one of the positives is that you also start to feel ill and can almost smell the stench because it is described so well. Why this fascination? One "highlight" was Jack throwing up into a toilet someone had recently peed into. I would definitely recommend this book if you are on a diet. To be honest I got bored with the constant jumping around, why is Jack so important, why does he have the lenses, Henry indicated he happened to see him first, if he saw the others would they be more important? Other than that the story was just one torture scene of teenagers after another. I did like the development of the two main male characters and their relationship. At the end I was just grateful it was over so I could read something else. A book that makes you want to have a shower at the end due to the unrelenting description of vomiting etc. Needs a good editor that could cut all of that out as it added nothing to the narrative.
May 25, 2015
Wow. I am utterly speechless after finishing this book - a wonderful, mind boggling, seriously messed up, entertaining, awesome, epic sequel to The Marbury Lens. The list of adjectives could go on and on and on, but I don't think I could accurately sum up this novel by just making a list.
Reading this series has been so much more than just "reading" to me; I saw the plot happening in my head like a film strip and truly felt what the characters experienced, smelled, tasted...everything. This book came alive in me as the world of Marbury came alive in the characters heads.
I loved the ending. There is nothing else that I would wish for the characters Connor and Jack. I am coming down from a roller coaster, and the last few chapters were nothing less than perfect.
Many of my questions were answered, and though I still have a few, it doesn't matter, because "this is it", as Andrew Smith wonderfully says over and over. "This is it," and I'm completely satisfied. AMAZING.
Reading this series has been so much more than just "reading" to me; I saw the plot happening in my head like a film strip and truly felt what the characters experienced, smelled, tasted...everything. This book came alive in me as the world of Marbury came alive in the characters heads.
I loved the ending. There is nothing else that I would wish for the characters Connor and Jack. I am coming down from a roller coaster, and the last few chapters were nothing less than perfect.
Many of my questions were answered, and though I still have a few, it doesn't matter, because "this is it", as Andrew Smith wonderfully says over and over. "This is it," and I'm completely satisfied. AMAZING.
April 1, 2012
I sat down with Andrew Smith's newest on a dark and stormy night, the perfect setting for one of his twisted tales - and what a twisted tale it was! Jack (from "The Marbury Lens") is back and so is Marbury, in all it's bloody glory. But it's a different version of Marbury and Jack must fight his way through many "Inception"-like layers of reality, each more horrifying than the last, to find his way home - but will it be the same world he left? "Passenger" is gloriously dark, grim, and violent, and I enjoyed every minute of the journey to hell and back!
November 16, 2012
The ending I'd hoped for! I didn't think there was a chance.
Want to read
November 3, 2012Holy shitskas. Just reading the blurb makes my head hurt, but oh so good. SO EXCITED!
February 10, 2017
2.5 Stars
The ending is what saved this book… My rating was going to be a star lower but I loved the ending so much. I will assume anyone reading this review has read book #1 so there will be spoilers for book 1 in this review.
If you expected this book to be a continuation of book 1, you are poorly mistaken. It has the same characters, but it is basically a completely different story. We don’t get to see what happened after Conner and Jack meet Ben and Griff in the real world… we don’t get to see what happens to the group after arriving at the Grove in Marbury… we don’t get to see how the Nickie and Jack romance is going… we don’t get to see if Jack’s obsession with the glasses is going to affect his new school… we don’t get to see if Jack’s relationship with Wynn and Stella improves… we don’t see if Jack and Conner are going to get caught for the murder of Freddie… we don’t get any of that. That is what I expected this sequel to contain. Instead, we open with Jack and Conner heading out to London with Ben and Griff staying in California. We learn that Jack has let Griff and Ben use the Marbury lens and now all four are addicted like Jack was. They decide to split the lens between the four by breaking it and they all spiral into a different form of Marbury. This all happened up to page 23. For the next 388 pages, nothing significant happens.
Jack’s theory of the Russian dolls from TML is accurate and there are many layers of worlds (not-worlds as Jack calls them). Since the Marbury lens is now broken, Jack cannot return to the real world. So he spends those 388 pages just trying to return home. Yes there is action and adventure, but there is no point in it all. If something happens, don’t worry Jack will soon be in a different not-world, so there was no point in him doing that stuff in the first place. Nothing he does is in the real world so none of it really matters. And don’t worry if someone happens to get injured, Seth will magically appear and make it all better. Therefore, there really was no danger whatsoever to Jack and it made the reading a chore to me. I just drudged on and on. Conner and Nickie weren’t even in a majority of the book which is rather disappointing to me as they were my favorite characters in TML.
The writing style of this book was a lot different than TML in my opinion. It seemed like the author was trying too hard to write convincing imagery and some of his statements came off silly:
“I am lying naked under a single sheet, heavy with warmth, sweat, gasped exhalations, and I feel the tickling, the bristle of the girl’s pubic hairs against the skin of my butt”
“it frothed with warm, thick urine; wet droplets of sticky piss flattened between the porcelain rim and the bloodless skin of my quaking forearms.”
“I immediately felt the humid breath of steam that exhaled through the lips”
To me these statements are trying way too hard. These are just a few I noted, but there were a lot of these throughout the book that could have been written better in my opinion. Some may like that but to me it made me think “no one actually thinks or talks like that. Why write like that.”
This book had even more “fucks” than the first one. Fuck this. Fuck that. Fuck Jack. Fuck the world. Fuck the not-worlds. It seemed that every fucking page used the fucking word ‘fuck’ at least once. Calm the fuck down with fucks Jack. I’m fine to use the word and other cuss words because people do in real life but I don’t know anyone who uses it that fucking much ;) I guess if you’re opposed to the word, you would not have made it through the first book though.
For my thoughts on the ending of the book and the major development (if you read it, you know what I’m talking about) check out my site: miketsbookblog.weebly.com
Would I recommend this book? That’s a toughie. I would recommend pages 1-23 and 411 to the end. Other than that, just read my review and you will get the gist of everything important that happened.
One last thing, who has never heard of hominy? Apparently, Jack. That’s a normal food, right? Gross. But people know what it is. Or am I the odd one who knows what it is. :P
Thanks for reading
The ending is what saved this book… My rating was going to be a star lower but I loved the ending so much. I will assume anyone reading this review has read book #1 so there will be spoilers for book 1 in this review.
If you expected this book to be a continuation of book 1, you are poorly mistaken. It has the same characters, but it is basically a completely different story. We don’t get to see what happened after Conner and Jack meet Ben and Griff in the real world… we don’t get to see what happens to the group after arriving at the Grove in Marbury… we don’t get to see how the Nickie and Jack romance is going… we don’t get to see if Jack’s obsession with the glasses is going to affect his new school… we don’t get to see if Jack’s relationship with Wynn and Stella improves… we don’t see if Jack and Conner are going to get caught for the murder of Freddie… we don’t get any of that. That is what I expected this sequel to contain. Instead, we open with Jack and Conner heading out to London with Ben and Griff staying in California. We learn that Jack has let Griff and Ben use the Marbury lens and now all four are addicted like Jack was. They decide to split the lens between the four by breaking it and they all spiral into a different form of Marbury. This all happened up to page 23. For the next 388 pages, nothing significant happens.
Jack’s theory of the Russian dolls from TML is accurate and there are many layers of worlds (not-worlds as Jack calls them). Since the Marbury lens is now broken, Jack cannot return to the real world. So he spends those 388 pages just trying to return home. Yes there is action and adventure, but there is no point in it all. If something happens, don’t worry Jack will soon be in a different not-world, so there was no point in him doing that stuff in the first place. Nothing he does is in the real world so none of it really matters. And don’t worry if someone happens to get injured, Seth will magically appear and make it all better. Therefore, there really was no danger whatsoever to Jack and it made the reading a chore to me. I just drudged on and on. Conner and Nickie weren’t even in a majority of the book which is rather disappointing to me as they were my favorite characters in TML.
The writing style of this book was a lot different than TML in my opinion. It seemed like the author was trying too hard to write convincing imagery and some of his statements came off silly:
“I am lying naked under a single sheet, heavy with warmth, sweat, gasped exhalations, and I feel the tickling, the bristle of the girl’s pubic hairs against the skin of my butt”
“it frothed with warm, thick urine; wet droplets of sticky piss flattened between the porcelain rim and the bloodless skin of my quaking forearms.”
“I immediately felt the humid breath of steam that exhaled through the lips”
To me these statements are trying way too hard. These are just a few I noted, but there were a lot of these throughout the book that could have been written better in my opinion. Some may like that but to me it made me think “no one actually thinks or talks like that. Why write like that.”
This book had even more “fucks” than the first one. Fuck this. Fuck that. Fuck Jack. Fuck the world. Fuck the not-worlds. It seemed that every fucking page used the fucking word ‘fuck’ at least once. Calm the fuck down with fucks Jack. I’m fine to use the word and other cuss words because people do in real life but I don’t know anyone who uses it that fucking much ;) I guess if you’re opposed to the word, you would not have made it through the first book though.
For my thoughts on the ending of the book and the major development (if you read it, you know what I’m talking about) check out my site: miketsbookblog.weebly.com
Would I recommend this book? That’s a toughie. I would recommend pages 1-23 and 411 to the end. Other than that, just read my review and you will get the gist of everything important that happened.
One last thing, who has never heard of hominy? Apparently, Jack. That’s a normal food, right? Gross. But people know what it is. Or am I the odd one who knows what it is. :P
Thanks for reading
February 17, 2014
Hohoho-ho. Mwahahahah. “ψ(｀∇´)ψ
And thus I resign myself to this second book and even though I try to resist, I end up giving it five stars and a place on my shelf of favourites. The truth is I really tried, I really did my best to distance myself from everything, yet I failed. I remember giving The Marbury Lens full stars only because I was immersed in the story, I was so captivated by the concept that I decided to overlook the things that annoyed the shit out of me, i.e. John/Jack himself. And now even though he was the same most of the time I really thought he was better than before, not as pathetic as he used to be at least.
And here I'm back to Marbury and this time it's even better than before. And even though the writing style is the same, I could feel that the writing itself was better. And that was what actually made a good first impression to me. And still I thought that no matter what I was not going to be swept off my feet like the first time, yet I was. I really tried not to like it, but... But. It's impossible to not love this. Because unlike the first time, now even John/Jack could make it on his own. He wasn't as irritating as before. Because beside Quentin from The Magicians, John/Jack could easily compete for the most annoying main character with Katniss Everdeen. And yet, by the end he managed to grew a backbone in Marbury, yet when he came back he returned to being a worthless waste of space as always. I really wonder why didn't he kill himself? The answer, of course, is simple - Connor saves him. And that's what I call real love! How could you put up with John/Jack's shit otherwise? Impossible.
While reading, I really thought that Andrew Smith just wanted to be mean to the poor, poor Jack. How else could you explain that he is the most pathetic existence in the whole book? Connor, Ben, Griffin, Seth, even Quinn Cahill were obviously created with the purpose of showing Jack's inferiority. And yet, everything is on him again. It's always on him. For he is the King of Marbury. Which reminds me I need to read that so called #1.5 add-on soon.
What I liked better than the previous book was that there were almost no scenes with Nickie. I hate Nickie. The passages from the Marbury Lens where she appeared were probably the worst of the whole book. Even worse than the constant "Fredie Horvath did something to my brain" there or the "Fuck you, Jack" in this book. I seriously wonder why is there the need to repeat this over and over again. Still I have no answer to that.
And even though I kind of rant about what I hated about Passenger, I really loved the book. Oh, the feels!
And thus I resign myself to this second book and even though I try to resist, I end up giving it five stars and a place on my shelf of favourites. The truth is I really tried, I really did my best to distance myself from everything, yet I failed. I remember giving The Marbury Lens full stars only because I was immersed in the story, I was so captivated by the concept that I decided to overlook the things that annoyed the shit out of me, i.e. John/Jack himself. And now even though he was the same most of the time I really thought he was better than before, not as pathetic as he used to be at least.
And here I'm back to Marbury and this time it's even better than before. And even though the writing style is the same, I could feel that the writing itself was better. And that was what actually made a good first impression to me. And still I thought that no matter what I was not going to be swept off my feet like the first time, yet I was. I really tried not to like it, but... But. It's impossible to not love this. Because unlike the first time, now even John/Jack could make it on his own. He wasn't as irritating as before. Because beside Quentin from The Magicians, John/Jack could easily compete for the most annoying main character with Katniss Everdeen. And yet, by the end he managed to grew a backbone in Marbury, yet when he came back he returned to being a worthless waste of space as always. I really wonder why didn't he kill himself? The answer, of course, is simple - Connor saves him. And that's what I call real love! How could you put up with John/Jack's shit otherwise? Impossible.
While reading, I really thought that Andrew Smith just wanted to be mean to the poor, poor Jack. How else could you explain that he is the most pathetic existence in the whole book? Connor, Ben, Griffin, Seth, even Quinn Cahill were obviously created with the purpose of showing Jack's inferiority. And yet, everything is on him again. It's always on him. For he is the King of Marbury. Which reminds me I need to read that so called #1.5 add-on soon.
What I liked better than the previous book was that there were almost no scenes with Nickie. I hate Nickie. The passages from the Marbury Lens where she appeared were probably the worst of the whole book. Even worse than the constant "Fredie Horvath did something to my brain" there or the "Fuck you, Jack" in this book. I seriously wonder why is there the need to repeat this over and over again. Still I have no answer to that.
And even though I kind of rant about what I hated about Passenger, I really loved the book. Oh, the feels!
March 7, 2013
This month, I am recommending Passenger by Andrew Smith, the sequel to The Marbury Lens, a book I read and loved a few years back.
Passenger is a hard-edge young adult effort (which really doesn't feel very young adult at all, if you get past the fact that the main characters are kids) about a strange artifact that allows Jack, Conner, Ben and Griffin to shift from this world into the very terrifying alternative world of Marbury. It is grim and chilling, and the boys are constantly fighting for their lives and from some little understanding about Marbury and how everything seems to keep shifting.
I don't want to tell you much more about it; you should just read it and find out for yourselves. There is hard language and grown-up themes involved, if that is a problem for you, but the story is first rate. Smith reminds me a little in the form of his first person narrative of another young adult author I have recommended - Kevin Brooks (no relation).
Passenger is a hard-edge young adult effort (which really doesn't feel very young adult at all, if you get past the fact that the main characters are kids) about a strange artifact that allows Jack, Conner, Ben and Griffin to shift from this world into the very terrifying alternative world of Marbury. It is grim and chilling, and the boys are constantly fighting for their lives and from some little understanding about Marbury and how everything seems to keep shifting.
I don't want to tell you much more about it; you should just read it and find out for yourselves. There is hard language and grown-up themes involved, if that is a problem for you, but the story is first rate. Smith reminds me a little in the form of his first person narrative of another young adult author I have recommended - Kevin Brooks (no relation).
December 30, 2012
Absolutely disturbing. So much profanity. So much violence. So much sexual brutality. Just kept me twisted in knots throughout. Not sure that I would actually recommend this to any teens ever. That said, it was really well written and I never could quite figure out what was real and what wasn't, so it was very effective.
February 10, 2013
I loved these books. They were violent and gruesome, but I thought they were excellent. I finished both of them in about 3 days, just couldn't put them down. They're intense though, so I would recommend with that in mind. Probably wouldn't be enjoyed by those easily offended or sensitive to graphic violence and gore.
March 19, 2013
This was good. So many layers and some weird Dr. Who-like elements that I really liked (you know, the crack in the wall?). Still not sure how I feel about the ending.. Not the main ending, but was.. odd? I think I like it. I guess you could see it coming. But I don't know!
April 4, 2013
Seriously twisted in the best sense of the word. The best alternative to drugs that I know of.... take a ride down the rabbit hole, Andrew Smith style.
May 5, 2013
Wow. Okay, the Mind Screw really ramped up too much in this book. Was it really necessary to write it like this?
March 7, 2016
Public Library challenge--retained (2013)
October 27, 2024
I always thought he was smiling on the cover. And I would think, why on earth is he smiling? Did the author read his own book?
Anyways, I was familiar with this author before I read this series. I read Winger and Standoff first. Then the Sam book. Good god. Winger was absolutely hilarious, I was dying the entire time. Those books probably gave me abs. But these books? It was kind of depressing, if not, meh. Oh, Jack is suffering. Oh, more gore I don't care about. Oh, bugs. Oh, someone is pissing. Oh, there's even more gore I don't care about. Oh, theres more female characters that are so simply written, they mind-as-well be cubes. Flip to a random page in Winger and Ryan Dean would be ranting about a "catastrophic ball injury". For some reason Andrew Smith really loves talking about balls. I guess all guys do. Anyways. Flip to a random page in Marbury Lens, and Jack would be hurting himself. Or thinking about hurting himself.
This book is weird because for every moment it is badly written, it's also well written. And even though I hated it so much I kept reading it. Why? I dunno. And it's like watching Evangelion and you don't know who would be more annoying if they were swapped, Jack or Shinji.
I don't understand this book. Last book I felt like the author missed out on a really good metaphor for turning to drugs after a traumatic experience. Because each time Jack went to, Marbury? The gross place. You know what I mean. Each time he went it was a nightmarish hell, but what Freddie did to him never happened, so it was better. But then he'd go back to reality, and it was making him sick, but he couldn't help but keep going. Y'know. Addicted.
In this one I couldn't tell if that's what he was going for. Like if he revived the drug metaphor I previously thought was dead. I can't tell. But authors spend a lot of time with books, and even though Andrew Smith is kinda like Colleen Hoover but for men, I'm gonna try my best to understand it. 3 stars.
Anyways, I was familiar with this author before I read this series. I read Winger and Standoff first. Then the Sam book. Good god. Winger was absolutely hilarious, I was dying the entire time. Those books probably gave me abs. But these books? It was kind of depressing, if not, meh. Oh, Jack is suffering. Oh, more gore I don't care about. Oh, bugs. Oh, someone is pissing. Oh, there's even more gore I don't care about. Oh, theres more female characters that are so simply written, they mind-as-well be cubes. Flip to a random page in Winger and Ryan Dean would be ranting about a "catastrophic ball injury". For some reason Andrew Smith really loves talking about balls. I guess all guys do. Anyways. Flip to a random page in Marbury Lens, and Jack would be hurting himself. Or thinking about hurting himself.
This book is weird because for every moment it is badly written, it's also well written. And even though I hated it so much I kept reading it. Why? I dunno. And it's like watching Evangelion and you don't know who would be more annoying if they were swapped, Jack or Shinji.
I don't understand this book. Last book I felt like the author missed out on a really good metaphor for turning to drugs after a traumatic experience. Because each time Jack went to, Marbury? The gross place. You know what I mean. Each time he went it was a nightmarish hell, but what Freddie did to him never happened, so it was better. But then he'd go back to reality, and it was making him sick, but he couldn't help but keep going. Y'know. Addicted.
In this one I couldn't tell if that's what he was going for. Like if he revived the drug metaphor I previously thought was dead. I can't tell. But authors spend a lot of time with books, and even though Andrew Smith is kinda like Colleen Hoover but for men, I'm gonna try my best to understand it. 3 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2023
Character 3.5| Setting 5| Plot 4| Wrting 5| Enjoyability 5| Series End 5
Overall Rating: 4.5
It has been forever since I read the Marbury Lens. So much so that I feel like I need to do a reread of it. The Marbury Lens was a favorite of mine in HighSchool(I graduated in 2011 so it's been a while.)
The atmosphere of Passenger is so good. You can just feel the terror and grotesque nature of Marbury Smith's writing. This is what I want from a horror novel. I want to be able to gag from the description on the page. And I did. Multiple times.
Smith writes these boys so well. They were boys and didn't feel fake. They were real. I had a feeling that Jack and Connor were a thing, but Smith never explicitly said so I was thinking I was misreading signs, but he did give us two gay kids. They searched for each other through Marbury and were there for each other their relationship felt so important to me.
Jack's journey was the journey of a survivor. One who feels guilty for surviving feels like everything is his fault. He got addicted to the escape from reality I felt. But he was very much having survivor guilt and you can just feel it throughout the entire novel. I did enjoy all the allusions to this throughout the novel. It was nice to have a good ending to this book.
Overall Rating: 4.5
It has been forever since I read the Marbury Lens. So much so that I feel like I need to do a reread of it. The Marbury Lens was a favorite of mine in HighSchool(I graduated in 2011 so it's been a while.)
The atmosphere of Passenger is so good. You can just feel the terror and grotesque nature of Marbury Smith's writing. This is what I want from a horror novel. I want to be able to gag from the description on the page. And I did. Multiple times.
Smith writes these boys so well. They were boys and didn't feel fake. They were real. I had a feeling that Jack and Connor were a thing, but Smith never explicitly said so I was thinking I was misreading signs, but he did give us two gay kids. They searched for each other through Marbury and were there for each other their relationship felt so important to me.
Jack's journey was the journey of a survivor. One who feels guilty for surviving feels like everything is his fault. He got addicted to the escape from reality I felt. But he was very much having survivor guilt and you can just feel it throughout the entire novel. I did enjoy all the allusions to this throughout the novel. It was nice to have a good ending to this book.
October 6, 2017
Great series, but the first book was much better, to me anyways. I love how he always adds layer upon layer of horror and mystery, but maybe it was too much here. I hope there will be a third. It's got the potential of a horror-Narnia type world, where Marbury is seen by various generations, each with it's own story. First book was awesome, this one was ok, but the story, as a whole remains thrilling. I hope to read about Marbury again.
August 29, 2018
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I love the darkness and the weirdness. The characters are vivid and interesting. The language is beautiful and strong.
But also, there’s no real plot. And that makes reading tough with a book this long.
I’m still giving this high marks just on the accomplishments of the positive aspects, but with a stronger plot and some editing if could have been much better.
But also, there’s no real plot. And that makes reading tough with a book this long.
I’m still giving this high marks just on the accomplishments of the positive aspects, but with a stronger plot and some editing if could have been much better.
October 12, 2021
This book was a very interesting mix of dark horror and comedy, a book that I found very easy to feel emotions in. Jack's thoughts combined with my own as I hoped for his safety and well-being, while also hoping that he and his friends get out of the wretched place called Marbury. I did not read the first book of the two book series, so I did not understand all of the stuff in the book, but I still did like what I could understand!
September 8, 2023
I was so gripped by the Marbury Lens I expected any follow on to potentially disappoint, but this takes a massive jump into a wildly different style that hooked me even more! In the current saturation of multiverse media there is a lot here that would appeal more broadly than perhaps did on release and more than any other of Smith's series and sequels this feels like required reading as the true conclusion of every thread started before.
October 3, 2018
So disappointed.
I liked the first book enough to read this one. I did enjoy the weirdness of the horror, mystery, and sci-fi. This is the type of stuff I can really get into. Yes, it was violent and disturbing. But I was most put off by the ending. It seemed contrived and like the whole story was written for an agenda.
I don’t know. I was hoping to have liked it more.
I liked the first book enough to read this one. I did enjoy the weirdness of the horror, mystery, and sci-fi. This is the type of stuff I can really get into. Yes, it was violent and disturbing. But I was most put off by the ending. It seemed contrived and like the whole story was written for an agenda.
I don’t know. I was hoping to have liked it more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews