Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin

Title: The Passage
Author: Justin Cronin
Pages: 766
Genre: Fiction, Dystopia, Apocalyptic, Post-Apocalyptic
Source: Owned Print

Rating: A+

Review: Ever read a really long book that felt entirely too short? Because, yeah. This book is all that and a bucket of fried chicken (it goes without saying that I love fried chicken, right?). We all know I love dystopian/ apocalyptic /post-apocalyptic stuff. LOVE. I like monsters and things that go bump in the night, epidemics that wipe out mass populations, and all that jazz. So it should be no surprise at all that The Passage is right up my alley.

It has been living on my TBR shelf for at least a year (with it’s sister The Twelve sitting right next to it), and the only reason I can think of for not having picked it up sooner is it’s long. Not like Game of Thrones long. Not Outlander long. But long enough to be equivalent to nearly two average sized books. And it’s the first in a series which is a huge commitment. And, though I love long books, when I am short on reading time, I usually want the satisfaction of finishing something in less than a month. Just sayin’.

But I’ve been on a bit of a reading tear, and I found out the third book, The City of Mirrors, is coming out May 24^th, and it just felt like the right time.

You know, I avoid summaries because, frankly, you can go to Goodreads or amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com and find out what a book is about. I don’t go to other book blogs to find out what a book is about, I go to find out what others think about the book, what they feel about the book. I go for recommendations, not for plot summaries. So, no, I won’t say specifically what it’s about.

I will say, it is a story that is both the before and after (long after) of a pandemic. It’s a pandemic that changes people and leads to a lot of death and destruction. The world falls apart. But maybe the world can be rebuilt. Maybe a hundred years later there is still a lot to learn about what happened, why it happened, and what can be done about it all these years later. Maybe, given the right people, the world can become a little more livable. More premise than summary, right?

Now, I know there are a lot of stories out there that follow this premise, the whole world coming to an end and people finding a way to survive. But this approach does feel unique, and the way Cronin tells the story, you get lost in it, really and truly enveloped in all the bits and pieces. It was so hard to put down there were nights that I wondered if there was anywhere I could legally buy No-Doz, that I was glad that I had a cold and could justify taking some Sudafed so I could stay awake for just one more hour please. Just. One. Because I can’t stop now. I HAVE to know what happens!!!

766 pages has never gone by so quickly. And while normally I’d take a break before diving into the next in a series, I honestly have no choice in the matter. The Twelve HAS to be my next read.

So, yeah. I guess you could say I recommend it. 😉