Review: ‘Wayfarer’

'I've been orphaned by my time. The timeline has changed. My future is gone.”

So reads the teaser for No. 1 New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Alexandra Bracken's latest YA novel, 'Wayfarer.” Released in January, the book is the follow up to Bracken's novel 'Passenger,” published in January of last year.

I, for one, anxiously awaited the release of 'Wayfarer” as 'Passenger” was a captivating novel that left readers with a pretty shocking cliffhanger of an ending.

Bracken, who also wrote 'The Darkest Minds” series, as well as a young reader adaptation of 'Star Wars: A New Hope: The Princess, The Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy,” knows how to weave a complicated tale bouncing from different character perspectives and set in times and locations as varied as any novel I've read in recent memory.

'Wayfarer” is the second installment in the story of 18-year-old Etta Spencer, who is ripped from her life in modern day New York City and thrust both miles and years away from home, realizing for the first time in her life that she is a time traveler. She spends the whole of 'Passenger” trying to save her mother, also a time traveler, whom she believes has been captured by a greedy man who controls the timeline.

Etta also happens to fall in love with 18th century privateer Nicholas Carter and their blossoming relationship presents challenges that seem as if they'd put Romeo and Juliet to shame.

Now, I'll be the first to insist that you pick up a copy of 'Passenger” and read it before diving into 'Wayfarer” as you'll need the background the first novel sets up. Time travel comes with its own set of rules and there are several characters you'll enjoy getting to know before seeing them reappear in 'Wayfarer.” Of course, you'll just have to know what becomes of them all.

The character development is one of the things I enjoyed most about 'Wayfarer.” It felt reassuring to reconnect with main characters Etta and Nicholas and it was fascinating to be reading the book and see their situations change. One of the biggest differences in 'Wayfarer” from 'Passenger” is that in this second installment Nicholas and Etta are separated throughout the book and their stories progress alongside each other. While I missed their dramatic chemistry, it made me even more connected to them as characters as I hoped for their reunion.

'Wayfarer” also introduces complicated new characters to appreciate and helps characters that were previously despised open up a special place in your heart, something you likely didn't see happening. The relationships that develop are satisfying in the healing they provide for characters and they reveal the humanity in characters with even the toughest of exteriors.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable and exhilarating parts of 'Wayfarer” is that it jumps around frequently to different lands and time periods. From colonial Nassau to New York City, San Francisco to Roman Carthage, imperial Russia to the Vatican catacombs, Bracken charts a gorgeously detailed, thrilling course through time. You've certainly got to pay attention to whose story you are in at any given moment and it's interesting to watch characters adapt to the periods and situations they are thrown into. Bracken's love for history and attention to detail shine through with every page turn.

Overall, 'Wayfarer” is a wonderfully woven story that takes the reader on a journey to reconnect people and things that were lost in 'Passenger.” If you are looking for a book that presents you with a heart-wrenching love story and a rollicking historical escape, pick up 'Wayfarer” and hold on. The stakes are high as characters consider good versus evil and the idea of whether to live the natural timeline alone or to go back and change the past. But I promise all the ups and downs will be worth it in the end.