Friday 11 March 2016

"The Passenger" by Lisa Lutz | Book Review

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz
Publishing Date: March 1, 2016
Pages: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Links: Goodreads | Indigo | Book Depository | Kobo

After Tanya Dubois' husband dies suddenly and under suspicious circumstances, she decides to flee town instead of sticking around and answering to the police. She dyes her hair, changes her name, and cashes in her credit cards. The thing is, she's innocent...so why would an innocent person try to disappear?

Throughout the novel, we get hints at Tanya's (now Amelia, and many other identities) dark past through cryptic email exchanges with someone she used to know. I found that way of revealing information about her very interesting, and it made me want to know what happened that was so bad that she had to leave her hometown and disappear.

In terms of characters, there wasn't enough to Tanya-Amelia-etc's character for me to really empathize with her. She had lost so much of herself over the years, so perhaps it was the author's intention to have her essentially be a shell, but it made it hard for me to really root for her and be invested in her life.

However, it was really cool to read about Tanya-Amelia-etc as well as Blue, another mysterious woman rarely seen but somehow always present, navigating this off-the-grid life. There were so many times when they had to get themselves out of messy situations involving strength, cunning, and a lot of dirty work, and I enjoy reading about these kinds of scenarios.

The Passenger is a fun, fast-paced read that takes us on a literal journey of escapism. The focus is mainly on the action and although the two main female characters are undoubtedly badasses, it would have been nice for them to have more depth. Regardless, this is an enjoyable read that'll make you feel just a little more confident in your ability to disappear, if you ever needed to.


*This book was sent to me by Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.

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