I received a complimentary THE WEST PASSAGE by Jared Pechaček thanks to Tor Publishing Group, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley.
Rating: 4 / 5
Publication Date: 7/23/2024
THE WEST PASSAGE follows two main characters. After the Guardian of the West Passage dies, we follow Pell and the women of Grey Tower going through the ceremonies of her death. The Guardian has not named her successor, but she has tasked her apprentice Kew with delivering a message. The tower is now unguarded and the world around them is breaking down and winter is coming out of season. Pell and Kew must each go out into the world away from the tower to face the wider world and attempt to save it.
This book left me with a lot of mixed opinions, most of them favorable. I am a very world-building driven reader and the world in here is so interesting and there were new things to learn about it at every turn. I’ve seen reviews comparing this to Alice in Wonderland, and I do think this has a lot of similarities. This is a world that is both whimsical and dark and I loved the way the author balanced both of these things.
I do think there was a lot to this world that wasn’t fully explained. I suspect it wasn’t meant to be laid out as a hard, rule following magic system, but given that we’re following two fairly young individuals who don’t have a very big world view, our own scope of knowledge is a bit limited. We do get more as the book continues and they venture out into the world. Still, in the end, I think I would have a hard time summarizing the world’s magic and purpose.
Overall this was a book that kept drawing me back to it and I would absolutely read from this author again.
THE WEST PASSAGE just came out on Tuesday!
For more thoughts on this book and several more, check out my ARC Attack reading vlog:
DG Reads 