Name: Eva Ströberg's review of The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
Item: The Ferryman
Rating: 3
Author: Eva Ströberg

Justin Cronin

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia--where the truth isn't what it seems. Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera's lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh. Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process--and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he's been dreaming--which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry. Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group--known as "Arrivalists"--who may be fomenting revolution. Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized--and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.

A Novel

The Ferryman

Lindsay

And to you, the sleepers in my keeping: you have lived for countless lifetimes; you shall live for countless more. They will be different from the ones you’ve always known; your days of idleness and ease are gone. This is not a punishment— far from it. It is my gift to you, that you should be redeemed. I will give you childhood, so that you might know innocence. Age, so you will know the prize of youth. Children, so that you will care for the future. Toil, so that you will know the value of a day. The body’s failings, so that you will know its worth. Death, so that you will cherish the bittersweet beauty of life. We are, each of us, born a sparkling soul, clothed only in our newness; it is life that makes us what we are. You have been one thing; now you will learn to be another.

The mind works wondrously; it is capable of astonishing feats. It is the only machine in nature capable of thinking one thing while knowing its opposite.

It’s all a game of sorts, whereby Elise expresses her concern about me and, having aired this thought, is free to move on. It’s been my experience that a lot of human interaction comes down to just these sorts of exchanges, less an actual conversation than a form of parallel confession— the two parties performing their interior monologues, not really listening to each other but merely taking turns. I do not mean this cynically or as a statement of personal superiority; I’m as guilty as the next guy.

Dominik Hofer

Eva Ströberg

Justin Cronin - The Ferryman 
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⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Borrowed this massive book from @koebenhavnsbiblioteker and to be honest, I kinda enjoyed it in the beginning, but the story took another turn on ⅔ of the book (you could say plot twist) and suddenly the book felt meh. You know, just like a horror film was most exciting when you didn’t know who the culprit was. Once it was revealed, then there was no element of surprise anymore.
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To be honest, I couldn’t quite compare the book with horror film, but Cronin imho somehow failed to keep the suspense along the book, and what massive book it is (over 500 pages!)
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The Ferryman tells the story of a community of people living in island called Prospera. Beautiful, smart people, who don’t really “die” (they would get reincarnated instead). This society is shut off from the rest of the world, apart from the nearby islands called the Annex (where all the service people live - normal people) and the Nursery (where you get reborn - or in their language - reiterated). You can sense in the beginning that there’s something terribly wrong with Prospera and the citizens and the book unfolds that slowly

Ooooooph, that was quite the ride. If you like Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, you’ll probably enjoy this. Dystopian, sci-fi esque thriller, which starts off intriguing, becomes relatively fast paced and twisty as hell, but with moments of madness thrown in. Really enjoyed this, but it lost half a star for going a little bit too off centre towards the end. Highly recommend though.

Aims

interesting concept but hard to follow. Plot twists that had me confused and not overly impressed. 

Lacee Foutch 

I know it took a hot minute for me to finish, but WOW! I was not disappointed with Cronin’s latest. He once again managed to transport me effortlessly into this new world.

The world building in The Ferryman is just 

, let me start by saying. The world of Prospera is all at once beautiful, but in a way, slightly dark. It’s a darkness that ebbs and flows throughout the story, until you find yourself racing it to the end at breakneck speeds. 

Cronin has crafted ( and I do mean crafted ) a brilliant story that is as gorgeous as it is terrifying. I’m really not a huge fan of dystopian novels in general, but the way he writes them is so brilliant.The fact that the story sucks you into Prospera and keeps you tethered there for 550+ pages without breaking is marvelous. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read the ARC of this novel

Cindy McKee

I know it took a hot minute for me to finish, but WOW! I was not disappointed with Cronin’s latest. He once again managed to transport me effortlessly into this new world.

The world building in The Ferryman is just chefs kiss, let me start by saying. The world of Prospera is all at once beautiful, but in a way, slightly dark. It’s a darkness that ebbs and flows throughout the story, until you find yourself racing it to the end at breakneck speeds. 

Cronin has crafted ( and I do mean crafted ) a brilliant story that is as gorgeous as it is terrifying. I’m really not a huge fan of dystopian novels in general, but the way he writes them is so brilliant.The fact that the story sucks you into Prospera and keeps you tethered there for 550+ pages without breaking is marvelous. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read the ARC of this novel

altlovesbooks

”Arrival come.”

This was my first Justin Cronin book, and I went into it blind without anything but the summary to go by. I’m pretty sure I liked it? I’m pretty sure I liked it a whole lot, actually? But I also have problems with it? I don’t know, my feelings are very mixed, but I don’t have the heart to give it a 3 star rating because there’s just so much good here.

So, just as a vague, incomplete, surface-level summary, Prospera is a utopian society created to shield its residents from the world collapsing outside. Within Prospera as a Prosperan, life is what you make of it. You can spend your time doing whatever it is that fulfills you, in the manner you see fit. Your life is forever ticking down though, and when the meter in your arm falls below a certain point, you’re sent off to the Nursery. Your memories are wiped clean, your body is renewed and refreshed, and you start again in a new life with a new purpose. Life is calm, perfect, and grand. Prospera requires its fair share of custodians however, and these people make up the population of the Annex, your housekeepers, nannies, groundskeepers, and a whole host of residents who keep the island running. Life isn’t as grand and perfect as it is for the Prosperans, and tension rises between them constantly as a result.

The story is told from two points of view – first person from the point of view of Proctor, a “ferryman” whose job involves picking up the Prosperans whose meters fall below acceptable levels and dropping them off at the Nursery, and third person from the point of view of Thea, a resident of the Annex and part-time seditionist working with a group in the Annex. In addition to the conventional rising tensions between the Prosperans (“Prossies”) and the Annex, there’s quite a bit of sci-fi mystery overtones. What does Proctor’s dad’s final words about “Ouranios” mean? Who is Caeli? What is this “arrival come” religion that has taken hold in the Annex? Why does Proctor dream at night but nobody else does? 

There’s a lot going on with this book. I was deeply, heavily, intensely invested in the answers to all the sci-fi weirdness that kept cropping up, so much so that I was willing to overlook how slow the start is. There’s quite a bit of worldbuilding and stakes to set up at the beginning, and it isn’t until after the first third of the book is up or so that the actual rollercoaster ride starts. Things get incredibly wild, and even though I thought I had things more or less figured out, it turns out I really didn’t. I like that unexpectedness, honestly.

I’m going to put what I didn’t like in spoilers, because a lot is contingent on plot. Suffice it to say that the answers have flaws if you think about it too much. Intense ending spoilers here: (view spoiler)[What I didn’t like was how messy the answers end up being. There’s a lot of stuff to wrap up, and I was surprised to see most of it addressed at around the 60% mark. If you’re like me, once you have the answers, the book starts to lose its shine a bit because nothing’s mysterious anymore. I also didn’t like that Proctor essentially avoided the judgment of the colonists by dropping them all off, turning the ship around, and throwing himself back into the simulation while he headed back to Earth, presumably to….see what happened? It felt like a cop-out on Proctor’s part and rather than face all the outrage at what had been done to them within the simulation, he ran away. Also also, Proctor was the one who set up the police state to begin with? What the hell? I dunno, it didn’t seem like something Proctor would do, but then again, we only really got to know simulation-Proctor and not Director Proctor. (hide spoiler)]

BUT… there’s a ton to like here, and overall I really enjoyed the wild ride. I’ve even been compelled to seek out Cronin’s other series, The Passage, to see what that’s all about. Just a really unique experience all around that I’m glad I took the time to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

I devoured this dystopian sci-fi story. I want to summarize the plot, but so much happens throughout that you need to read the blurb and go in blind. The writing is exquisite, and the characters grab your heart. My only issue is that the story was a bit long. 

Cheri McElroy

I really wanted to love this book, the premise sounds so fantastic, it just wasn't executed as well as I'd hoped.

The book starts off slow, introducing you to the world, how it works mechanics wise, and the main character. As we get deeper into the story, we are led to feel for the guy, and his humble life as an upper class person. As the cracks in their well oiled society begin to show the book starts to pick up in pace.

But around the 60% mark, when the big plot twist happens, the author leans on telling to catch the reader up, disguised as catching the main character up and it really pulled me out of the story. I had a hard time getting back into it for the rest of the book, beside the fact that that type of plot twist is rarely done satisfactory. The ending was only so so for me, but mostly because the jig was up, so there was no point in what was happening to the characters for me. The characters that did matter, didn't get the page time they deserved.

If you want the spoiler version, find me on Goodreads.

Overall, if you really enjoyed the show LOST or the movie Inception, you'll probably enjoy this book. I'm not saying I disliked it. It was an interesting take on society, and had some thought provoking points about the human race.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this copy for me to read.

Sabetha Danes

I really wanted to love this book, the premise sounds so fantastic, it just wasn't executed as well as I'd hoped.

The book starts off slow, introducing you to the world, how it works mechanics wise, and the main character. As we get deeper into the story, we are led to feel for the guy, and his humble life as an upper class person. As the cracks in their well oiled society begin to show the book starts to pick up in pace.

But around the 60% mark, when the big plot twist happens, the author leans on telling to catch the reader up, disguised as catching the main character up and it really pulled me out of the story. I had a hard time getting back into it for the rest of the book, beside the fact that that type of plot twist is rarely done satisfactory. The ending was only so so for me, but mostly because the jig was up, so there was no point in what was happening to the characters for me. The characters that did matter, didn't get the page time they deserved.

If you want the spoiler version, find me on Goodreads.

Overall, if you really enjoyed the show LOST or the movie Inception, you'll probably enjoy this book. I'm not saying I disliked it. It was an interesting take on society, and had some thought provoking points about the human race.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this copy for me to read.

Dominik Hofer &
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

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