I loved the first half of this book and couldn't wait to find out who was behind what was going on in Prospera, and specifically what was ailing Proctor Bennett. Then it all fell apart for me. There were time warps, dreams, and alternate realities - several of them - and it left my head spinning. Sci Fi and fantasy are not my go to genre, but the description of The Ferryman read a lot more like a mystery so I opted to give this book a read. For me the last section of this book could have been the entire book. Once the alternate realities started and I couldn't keep anything straight the book became entirely too long for me and it dragged on. I was also left with some really big questions that were not answered. I am not a fan of spoilers so I will not name them here. If you like a book that leaves you wondering just what is real and what is false, this book will be for you!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Random House, Ballentine, and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

I was really excited for Cronin's follow-up to his Passage Trilogy, a trilogy I legit still dream about years later. How could he beat that trilogy? What is the encore?

The Ferryman is a fascinating novel, leaning more into Cronin's world-building (and thankfully less horror) and giving us a story that seems to flip itself every few chapters. Is this about a utopian island community? Or a bunch of other things I don't want to spoil? I don't know, but I loved how this story moved, how the characters were constantly learning more, and how the author brought the reader along.

Cronin is a must-read for me and the Ferryman just assures that I'm on board for whatever he is writing.

This started really strong and I read close to 400 pages of it in one sitting. It’s dystopian and mysterious, and while I never really felt connected to any of the characters (they felt like names on a page rather than fully developed characters to me), the plot was quite interesting.
Then it quickly got worse. There’s information revealed that made me roll my eyes and I was honestly mad I had spent so much time reading. The last part really relies on you caring about the characters, which I did not.
I’m disappointed because I really liked this book for so long and then my opinion changed dramatically! I’m not sure I can fully recommend this one because I didn’t feel like the ending was worth how long the book was.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

2.75 rounded up because I did like it at first.

I didn't know what to expect going in. I prefer to avoid reading too much beforehand, and this was quite the adventure. The world building was impressive, which is always a major factor for me. It reminded me of a blend of Inception and Project Hail Mary, with a hint of Westworld. Yes, they are all different but believe me, it makes sense once you read it. I highly recommend it.

I have recently started enjoying speculative science fiction, and The Ferryman did not disappoint! The setting is a utopian island where after a certain age, people are "reiterated" and start life over again. but the way it plays out in this book is unique, engaging and kept me wondering up to the very end what was really going on. Five stars!

Proctor Bennett is a Ferryman in the state of Prospera, three islands home to an isolated and seemingly perfect society. Proctor's job is to get older residents on the ferry to the nursery, where they have their memories erased, and are returned to Prospera for a new life. But when Proctor is forced to send his father to the nursery, the trip does not go as expected, and it sends Proctor on a journey to discover the hidden aspects of his society.

Justin Cronin has made a wonderfully complex, twisty, and smart sci-fi thriller. The book is long, but it moves quickly, exploring many facets of Prospera and building out a detailed, fascinating world for the characters. I put this book down for a while halfway through it only to finally pick it back up and be enthralled by the very surprising second half. The first half is a lot of set up, but if you stick with it, there is so much excellent, mind-bending payoff in the second half. I knew there would be twists and turns coming, but I absolutely did not expect what Justin Cronin had in store for Proctor Bennett and the world that he created. The focus on class conflict and the creation of narrative created some rich thematic context for Cronin's world. This is a great take on the dystopian society novel that will please sci-fi fans and hopefully create some more Justin Cronin fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Dystopian, sci-fi novels are not my go-to genre, but the premise of this twist-filled stunner immediately hooked me. The island of Prospera has been carefully curated so that's it's inhabited by artsy, cultured people living their best lives. Each has a monitor in their arm that tracks their physical and mental capabilities. When these decline, their number gets too low and they're "retired" and rebooted--their memories wiped and their essence put into a new, younger body to live another life. Next to Prospera is The Annex, land inhabited by the "working class" people who serve the Prosperians. Proctor Bennett is a Prospering ferryman, who's responsible for shepherding soon-to-be retired Prosperians to The Nursery, where their reboot begins. The trouble really begins when Proctor has to accompany his own father to the ferry AND his monitor numbers are dropping low really, really fast.

Once this story takes off, the action and twists are non-stop. Cronin's world-building has a lot of moving pieces, but it's impressive in its intricacy and cleverness. The characterization is rich, too. What I really loved about this novel was how Cronin spoke to the environmental and societal issues I see (and worry about!) through the story. How he imagines things will "work out," is compelling and rooted in some real-life ideas. Yet, like with life itself and the challenges and dangers we see today, there's that ever-resilient thread of hope and humanity weaving through.

If you're a sci-fi/dystopian fan--and especially if you're not!--give this one a go. It's a long one, so I read parts and listened to the terrific audiobook. But either way, it's an intriguing and inspiring tale of how humans might respond when natural forces inevitably react to our neglect.

The Ferryman is filled with vivid and immersive world building and the storyline kept my interest. I did find myself having to go back and reread certain details because the book is quite complex so I found I had to set it aside if there were any distractions. But this can be said fir any Justin a Roman book he delved deep so you need to be ready to give it your full attention. The whole FerryMan idea is intriguing & Nursery/Retirement Island was morbidly fascinating. The "newborns" delivered by boat at 16 who come potty trained with speaking capabilities was new. I mean 16 no childhood that’s kind of intriguing and sad lol. And I would certainly hope they can talk and are potty trained… That’s a diaper I don’t want to deal with 😂 Disturbing or the best idea ever hmm both actually so much to think about tied up in that conundrum. The last 1/4 of the book veered off from where I thought it was headed and I fully enjoyed how unexpected it was. The ending flowed differently from the rest of the book and seemed rushed after the pacing of everything else. It did still manger to be a cohesive enough and mostly tied up all the loose plot threads. I honestly can’t believe I would say this because anyone who reads a Justin Cronin novel knows they are LONG but this actually would have paced better and finished stronger with a few more characters to keep the pace intact. But Bravo another solid read from a huge favorite of mine! I definitely recommend it but take a seat it be long.

Justin Cronin’s The Passage series is one of my absolute all time favorites so I was extremely eager to read The Ferryman! The writing here actually surprised me- it’s very different from what I remember of The Passage books. I really enjoyed following the story of this mysterious dystopian futuristic island where of course- everything is not as it seems. I had absolutely zero idea what was truly going on until the reveal, although the ending was just a teensy bit disappointing for me as I’ve seen it “done” several times recently. Wish I could say more but I don’t want to spoil anything!

This book was amazing! Hands down one of the best books I will most likely read in 2023. In the beginning I was a worried about starting a book this size and staying focused until the end but by the end I did not want this book to end.

First and foremost the world building in this book is amazing. It opens with characters living an idealistic life on an isolated and self sufficient island. They are cut off from the rest of the world and they lead a posh life full of arts and culture and have all of their needs met. Then we find out that in order to lead these perfect lives the characters are supported by a class of workers whose lives are far from perfect. The book follows both classes of people and there are many unpredictable turns some of which I am still trying to wrap my mind around.

Overall, this book was amazing and I really hope that there is a sequel.

My head is spinning after finishing The Ferryman! A wonderful standalone after The Passage series. Intriguing, smart, somewhat horrifying, and a blend of several genres, The Ferryman will leave readers breathless by the turning of the final page. Perfect chunkster for those who like a smarter, longer beach read!

Mood: You want a cocktail of dystopian, fantasy, and sci-fi, distilled in a complex story told through POV. Mood: You want to make your brain WORK and ask deep questions. What is a perfect life?

Because this story sounds so familiar, a utopia island people are removed from and memories wiped, it seems as if you'll know where this story will end. There's more twists than I expected and I enjoyed my ride! This is definitely a book to read more than once to catch all the mastery of the writing and plotting.

This very confusing and dragged out story-within-a-story(-within-a-story) left me so frustrated there were multiple times I wanted to chuck it and move on. I eventually finished, but I can't say it was worth the effort.

I love speculative and science fiction, but this. I'm not even sure what *this* was. What is was, was not for me.

There's so little to say without spoiling it, so I won't make the attempt. All I will say is that I spent 20 hours listening to an audiobook that annoyed me for the first 15 hours with its obvious unreality world building, then went off the deep end for the final five.

Kudos to Scott Brick and Suzanne Freeman for their expert narration. Their collaboration here was easily the best part of this book.

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin is an emotional science fiction ride. The Novel feels like two stories in one. The world-building is well thought out and creatively developed. I love how dreams work in the story and how they are analyzed. The story goes places that I couldn't predict, it is a wild ride. The story at the beginning reminded me a lot of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and the way it was set up then the novel shifts and it reminded me of a couple of films, none that I could list because it would give the twist away. I think this story works better not knowing too much going in. This novel joins Recursion and Dark Matter both by Blake Crotch in stories that I had no idea where they were going. The pace was sometimes a bit too slow. The story is a bit long and has far too many endings than needed. The climax was pretty exciting and brought an emotional impact to the story. The story is complex but at its heart, it is a very simple idea of love, loss, and hope. This is my first Justin Cronin novel I have been recommended the Passage trilogy by more than a few people. I was given The Ferryman from Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine to read and review. The Ferryman was published on May 2, 2023

Plot Summary: Proctor was brought to his parents on a ferry from an island called Nursery. No one on the island is born. He was 16 when delivered to his parents. He now works as a Ferryman that delivers people who fall below 10% in either physical or mental decline. These people are brought to the island of Nursery to get reprogrammed. Proctor gets to be the director of the organization and is in charge of getting people peacefully to the ferry. The day he gets assigned a new partner is the day he has to bring his father to the ferry. He is coherent until he is about to arrive on the ferry where his father starts talking in what he thinks is gibberish but it seems to unlock something in Proctor who starts dreaming which is believed to be impossible.

What I Liked: I found the world-building to be clever especially when all is revealed and we see how truly thought out everything was. I liked how dreams worked in the story and how they worked. The ending and how mind-blowing it all is. I liked that I guessed a little bit of the twist but there are so many layers to the twist that it would be hard to guess all, and it kept me intrigued. The heart in this story is big and it made me emotional. I loved how much psychology played a role in the story by way of dream analysis.

What I Disliked: Some slow moments drag down this good book. I thought the story could have been tighter dropping about 60 pages for this 538-page book. The ending was way too drawn out. This book has more endings than Return of the King, it could have dropped 2 of them and I would have been fine.

Recommendation and Rating: The Ferryman is a solid read with an interesting story. I will recommend this book. What I liked was a lot more than I disliked. I will read another Justin Cronin novel. I rated The Ferryman by Justin Cronin 4 out of 5 stars.

I enjoyed the twists, well woven story - just wasn't for me.
Prospera has a very defined hierarchy - those on the island with monitors tracking health vs the support staff living a single life, removed from the elite; in poverty, without basic rights or necessities.
A woman named Mother. A woman who crosses between both the elite and the staff. A man who remembers.
Very intriguing look at dystopia.

Definitely one of my favorite reads this year! Who would have known what tragedies, what hopes buried in this story? Does the Ferryman help others to cross the waters or does he help himself to come out on the other side of the darkness?

Proctor was living on Prospera as a successful Ferryman. He came from "Nursery" to meet his parents at the age of 16. He lived a happy life until his mom committed suicide. He eventually got married and continued to make progress in his career, until one day his job brought him to his dad's door. After that Pandora's box was opened and we walked into a journey I never thought we would.

It was such a well crafted story of a case of "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" turned "I cannot and will not forget any of this". While it is touching upon various current crises, it is more of a love story than anything else. Forget about rich, Forget about finding life somewhere else. Forget about Earth becoming inhabitable. None of those mean anything when there is nothing else to look forward to.

This is a book that defies a simple review. It does not go from Point A to Point B to Point C with a conclusion that pulls it all together. Nuh uh. It is a masterpiece of storytelling with twists you will not see. It draws you in before you know what’s happening and if you could, you would sit down for the next couple of days and do nothing but read this novel.

James Cronin takes you on a journey into a mind-bending future with intelligence and thoughtfulness. His characters are well-developed, believable, and enticing. The premise is fascinating, frightening, and futuristic. Nothing prepares you for it. I highly recommend this book for SciFi fiends, and anyone else who reads. It is well worth the time spent.

After enjoying Cronin's The Passage Trilogy, I was thrilled to be invited to review an advance copy of this newest standalone novel!

It did not disappoint...Cronin has an incredible way of developing dystopian worlds and the characters within! Proctor Bennett, the main character, has a great deal to unpack and discover as things on his island begin to change his reality.

While a lengthy read, it does not read as such. Highly recommend, and appreciate the publisher and NetGalley offering me a review copy!

This started out so well, but went off the rails in a spectacular fashion. I loved Cronin’s “The Passage” trilogy and was hoping for more of the same, but alas. The first half of the book was very promising with some captivating world-building and suspense, but the second half devolved into silly metaphysical nonsense I could hardly follow. In short, “The Ferryman” went from being a book I could scarcely put down to one I was reluctant to pick up and finish.

Four stars for the first half, two for the second half.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for an ARC of this novel. My review is based in the hard copy version.

Before you start The Ferryman, I encourage you to buckle up. Justin Cronin's sci-fi dystopian novel has many twists and turns. Just when you think you might know what's going on, everything changes. There are so many levels of storytelling that I am still wondering how it all happened. So, if you like letting your mind wonder into another world, I encourage you to read this book. If you need to know what is happening at all times, it may not be the book for you. I rarely reread a book, but I may have to reread this one to catch everything I missed the first time.