I had high hopes for the book, but I was very disappointed. The premise of this book should make it an engaging, hard to put down book, but it is just the opposite. It drags and is at times a real slog to read. To me it reads like the author wanted to create a long book. The story could have been told and been more engaging with half the number of pages. Other readers loved this book, but it just did not resonate at all with me.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

Proctor lives in Prospera, a utopian society where everyone has a meter in their arm that tells them when they need to retire to the Nursery. Proctor is a Ferryman and helps take people on their next journey. However, he can’t shape the fact that keeps dreaming when he shouldn’t be and then mysterious things start happening.

This book was an up and down journey for me. I found it slow at first then was really into it and then the big twist happened that took me out of it again. I did like the ending though.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've read The Passage series by Justin Cronin (while not even being a huge sci-fi reader) and after reading this absolutely magnificent story, am convinced the man is a genius! How anyone can write such a complex story, all the while making it easy to follow and so addicting, is beyond me. This is a story within a story within a story!! Just when you think you've figured it out, you couldn't be more wrong! The flow is perfection, the characters so well developed, the story so engrossing; it's just everything to keep you glued to the pages until the very last one.
I simply loved it.

Clever plot and an immersive read, The Ferryman will have you wanting answers with every turn of the page.

No matter what I write about this awesome book, it's going to sound like I'm a blithering idiot. At the moment, at least, I'm awestruck; after finishing it, I still can't believe another human could conceive such a complex story, much less write it coherently and so engrossingly that I really, really didn't want to put it down.

So what's it about? Well, in general it's a sort of "Soylent Green" meets "Brave New World" with a few other fantasy/science fiction works that played with our minds mixed in. The setting is Prospera, an archipelago that's a sort of utopia for residents. They live their lives for the most part in the lap of luxury, served mostly by "Support Staff" who live, some in squalor, on a nearby island known as the Annex.

Prospera's citizens have some kind of monitor in their forearms that are "read" with regularity. When their physical and mental health fall below an established percentage - which may not happen for many years - they are retired (voluntarily, for the most part) and sent to a nearby island called the Nursery. There, they are turned into what are called "iterations" who begin life all over again and returned to Prospera to begin another life cycle with no memories of their previous stint (or stints) there.

One of those iterations is Proctor Bennett, who as a young man was adopted by husband and wife parents and now, at age 42, serves as a Ferryman - one who personally escorts the retirees to the ferry that will take them to the Nursery to begin their transformation. On one fateful day, he gets a somewhat unsettling charge: the man he's to escort to the ferry is his own father. All goes well until the last minute, when his father suddenly balks and a fiasco ensues - Proctor must do whatever it takes to get his charges on the ferry, after all. But his father utters some cryptic words that are confusing and upsetting but at the same time make him determined to get to the truth, especially since he's been having strange dreams of late (and Prospera's reiterations don't dream). On top of that, Proctor's arm monitor readings have been dropping like a rock. How long will he have before he, too, must be traded in for a reiterated model?

As all this is going on, all is not well on the Annex, where the people are becoming unhappy with their servile status. Led by a resistance group called the Arrivalists, their unrest seems to be quickly turning toward out-and-out revolt.

And it is here that I must stop, even though I've barely scratched the surface of this 500+ page tale. For that, I'll blame the author; you see, he's concocted so many - well, not exactly twists and turns, but rather angles and perspectives - that mentioning much of anything that happens beyond the first few chapters would totally spoil it for others.

Okay, did all that make sense to you? I didn't think so. Ignore my ramblings and go read it for yourself - you won't be sorry. Meanwhile, I'll just say a big THANK YOU to the publisher, via NetGalley, for offering me a pre-release copy of this mind-bending book to read and review.

I'm just not that into it. The premise sounded freaking fantastic. The execution took way too long for me, while also not really giving me anything. I didn't connect with the characters much and at times I struggled to follow the sequence of events. I wasn't feeling attached to the story in any way. And I wasn't motivated enough to slog through the rest of this beast.

Having read Justin Cronin’s Passage series, I had very high hopes for this new book. Unfortunately, after about 60 pages in, I had to DNF. It wasn’t able to capture my attention and I found it to be confusing.

This was a beautiful, intricate, breathtaking novel. It's a long book, but well worth the high page count. It's one of those books that you really don't know what's going on until you've read through a big chunk of it. In a badly written book that can be annoying, but in this one, I was happy to just go along and see where Proctor's story took me. Highly recommend this book, especially if you're already a fan of Justin Cronin's writing (The Passage).

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

The Ferryman
By Justin Ronin
Pub Date: May 2
Ballantine
Science Fiction
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley
For the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Riveting stand alone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia - where the truth isn’t what it seems.
It’s a little long for me. Read and enjoy!
4 stars

I do not normally gravitate toward sci-fi/fantasy novels, but the description of this one got me interested, and I'm glad I read it. It's reminiscent of "The Matrix," and I didn't completely understand everything that happened, but I got enough to really enjoy it. Fans of this genre should especially love it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have such a book hangover now that I’ve finished this amazing dystopian novel by Justin Cronin! This is the type of longish story I would love as an audiobook, but with this one, I wanted to savor every concept, every twist and turn.

This is the first book I’ve read by Justin Cronin and now I can’t wait to read his previous novels. Even if you don’t think you like sci-fi, this story could make you a convert.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#TheFerryman #NetGalley

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

I was very impressed by this book. It felt like a mash up of tj klune and Blake crouch as far as writing style.

I am not sure if I should classify this as thrilled, sci fi, or dystopian. Regardless it was a story unlike anything I’ve read before. I think you should read this if you enjoy slow paced, action packed, emotional stories.

At times the book was complex but it didn’t take away from the overall story.

Author Justin Cronin, will always be one of my favorite authors. His legendary series starting with The Passage, is a masterpiece. To be chosen to receive this ARC for The Ferryman, made my year! I felt humbled to be able to read and give my honest review. The Ferryman did NOT disappoint. The prologue opens up with a horrific scene, a blood soaked woman gives up on life itself. I was instantly drawn in, and curled up for a night of no sleep - as I devoured this book. To say “this book engulfed me” is putting it lightly. In this dystopian world, the Ferryman is Proctor Bennett, who helps people “retire”, with the aid of implanted body monitors. When he starts to question his purpose, he isn’t the only one to do so in this new society. What happens throughout the book is met with bloodshed, terror, mystery, battles, revolution and ultimately - horrible truths.

If you open yourself up to this story, you will NOT be disappointed. You will come to love Cronin more than ever, and again, carry pieces of his latest story, within your soul.

So grateful to Random House Publishing Group via NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this arc. All opinions are 100% my own.

I received a digital ARC of this novel from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through NetGalley.

Do not let the length of this novel intimidate you. It is a beautiful, thought-provoking story that will stay in my mind. The characters were wel developed, and I felt like I knew them.

The Ferryman is a smart sci-fi dystopian novel. Proctor Bennet is a ferryman. He takes people who live in Prospera an island where everything is perfect to the Nursery when they have worn down and need to be refreshed. He enjoys his job until he has to take his father to the Nursery. What follows after is twist after twist that will have your mind reeling until the end. Thank you for my ARC #NetGalley.

I really wanted to like this book. I have read other books by Justin Cronin and loved them, but not so much on this one. There is so much going on, I felt overwhelmed. The first part of the book was good, but as it went on, I lost interest. there was so much potential but it just went flat. Once I hit the big plot twist, meh. I guess I expected more - better writing based on prior novels.

I don’t normally read science fiction, but the premise of this book caught my eye. A dystopian society is living free of the death and hazards occurring in the rest of the world. Everything is just peachy for the upper class, but a slow rumbling is building in the lower class. Proctor, whose job is to escort individuals to the ferry to be “reborn”, is able to dream, which should be impossible in his society. This ability starts a crack in what he believes is his world.
I love the description of people and events in the dystopian society. At times near the end of the book, I lost focus; I think the depth of imagination of the author is more fine-tuned, and I simply couldn’t keep up with his train of thought. Similar to “The Matrix”, there are numerous layers.
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is May 2, 2023.

Wow! This book was a wild ride. Every time I thought I had the story figured out, it took a turn. Particularly the last third of the book. What was dream and what was reality? Quite a fun piece of science fiction. Thoroughly enjoyable and I couldn’t put it down. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

The Ferryman
by Justin Cronin
Science Fiction Dystopia
NetGalley ARC

Proctor Bennett is a Ferryman, and with that job, he brings the people to the ferry so they can 'retire' when the monitor on their forearms falls under ten percent. The ferry ride takes them to the Nursery, where they are reborn, their bodies brand new, their memories of their past life gone, though sometimes deja vu happens, and unknowingly they find themselves attracted to the same people from their past lives.

But Proctor is dreaming and has for all of this life, something that is not supposed to be possible, and after he takes the man who was his father to the ferry, Proctor's monitor starts to drop and the people around him begin to act suspiciously. But it is them or him?


I can't go too deep into this story or I'll spoil it, but I can say I did not like it. It was too slow. It rambled on as it slowly built up to the 'point of the story', which was one of my guesses I had within the first half of the book.

Maybe if more life was brought into the world and characters, and the 'haves and have nots' weren't so stereotypical, everything wouldn't have felt so flat, but if the flatness was the author's intention, then the book should be a lot shorter. There were too many pages of blah, blah, blah, and I started to skim the book. (Should've DNF it.) Plus the chapters where it wasn't from Proctor's point of view seemed a little pointless.

Some people will love this, but I did not. It was an interesting idea, but for me, it moved too slowly and the characters were too boring.

1 Star

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. I have read this author in the past and found while he has a vivid imagination, his books are way to long for my liking. This book was the same. This book is long and takes place over a long period of time (read: decades). The first half is a slow burn that I had to re-reads parts of to keep track of what was going on, as there was so much going on and there was a lot of dialogue with slow action taking place. If you, or someone you buy gifts for is a Cronin fan, or enjoy long intricate stories, give this book a read.

3 Stars.