Oh I tried, I tried to read this book so much. I remember being entranced by the Passage and unable to put it down, but getting bored by the Twelve and never finishing it, let alone whatever book 3 was called. So I was hopeful when a new book was announced. But I could not get into it. It just felt dense and trite and slow and wholly uninteresting. I’m in a different place in my life now, and much more interested in sharp novellas than doorstops of novels, so maybe that was part of it? In any event, this book was not for me.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. But I did enjoy complexity this book presented and the dystopian aspect. However, the book progresses slowly :(

The Ferryman tells the story of an island paradise known as Prospero which is hidden from the rest of the world. Proctor is a Ferryman who counsels and helps the elderly go to an island known as The Nursery where they “retire”, their bodies and minds are renewed and they come back to Prosperos as older teens to live with their newly assigned guardians. Prosperos is a perfect utopia and everyone who lives there are happy and healthy and have everything they could want or need. The Annex is another island where all the laborers live who are there to serve the Prosperos residents. While reading this book, I was getting mad vibes of The Giver, Logan’s Run, Lost, The Matrix, and a few other books/TV. No matter what happened, I just couldn’t predict what could possibly happen next. Eventually, an event happens whereby Proctor begins to recognize that everything is not as it seems and the twists and turns started blowing my mind. Yes, there were times when I felt as lost as Proctor but those twists! Brilliant! Everything finally made sense. The Ferryman is a big mix of dystopian, sci-fi, and fantasy, and I loved it all. Although this book was almost 600 pages I flew through it too fast and purposely would stop reading because I didn’t want it to end. I’m definitely going to experience a book hangover after this.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley of allowing me to read this ARC

DNF 30% in.

From the first page, THE FERRYMAN felt like mint chocolate cotton candy: a novel flavor combination which initially is a heady experience but eventually feels bland in its sameness. It’s startling at first, because it’s a flavor which does not normally belong in cotton candy and seems at first like a cool idea, but ultimately contributes little to the conversation of what makes a tasty dessert. I do not, generally speaking, want the book equivalent of cotton candy, but the writing is gripping and the world was interesting at first.

Ultimately I stopped reading when the bland misogyny became too frustrating. In a world where every marriage is a contract with a time limit (the parties can renew), it makes no sense for the main character to have a level of jealousy and possessiveness that in the real world is cultivated through an assumption of monogamy as a default. I read an ARC and so will refrain from using quotes in case the final version changes substantially, but this was a setup I've read before executed in a way that was frustrating to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

This story follows Proctor Bennet, a ferryman who transports people to die on an island when they reach the end of their life. But it is so much more than that. This dystopian fantasy novel is complex and will have your mind spinning.

First off, Justin Cronin is one of my favorite authors after reading “The Passage” trilogy…I want to thank the author and Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley (fabulous site) for allowing me to view an ARC of this new work by this author. I was so excited to receive this to give an unbiased review.

This author is amazing at getting your attention right off the bat and keeping it throughout to the end. This book does that in spades. When you think you are on the right track and have the story figured out, something else happens to totally change the narrative! Dystopian is my genre of choice but I truly believe that no one does it as well as Justin Cronin. Mind boggling to say the least. How would you like to live on a special island where everything is provided for you, including children, partners and even your employment? If you begin to not enjoy yourself or are overly stressed, you will be sent through “The Ferryman” to a place to erase your memories and start over (at least that is what is supposed to happen). There are many characters to weed through, and this is one of those narratives that you must pay attention to all of them to finally figure everything else in the end….even then there will be questions that cause you pause….is this true/real or not? This story is definitely worth the ride and I totally recommend you jump on and take it!

The Ferryman is excellent science fiction. Justin Cronin was already one of my favorites thanks to The Passage trilogy so I was so excited to get this ARC.

The Ferryman follows Proctor Bennett, Director of District Six Department of Social Contracts, aka Ferryman, in Prospera - an island state hidden from the rest of the world where everyone is biologically advanced and the weather is tropical perfect. There's the Annex, a neighboring island where the support staff (regular humans) live. Finally there's the Nursery. The Nursery is where new Prosperans are 'born' and where the elderly or retired Prosperans go to start over.

The Ferryman was giving Blake Crouch energy. After I finished my brain felt like it had a workout. The Ferryman is complex, and intense, and amazing. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong and I love when a book does that.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballentine Books for the copy.

I really enjoyed the book. Blending elements of The Matrix, Phillip K Duck and even, in some ways, the story of Moses the author creates a wonderful Sci-if journey that is a read the I couldn’t put down. I felt the characters were well developed and I was left feeling satisfied with the ending.

Outstanding! This novel was a layered world-building masterclass for me.

Let go of what you think you know and follow Proctor Bennett, a skilled ferryman,  as he escorts the people of Prospera across the waters to the Nursery, an island where a peaceful transition awaits. This is the construct, a necessary social contract meant to provide long, fulfilling lives to elite citizens. All seems idyllic in Proctor’s comfortable existence . . . a great job, respect, and a happy home . . . until one word is uttered and the seemingly solid edges of his reality begin to fray. Should he just shake it off and adhere to the given protocols or follow this new mysterious thread of questions and watch the world around him unravel?

Get thee to the bookstore, The Ferryman cometh in May!

I'd like to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Ferryman for my unbiased evaluation. 5 stars

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
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Honestly, the less you know going into this the better.
Genres: dystopian, sci-fi, speculative fiction.
Prospera is an isolated island community where people live wonderfully pleasant lives. Then they retire to the Nursery where their bodies are renewed and memories wiped to start a new life fresh again.
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What I liked:
-This book was sort of bananas and I loved the wild and crazy ride it took me on.
-Such an interesting cast of characters, each ones POV gave a great viewpoint to what was going on in the story.
-Lots of fun discoveries in this story!!!!!! Such great discoveries!!!
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5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really don’t want to spoil anything for this book, but it was fantastic. Absolutely enjoyed. Highly recommend.

Wow! What a brilliant, complex, and creative novel from Cronin. How do you follow up The Passage trilogy? With The Ferryman, that’s how. Cronin is such a fantastic writer and he has written an astounding story that is both cerebral and moving. If you’re a fan of the movie Inception, read The Ferryman. If you’re looking for a dystopian novel that somehow feels like the TV show Lost, read The Ferryman.

And when you do read it keep this in mind: yes, the story may feel choppy at times. It is complex and can feel a little disjointed. Just trust Cronin and keep reading.

Thank you so much for the arc for my honest review. This is no doubt one of my favorites of the year and a go to recommendation.

I absolutely loved this.

Considering it's the first copy that's been sent out for reading there were a few typos but they were easy enough to skip over.

The premise of the story was AMAZING. I could not bring myself to put it down.

I love how it was written so you could get a feeling that something was going on but you're not sure what and that's what kept me on my toes. There's so much going on but it's all subtle until you reach the last third and then it begins to all click into place and it was so satisfying to read. There was enough there to make sure the twist didn't give you whiplash but that didn't dull the effect.

Amazing read and definitely one of my fav books.
Recommend for dystopia-action fans who are looking for something that's a lot deeper than you first thing. Age 15+ due to mature themes.

An innovative and head-spinning feat of speculative imagination, and Justin Cronin sticks the landing.

Wow. Just...wow.

I walked away from this book with regret, wanting the story to continue on and on and on.

Transcendent, heart-breaking, awe-inspiring - simple words to describe the tale of Proctor and his world, the hidden mysteries, the secrets kept from everyone, including the secret-holders. The language is lush, the characters unforgettable, and Justin Cronin proves he's one of the best story-tellers out there.

This was my first Justin Cronin novel, and it had me engaged by the very first chapter. This book is difficult to summarize. It starts off as futuristic/dystopian-leaning literary fiction but turns heavily into sci-fi by the half way point. It does an excellent job of exploring different types of relationships and having multiple story threads all come together and tie up at the end. The world building is very well done, and the story flow had me finishing the last 50% of the book in one day.

So why only three stars? The epilogue ruined a lot of the character building and goodwill for me. I hate saying that, because I'm a firm believer of the journey being bigger than the end, but the end of this left a really bad taste in my mouth and made me think harder about how the female characters in this book were written/represented. I'd like to try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but spoilers beyond this point.

One of the only main female characters does a complete 180 when true relationships are revealed at the end. Never mind the fact that the male character she' suddenly remembered she's obsessed with cheated on his grieving wife with her, resulting in a one-night stand pregnancy, that's clearly ok and he is clearly the best man for her and she is ecstatic about this pregnancy. Prior to this, she was a bold, spy-like resistance fighter. Now I'm simplifying this a lot, but after reading close to 500 pages of complicated relationships, pasts clashing with the present, incredible world building, and well-paced story telling, it was really disappointed to have the ending all wrap up with "and then she had a miracle baby and she was happy." WHY! Why is that how tons of female characters are written in epilogues. It's so frustrating!

So that's why it's only 3 stars. The journey was incredible but the end made my eyes roll so hard in my head I'm surprised they were able to come back around again. I will read The Passenger though.

This book was so different. I really enjoyed the writing style of this one. The author did a good job creating a world and a “utopian” like society with little to know details about the outside world or before. And yet you felt like you knew all the insides and outs of the society.
The opening was my favorite when she makes a choice because her time was up. I really felt her love for sparing others pain as she made and took ownership of her own ending.
And then the rest of the story didn’t disappoint in drawing you in and wrapping you in the rationale of how things should be.

I almost bailed on this, and then it got better, and then it got weird, and then it got familiar, and then the main character thinks “I exhaled a breath I hadn't realized I was holding” (chapter 29 of the advance reader copy), and I finished it but it wasn’t great. I give the ending two stars.

(Seriously, how can any author use that trite overused “exhaled a breath I/he/she didn’t know I’d/he’d/she’d been holding” phrase? How can any editor let that pass in a manuscript? Enough already with the breaths we didn’t know we’d been holding!)

I know people love this author but I was thoroughly unimpressed by his unoriginal overly long tedious novel. It reminded me of my least favorite episode of Star Trek: Voyager. (That might be considered a spoiler.)

"And what is a dream if not a story we must tell ourselves?"
*eyeroll*
(chapter 39 of the advance reader copy

I read an advance reader copy of The Ferryman from Netgalley.

A brilliant dystopian sci-fi story that kept me reading until late. I was intimidated by the size a bit, but I'm so glad I read it. I'll be picking up a copy and will be recommending it to many! Thank you Ballentine for the ARC of this one.

The Ferryman was a good book .

Not my typical genre but I was really intrigued.. Earth has been destroyed by pollution and has built a space ship to travel to a planet over two hundred years in the future . If people couldn’t dream they would go crazy . The passages about the dreams threw me off a bit .

The characters were well developed .

A good tale set in the future .

A well written dystopian / sci fi read .,

I was beyond excited to be pre-approved for this novel, as I love Justin Cronin's previous books. This one lived up to and exceeded my expectations of him and was an easy 5 stars for me!

In The Ferryman, we are presented with Prospera, a dystopian society, where people live on an isolated island system, pursuing lives of luxury and wealth for 100+ years, when their live span monitor runs low, they retire to be reiterated as a young teenager on the Nursery island. Proctor Bennett is a Ferryman, someone who escorts the retirees to the Ferry for retirement. He's had a staid life, the only notable thing that happened to him was the suicide of his adopted mother when he was a young man. The book opens with him escorting his adopted father to the ferry for voluntary retirement, when his life goes haywire from there.

We meet a wide cast of characters and narrators who live on Prospera, and as in The Passage, Cronin's world building skills are phenomenal, with each character having a unique perspective and voice. This book sucks you in from the very early pages, and keeps you guessing until nearly 75% of the way in. As a reader, you know that something is off, a world this perfect has to have a secret underbelly, but what exactly is truly happening is the mystery. Honestly, I feel that any review I give beyond what I have already say may reveal too much. Fans of Cronin's previous works will love this book, but I do think it stands alone as fresh science fiction.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.