By iamsandykay on November 8, 2023 ( Leave a comment )

Book Review – The Ferryman

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin book cover

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Book Description:

Founded by a mysterious genius, 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.

My Take:

I received a digital copy of this book from Ballantine Books and NetGally.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Well-paced world building! Didn’t get bogged down in the details while also clearly setting the stage.

In a world where it is our world, but it isn’t our world, authors can sometimes get too wrapped up in sharing the similarities while also say, “no, but it’s not the same as our world.” That didn’t happen here. We know this is different and the way we are explained that is very well done – sometime through “breaking news” sometimes memories and sometimes through the characters reflecting on “is this really what I want?” Overall, it was laid out well to not be info-dumping, but the reader also wasn’t left confused and disoriented.

Somewhat predictable, but loved most of the characters, so couldn’t put it down.

A little predictable, recognizing what’s probably going to happen (due to the nature of the book’s genre), but I couldn’t put it down and cared about the characters outcomes.

The Final Verdict

My rating: 4 stars

Would I recommend? Yes

Great story; good for fans of The Matrix, The Island, and the Matched trilogy.