Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Passport

This is a really solid coming of age story. The themes of belonging and family are nicely explored, and Glock's childhood and situation at the time of this story provide an excellent back drop for them. The characters are all interesting, though not often likeable. I really hope some of them got help and are doing better now, because wow do they need it at times in this story. But it was good to see Glock finally start to distance herself from many of these characters and recognize that she wasn't in a healthy situation.

I wish there had been more about her sister or more closure on her feelings about her parents, but the focus on belonging and what it means to call a place home worked well as an ending too.

This book actually reminded me of a movie I watched for a film studies class in college called Virus Tropical. That also was a coming of age story and if memory serves, dealt with some similar themes. If you're interested in it, I would definitely look up content warnings, or at least watch the trailer, because there was a lot going on in that movie.

Now, I mentioned that this was a good coming of age story, and it is. I just wish that's the angle the blurb had taken.

I came into this expecting a very different book. And the one I got was good! But because I was expecting something very different, it was hard to appreciate what I got, which made me enjoy it less. And I totally understand why the blurb was written that way. It certainly makes for an exciting story, one that will definitely draw people in and sell the book. But after they're drawn in, I suspect many run into the problem I'm facing: this isn't the story they expected.

The blurb makes the discovery of her parents being CIA sound super exciting, like something out of an action movie. But it's really not. She doesn't even confront her parents about their jobs. Towards the end, they sit her down and tell her, and she lies and pretends she didn't already know.

Sure, figuring it out is what really prompts her to start thinking about who she is and where home is and why she never feels like she fits in, etc. But honestly, her parents and their job are almost part of the setting and not the plot they feel so small. Which again, fine. The blurb just made it feel a lot more important than that, which was disappointing to realize was inaccurate.

Basically: go into this expecting a coming of age story, with a little bit of exploration of having CIA operatives as parents, and not a story about finding out your parents are CIA operatives and you'll have a much more enjoyable read.

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thecandlelightlibrary's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

I enjoyed this, it was an interesting look at the themes that impacted the author's teen years living abroad but never integrating into the cultures she lived in. I liked reading her experiences with the hurricane and the coup. There were some themes I felt could have been explored a little more, but overall the book felt thoughtful.

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clarabooksit's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

2.25

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

Passport was a unique read. Sophia's feeling of disconnection from her peers is an almost universal experience for teens, but far exacerbated by her nomadic childhood and the secrets she lived with. This is the first book I've read where a kid guessing that their secretive parents work in espionage have been right. Overall, I enjoyed that the author didn't tie up every loose end or make a happy ending. She left it as it was, with hope for what was to come.

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zoepagereader's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

I only read this one because it had to be CIA approved to get published and I thought “Hey, that might be interesting.” I liked there story, but the art style was not my favorite. When a character cried, they looked like a zombie. And since there where only like four colors, the story felt repetitive. The spots that had dark colors and black wording on them were hard to see and read. 3.75⭐️

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wella's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

2.0

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