Traveler

This book was both a quick and intriguing read, but overall was not that spectacular in the long run. I liked the premise of it at first, but the way Finn was introduced and how Jessa was introduced into the world of Dreamers and Travelers felt a little...middle-grade. Which wouldn't be bad if this were a middle-grade book. There was also the lovely info-dump towards the beginning that had me sighing, and a love-triangle that had me rolling my eyes. What is it with love triangles where it's the girl falling for the new mysterious guy she has a strange connection with while the best friend is left looking like a kicked puppy? Why can't the best friend ever be the endgame love-match? Sorry, getting into my own personal desires here... Anyway, the characters were interesting but didn't really jump off the page at me or anything. The plotline moved very quickly, but the reveals felt not so much shocking as they were given without much foreshadowing. The ones trying to kill Jessa never gave off any indication or clues to the reader that they were the evil ones (in fact I had pegged someone else who was present or aware of Jessa's location for every time she did almost die), and the whole reason why they were trying to kill her was a little too much "Chosen One" for me. A quick, somewhat fun read, but not something that really stands out to me in terms of being unique or outstanding. I may still read the sequel, since I have an egalley of it, but we shall see.

Jessa and Ben are best friends and they're inseparable. Ben is great with Jessa's autistic brother Danny, which makes Jessa like him even more. Even though Jessa spends most of her days with Ben she dreams about someone else. She doesn't know who he is, but she has seen him plenty of times and is constantly writing stories about him. Jessa's biggest ambition is to be an author and she writes whenever she has the chance. Jessa's dream guy might be more real than she thought, as one day he asks her to have a cup of coffee with him. He knows exactly what she likes and doesn't like. She finds out that his name is Finn and they know each other in many forms, each a little bit different, but also still the same. Finn tells Jessa that she's a Traveler, which means she can travel to alternate realities. Finn wants to warn Jessa, because she's in danger. To keep an eye on her he becomes a permanent fixture in her world and Danny loves him as well. While Jessa's fighting for her life she's trying to cope with the attention of two amazing guys. However, they don't want to share and that isn't always easy. Will Jessa be able to remain safe, both physically and emotionally? Jessa is a capable and confident girl. She's strong and she works hard. She's also kind and helpful, which is why I liked her straight away. I loved how much she cares about her family, especially her brother Danny. He's very special to her and L.E. Delano writes about him with a lot of love. Jessa finds it important that her friends are nice to her brother and they have a beautiful bond. That was one of my favorite things about Traveler. Jessa has quite a lot of boy trouble. She and Ben are having a valuable friendship, but Finn's appearance in Jessa's life puts them under pressure. Ben and Finn are equally protective and they aren't very good at sharing. This makes interesting reading. Jessa has different connections with both of them and that makes things difficult for her. I couldn't wait to find out where that would lead. Their relationship isn't like a standard love triangle, it's complex and interesting and I liked L.E. Delano's refreshing approach of the subject. Traveler is a terrific time travel story. I could easily picture the various worlds L.E. Delano is writing about. She describes them by using funny details that stand out immediately, so they're not difficult to remember. The possibilities are endless, but she keeps it easy to follow, which is something I loved. Traveler uses a well known concept of parallel universes, which I always find fascinating as the success of the stories usually depends on the fantasy and creativity of the author. It was fun to take a look into L.E. Delano's imaginary world. Traveler has an unexpected and open ending, which instantly made me want to read more. I really liked this compelling story.

Traveler deals with interdimensional travel in a an interesting way. Starting with the "normal girl Jessa," she finds out that she is actually a traveler, and her favorite main character to write about is real. Yes, Traveler does follow some YA cliches such as the naive newbie, insta-attraction, and a single and uninformed best friend. But, there are plenty of unique twists like the "science" behind dimensional travel and the conflicts it creates. I would go into the second book mainly to learn more about the main characters Ben and Finn. Jessa just wasn't as interesting to me as the other two. While she's predictable and slightly cliche, the other two are mysteries, and you don't know what their next move will be.Overall, none made a huge impression on me, but at least they weren't terribly annoying. While the idea of their traveling is still very interesting to me, I do question some of the logistics of it. And for me, if I think the conflict is being made more complicated than it need be, then I can't focus on the rest of the plot. Besides that, I also found some plot line cliches that I have had enough of. Since this first novel was setting everything up though, those cliches weren't so terrible. While they were there, they were revealed in the later half of the story. The beginning and middle were kind of slow to me because the overlying plot wasn't really revealed yet. I didn't necessarily fly through the last part of the book, but it did leave me excited for the next installment.

Original Review Link: http://asdreamsaremade.com/2017/02/book-tuesday-traveler/ This was a fun quick read! Jessa has always found inspiration for her writing in her dreams. Particularly from a certain boy who showed up quite frequently.  Until suddenly, he shows up in real life and tells her those dreams were different realities that she lived through.  Jessa is a traveler–and somebody is trying to kill her. This has been getting some mixed reviews, but I enjoyed it.  It was a fun, quick read.  Sort of a time travel novel with a sci-fi/fantasy twist. Jessa was an OK character for me. I liked her at times, and others I found her to be a bit selfish and whiny.  I did like seeing all the different versions of her though.  Finn was interesting. I loved his back story, and alternate version of himself, but other than that he was a typical fictional boyfriend.  Same thing with Ben.  There was some love triangle thing happening (you all know how I feel about those), but it wasn’t too bad.  I have a feeling Ben is going to play a larger role in the upcoming installments.  The plot moved fairly quickly.  Whenever Jessa traveled through worlds however, it felt a bit forced.  Why was she going? What was her motivation?  Overall, it was a bit predictable in terms of story arc.  Certain parts I saw coming a mile away.  Nonetheless, it had me turning the page.  I twas an interesting concept and I wanted to see what new reality Jessa would be thrust into. If you feel like a quick, fun read that sets up for more in the future, pick this up.  I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to the next one (and a certain pirate as well ;)!).

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog*** Traveler by L.E. DeLano Book One of the Traveler series Publisher: Swoon Reads Publication Date: February 7, 2017 Rating: 2 stars Source: ARC sent by the publisher Summary (from Goodreads): Jessa has spent her life dreaming of other worlds and writing down stories more interesting than her own, until the day her favorite character, Finn, suddenly shows up and invites her out for coffee. After the requisite nervous breakdown, Jessa learns that she and Finn are Travelers, born with the ability to slide through reflections and dreams into alternate realities. But it’s not all steampunk pirates and fantasy lifestyles…Jessa is dying over and over again, in every reality, and Finn is determined that this time, he’s going to stop it… this Jessa is going to live. What I Liked: I'm pretty upset about not liking this book. Actually, I've just finished the book and I'm very irritated, but I'm also upset that I didn't like it (and I blame the book, not myself). I see the appeal? I get it? Really it was the last quarter of the book that made me want to throw it across the room. I received a galley of this book unsolicited from the publisher (and this did not affect my opinion in any way - clearly). I wasn't even going to read the book (because it was sent unsolicited, and I'd not heard of it before), but several bloggers convinced me that I would love it. I didn't (obviously). Jessa has always had a wild and colorful imagination. She comes up with stories and writes them. Lately, her stories have been filled with a green-eyed boy who is always with her - right before she dies of some way. One day she looks up from a mundane task and he is real, and in front of her. It turns out, she and Finn (green eyes) are Travelers, and that all of those stories she came up with are actually memories from other versions of herself. What's more, all of those times Jessa imagined herself dying truly happened - those versions of herself, in other "realities", were killed. Finn is here to help with learn to Travel, and to figure out who is trying to kill her. This book started off REALLY well. In fact, like I said, I was doing great until about the three-quarter mark. This is a neat concept and a cute story. The idea is that there are multiple realities, and that Jessa is living in one, but there are other realities and other versions of her out there. They are all "her", but since the other realities are different, so are those other Jessa's. Same with Finn - he is Finn in every reality, but slightly different. Every time Jessa travels, she gets the memories of that Jessa, and the Jessa that switches gets her memories. I don't think I've read anything quite like that! Switching with another version of yourself to travel to that version's "reality" is so bizarre and neat. I liked Jessa, and was cool with her for most of the book. She's funny and smart, a good student and a good sister. She is so cautious when she first meets Finn, because she doesn't believe him. But once Jessa catches on, she gets into Travel and likes it. Her favorite "reality" is a historical one, in which she is an heiress and she meets a pirate Finn. She really likes that Finn. The "real" Finn that we know in this original reality is a charming, sweet guy. He's also a bit protective and a little bossy, but he's a good guy. Read the rest of my review on my blog, The Eater of Books! - eaterofbooks DOT blogspot DOT com :)

Traveler by L. E. DeLano is a YA sci-fi/fantasy time-travel novel filled with action, romance, and mystery. Featuring two main characters that I really adored and a plot that was unique and interesting from the start. Jessa St. Clair dreams of other worlds and writes her dreams all down in her stories. One day, one of her favorite memories from her dreams, Finn, appears in front of her out of the blue. In real life. He's come to warn her that her life is in danger and he is there to prevent her from dying. Of course, Jessa doesn't believe a word he says. So, Finn calls for backup and this is when things become interesting. Soon we learn Jessa and Finn are Travelers, born with the ability to slide through reflections and dreams into alternate realities and times. That Travelers switch with their other selves in the other realities, and then when they switch back they keep all the memories. Like Jessa, it took me a second to wrap my head around, but the concept is very interesting. Besides Travelers, there are also Dreamers, those who are in charge of keeping track of all the possibilities in all the realities. This alone, the entire world building and mythology, was magnificent for me. The imagery and all the details in the various realities definitely enhanced the story. Plot-wise, the story moved well and kept me interested as we tried to unravel who was trying to get rid of all the Jessa's in every reality and why. Though I will admit, there were some parts in the story that kind of reduced my overall enjoyment (ie. not a big fan of love triangles, and the ending kind of gutted me), but I'm still glad I read it. Overall, Traveler by L. E. DeLano was a great debut novel that set up the stage for the next installment and I look forward to reading book two. I would recommend. (I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

I'm quite picky about my time travel books, but I loved the premise of this book and was quite eager to start it. Jessa is an interesting character. She's smart and friendly and is loyal to her family. I truly enjoyed being in her head. Yes, there were times that she was a bit whiny, but it makes sense with what's happening in the story. Ben and Finn are both great additions to the story, for different reasons. I'll let you find those on your own. The plot line is what got me. I was captivated from the very first time Jessa traveled and found myself laughing because I feel like I would have done at lot of the things she did when she got into a new Jessa. Especially the dancing. Everything is quite fast paced and engaging. There is one thing I didn't see coming and one thing I'm furious about. However if the epilogue turns out to be what I'm hoping it is, I'm more than happy. Overall, a quick and fun read. I look forward to reading the next book. **Huge thanks to Swoon Reads for providing the arc free of charge**