Blog Tour: The Photo Traveler by: Arthur J. Gonzalez (Review & Giveaway)

The Photo Traveler by: Arthur J. Gonzalez (2013)

Publisher: Fahrenheit Publishing

353 pages

Genre: YA/Time Travel

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | Amazon 

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Gavin Hillstone is resigned to being miserable for the rest of his life. Left alone in the world after his parents died in a fire when he was four, he was placed in foster care, which for him meant ending up in an abusive home with an alcoholic adoptive father.

Gavin’s only escape is in taking and creating images. His camera is his refuge from the unending torture and isolation of daily life in his “family.”

Until he learns by accident that he isn’t alone in the world after all. His father’s parents are still alive and living in Washington DC.

When he takes the plunge and travels 3,000 miles to find his grandparents, he learns that they—and he—are part of something much bigger, and more dangerous, than he could ever have imagined. Something that has always put his family at risk and that will now threaten his own life, while forever changing it.

He learns that he is one of the last descendants of a small group of Photo Travelers—people who can travel through time and space through images. But his initial excitement turns to fear, when he soon discovers that he and his grandparents are being pursued by the fierce remnants of a radical European Photo Traveler cult, the Peace Hunters. What Gavin has, they want!

His adventure will take him to past eras, like The Great Depression and the Salem Witch Trials. Gavin will have to discover who he really is and must make choices that spell the difference between life and death for himself, for the relatives he now knows and loves, and for the girl he will come to love.

For Gavin Hillstone, life will never be the same.

My Review

Time traveling through photos… I wish I could do that! This is a unique idea that the author did a nice job at explaining well and making it believable. While reading I kept trying to decide where I would want to jump back to in time and what photo I would use. I have yet to decide on this because I just can’t make up my mind, but boy would that be cool. 

The Photo Traveler is about Gavin, a teenager who is just trying to find his place in the world. I connected with Gavin, and that my friends is a deal breaker. I need to feel something for the characters in a book for me to enjoy it and luckily I did while reading The Photo Traveler. I felt for Gavin and cheered him on, hoping he finds a happier life. Having a male point of view in a young adult novel is refreshing and done well in this book. There were times when Gavin really frustrated me, but no one can be perfect. He just trusted too easily at times which didn't make any sense given his upbringing, but that was just a very tiny flaw. Although the minor characters in this book were not astounding they held their own and tended to grow on me.

The adventurous plot with a secret society had me smiling. It was a fun read and with each chapter I grew more nervous about the impending match up with the “bad guys.” There was even one moment where I was completely shocked at the plot twist, and I’m not shocked easily. Therefore this book gets added bonus points. This book if nothing else, is full of action, and I love a lot of action in my books. My favorite parts of the whole novel were when Gavin jumped back in time. It was fun to experience it with him, and was full of great descriptions. The only thing that actually bothered me while reading The Photo Travel was the excess use of exclamation points. I know I overuse them sometimes when talking to someone online, but I felt that for a book it was slightly overdone. I also felt like there were very tiny plot holes at times, but nothing that bothered me. They could easily be addressed in the next novel, so no worries there. I am very interested to see what is up next for Gavin.

Although this isn't one of my all time favorite reads, it was very enjoyable and is definitely worth a look. If you are a fan of photography, history, time traveling, and/or want a change of pace with a male point of view, then this book is for you. It is a fun and easy read with a new and interesting concept, traveling through time using photos. 

Oh and I just want you to know that I have some major cover love for this one!

** Thank you Xpresso Book Tours and author Arthur Gonzalez for giving me the chance to read and review this novel! Thanks for the free copy. It in no way impacted my honest review.  

RATING 3.5/5 

Author

My name is Arthur J Gonzalez.  I’m 28 years old, born and raised in Miami, FL.  I graduated from the University of Florida.  I am currently   releasing my debut novel, The Photo Traveler.  The premise surrounds 17 – year old Gavin, who discovers he is part of a small group, called Photo Travelers, who can time travel through photos and images. 

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

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Top Ten Tuesday #9: Light and Fun Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. 

Here are my choices for this week's topic of: Top Ten  Eight Books when you need something fun and light! I realized that I don't read a lot of these type of books, but when I do need something that will make me laugh these are a sure bet.

From the list above here are the ones that I have reviewed on my blog:

• The Boy Recession by: Flynn Meaney
•  Rapunzel Untangled by: Cindy C. Bennett
• The Borrower by: Rebecca Makkai
• Neighbor from Hell series by R.L. Mathewson

Side Note: Just about any of Meg Cabot's books are a great choice for a fun and light read!

What are your reading suggestions for those looking for a fun and light read?

ARC Review: The S-Word by: Chelsea Pitcher

The S-Word by: Chelsea Pitcher (May 7, 2013) 

Publisher: Gallery Books

304 pages

Genre: YA/Fiction

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie’s quest for the truth behind Lizzie’s suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for—even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.

My Review

This book left a sour taste in my mouth. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. I’m going to give you a heads up right off the bat. It took me a total of 5 days to figure out what rating I should give this. I had so many conflicting feelings, maybe mostly because I was still confused about what I just read. It just wasn't what I was expecting.

There are so many issues that are crammed into this one 300 page novel that try to give a lesson that I seriously should have kept a tally so I could keep track of them all. It was just too much. Not every teenage social issue needs to be addressed in one novel. What I was hoping would be a book with a strong and powerful message about suicide turned into an overwhelming and slightly hard to follow disaster. Okay, the word disaster is a little harsh but it somehow fits.

Where do I start? How about with the diary pages that were written by the now deceased teenager Lizzie. These diary pages were so unbelievably unrealistic that I cringed. They were too well written to be from an emotional teenager. They just didn't have the right voice. It was off putting and disappointing because I really like the aspect of having diary pages or emails or what have you in the book as part of the story, but this just fell short.

While reading this book I usually was like…WHAT?! Then I would be confused and then once again go back to being all like WHAT?! And I don’t actually mean that as a good thing. Everything about this book was just so ridiculous most of the time.  

I had no connection with the main character Angie. We don’t really get to know her all that well. As readers we are thrown into the novel right off the bat with no life jacket and in very rocky waters. Angie did grow on me and I understood her better as the novel went on and how she dealt with the grief of losing your best friend, but I still wasn't a huge fan. Although others that read this book may like her or at least connect with her I didn't and that is always a big turn off for me.

I want to talk about bullying, the main and one of the many issues this book addresses. Bullying is never okay. This is one of the biggest issues that was front and center in this book. The S-Word does a great job at showing the horrible effects of bullying, but I felt like it didn't do a great job at showing how to deal with bullying if you are a victim or know someone that is. I was surprised at this, at one point in the book I even thought the story was trying to tell us that if someone is bullied then you should bully them back, which is not good advice. Luckily, the ending did send a good message and everything worked itself out, although it wasn't really all that believable. For some reason when I read a book about a certain issue in our society it should have a realistic feel to it, especially if it is trying to make a statement. That is just my opinion.

So you may be wondering after all of my bashing why I gave this book 2.5 stars instead of just 2 or 1? Well here it is, the highlight of this novel is the interesting secrets that are unraveled, although I could predict a lot of them, I think how they unfolded was done well. Plus, these secrets were interesting enough that it did drive me to finish the novel.

The hardest question…would I recommend this book to others? I’m probably going to suggest that you skip it. Although just because I wasn't a big fan doesn't mean you won’t be. If you enjoy some crazy characters and plot then you may want to read it. It wasn't a horrible book, it just was a miss for me, I wanted an epic emotional book with a strong message and I just didn't get that from The S-Word.

** I received a free e-copy of this book from netgalley and Gallery Books in exchange for my honest review. Thanks! 

RATING 2.5/5

Top Bookish News of The Past Week

Here are all of the top bookish stories, blog posts, pictures, and videos I found this past week.  Click away!

ARTICLES

1. The 5th Wave by: Rick Yancey which isn't even released until Tuesday has already been optioned for a movie thanks to Sony. I'm not even sure if I should be excited since I haven't read the book yet.

2. A new Game of Thrones book is set to be released this December. No, it isn't the next book in the series. It is a book filled with Tyrion Lannister quotes. I'm not sure this is needed, but my husband who is a big Tyrion fan is pretty excited. 

3. Have you ever been asked a weird question at your job? I know I have! Check out 10 Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores. These are ridiculous and funny. I need to check out this book! 

BLOG POST

1. Have you ever had library fines and felt embarrassed when you go to pay them? The Broke and the Bookish talk freely about this subject and have generated a lot of fun and interesting responses. I don't have library fines that often but I occasionally rack up ones that are like less than a dollar. I'm not overly embarrassed when I go to pay my fine because really I'm just giving back to the library right? What is your take?

PICTURE

I thought this one that I found on the web was pretty hilarious so I had to share.

ARC Review: True by: Erin McCarthy

True by: Erin McCarthy (May 7, 2013)

Publisher: Intermix

238 pages

Genre: New Adult/Romance

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

My Review

I’m new to the New Adult genre and although I’m enjoying it so far this book wasn’t as amazing as I hoped it would be. Don’t worry, it is still a good read.  Perfect if you are in the mood for a college romance story. This is my first Erin McCarthy book and I plan to look into some of her other books, that should tell you something about how I feel.

Setting: College. Since I graduated a little over a year ago I loved this setting. At times it made me feel a little nostalgia for the college life. I think it was done well and really realistic. It made me want to find more books with this setting.

Plot: I love a story with a bad boy. However, I felt like this plot line was one that has been a little over done. Good girl falls for bad boy. They get together but things come up that tear them apart, etc. I think you get the drift. It was just a little too predictable at times. But, it was still a cute book and there was a few small things that made it more unique. The ending was done well, although somewhat rushed and could have been slightly longer. There are a few really well written heart warming scenes that were pretty memorable. It also touches on some tough family subjects/issues that I thought were handled well. 

Characters: The main female character, Rory, is a somewhat geeky shy girl who doesn’t think she is pretty. Although I didn’t always enjoy her lack of self-confidence, I still really liked this character. She seemed real, except for one time. Semi-Spoiler in next sentence: When she finds out a horrible thing that her friends did,(the hiring somone to take her virginity mentioned in the synopsis) although she is emotionally affected she doesn’t really do anything about it, which seemed weird to me, no yelling, screaming, anything. It was frustrating. If you read the book you will probably understand what I’m saying. 
Tyler, her love interest, is the opposite of Rory, a “bad boy.” There was just something about Tyler that held my interest. The way he acted and talked and everything was very smooth. He is very complex and was my favorite character.  Did I mention he loves to read? Sold. I wouldn’t call him my new book boyfriend but he was still delicious. Tyler and Rory really fit well together and I liked their chemistry. The main minor characters, Rory’s two friends/roommates, were okay, but I didn’t really feel a whole lot for them.

I really did enjoy this book and suggest that you take a chance on it. It doesn't take long to read and Rory and Tyler’s story is a romance that will make you smile.

** I received a free e-copy of this book from netgalley and Intermix in exchange for my honest review. Thanks! 

RATING 3.5/5

Top Ten Tuesday #8: What Makes Me Pick Up A Book

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. 

Here are the Top Ten Eight Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book!

1. Vampires: I love me some vampires. Did you not read my Top Ten Bookish Boyfriends post? Half of them were vampires. I am a huge fan of all the different little qualities that different authors give their vampires.

2. Survival: Fighting to survive? Count me in. For some reason I love a good stranded in a lifeboat, facing a huge storm or fire, or surviving in the arena, etc. type novel.

3. Dystopia: I love The Hunger Games, Divergent and the like. I'm a dystopian fan through and through, when it's done well of course.

4. Bad Boys: I can't say no to them. 

5. Mythology: Mythology was one of my favorite classes in high school. The Percy Jackson series is one of my all time favorites. 

6. Witches/Powers: Whether it is super powers of witchy powers I love reading about them and I wish I had some.

7. Secret Societies: I'm all about the secret societies with secret books and secret secrets.

8. A Unique Setting: I love a novel that takes place somewhere that I don't see on a daily basis, whether it be a different state such as Alaska or a whole different world.

ARC Review: The Sisterhood by: Helen Bryan

The Sisterhood by: Helen Bryan (April 30, 2013)

Publisher: Amazon Publishing

402 pages

Genre: Fiction

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Menina Walker was a child of fortune. Rescued after a hurricane in South America, doomed to a life of poverty with a swallow medal as her only legacy, the orphaned toddler was adopted by an American family and taken to a new life. As a beautiful, intelligent woman of nineteen, she is in love, engaged, and excited about the future — until another traumatic event shatters her dreams.

Menina flees to Spain to bury her misery in research for her college thesis about a sixteenth-century artist who signed his works with the image of a swallow — the same image as the one on Menina’s medal. But a mugging strands Menina in a musty, isolated Spanish convent. Exploring her surroundings, she discovers the epic sagas of five orphan girls who were hidden from the Spanish Inquisition and received help escaping to the New World. Is Menina’s medal a link to them, or to her own past? Did coincidence lead her to the convent, or fate? Both love story and historical thriller, The Sisterhood is an emotionally charged ride across continents and centuries.

My Review

I’m giving The Sisterhood three stars. I would give Menina’s story, the one that takes place in the 21^st century two stars, but I would give the story of the different ladies from the Spanish convent that took place in the 16^th century four stars. Hence the three star rating.

This book may seem slightly daunting at first. At 400 pages a good portion of which are about historical events, and with the first 80 pages sort of slow it was hard to like this book right off the bat. Don’t worry though, if you have the patience to stick it out you will be rewarded.

Menina’s Story: Although I liked Menina her story was very lackluster for the most part. The part I disliked the most of her story, how unbelievable her plot line was. The part where Menina falls asleep and misses her bus in a foreign country and her bag gets stolen and she doesn't run after the kid, it is more complex than that, but let me tell you that it the scene was totally unbelievable. I don’t know about you but I don’t like it when something happens in a story that is so crazy that you just can’t get over it. That was me, but this happened relatively early in the novel so I kept trudging along and I’m glad I did.

16^th Century Spanish Convent (stories written down in the Chronicle, along with the medal, the only things Menina has of her heritage): Although I think there are too many interlocking convent girls’ stories and it was at times hard to follow, this was the most interesting part of the novel. It was great to read about the past and see all the little connections between these different girls/women and Menina in the 21^st century. It was a fun puzzle to put together, even if it was occasionally obvious.

I really loved the format of the book, the switching back and forth between the 21^st century and the 16^th century was done really well and at a good pace. It was a really nice story about a book that preserved the ladies of the 16th century's lives. I love the emphasis on the importance of a book and the written word. The only part I didn't like about this was the ending. When we are finally switched back over to Menina for good we don’t get a lot of time with her before the book is over, leaving a couple of loose ends and an overly quick wrap up. Although I did like the very end of the novel, even if it was once again a little far-fetched.

In the end this is a pretty interesting read. It has a good amount of mystery and secrets that may be hard to follow at times, but kept my attention.

I would say that if you have some extra time to give this book a chance. It would be a great library pick.

** I received a free e-copy of this book from netgalley and Amazon Publishing in exchange for my honest review. Thanks!

RATING 3/5