Traveler #1
Back in January, a publicist contacted the bookstore I work at and asked if we wanted to do an event with a recently published YA author, L. E. DeLano, who lived close to the store. Rarely do we turn down an author event with a major publisher, so without a lot of information, we said we would host her first ever event. After doing a bit more research and discovering the her debut is the first in a duology and is a YA fantasy, I got even more excited! The success of the event ultimately surprised us, and I can happily admit it’s one of the first “event books” I’ve actually read!
Synopsis
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 cupcakes, 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.
Review
Traveler has an interesting premise which is not entirely conveyed accurately by the publisher marketing summary I included above. Jessa is a Traveler, and so is Finn. He is not a character she writes about, he is someone she has seen over and over in alternate realities and dreamed of him in her “original” state.
L. E. DeLano plays with the time/space continuum, a la The Doctor, in a wonderful way. By looking through a reflective surface, Jessa and Finn have the ability to trade places with versions of themselves in alternate realities. There are many questions that this raises, logistically and plot-wise, but as Traveler is the first in a duology, I can only hope that they are answered in the second book. But logistics aside, DeLano crafts an engaging and enjoyable story, but her characters are your stereotypical high schoolers, don’t expect anything too original on the love story/witty banter front, through there is certainly plenty of it to go around!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Celebration of Books 
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