Welcome to my last book review for this week! I've had a lot of fun reviewing books. It wasn't easy, it was challenging but now I'm more confident in writing reviews. Yay!
My last review post is on Arthur J. Gonzalez's young adult debut book, The Photo Traveler. I read this book a year ago but it stuck with me because of how brilliant it is.
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The story is centered around 17-year-old Gavin Hillstone, who leads a pretty miserable life. His parents died in a fire when he was just 4 and he is now living with an abusive family with an alcoholic adoptive father. Being a photographer, his only escape came from taking photos. One day he accidentally discovers that he isn't alone after all; his paternal grandparents are alive and living in Washington.
Fed up with his life with an abusive foster family, he sets off to find his grandparents and learns the shocking truth about himself and his parents. He learns that he is descended from a small group of people called The Photo Travelers- people who can travel through time and space through photographs. With this discovery, Gavin's life is profoundly altered, and his very existence is threatened.
I came across this book purely by accident and after I was done reading it, I immediately went I search of Arthur J. Gonzalez and told him how awesome his book is and he was such a nice guy about it and now we're now friends (haha, not really- I wish).
Gonzalez wrote the book in a unique way, adopting an easy flow of dialogue that takes you into the story from the very first page. For a debut novel, this book is very well written and I found it pleasant to read. Should I mention the action? Yes, yes, I believe I should. It is great! Despite being set in the present, you are transported to various eras of time with the lead protagonist, Gavin. I was awed at Gonzalez's ability to fluidly transport me, the reader into the past and the present and to also feel what Gavin feels. It is exhilarating! Time traveling is probably a hard subject matter to write about and Gonzalez makes it seem so easy! The book is a very interesting read that a lot of people will enjoy, it would also make a great movie!
According to Bella, The Photo Traveler gets a rating of 4 out of 5 lovely stars and a strong recommendation for all you readers who appreciate time travel, history and just a great, well-written book.
(Dear Arthur, in the off-chance that you might have come across this review, I am still
Thank you dear According to Bella reader, for joining me on my book review week. Here's to more book reading!
'Til next time
-Bella
