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Title: The Photo TravelerAuthor: Arthur J. Gonzalez
Pages: 400+ pages
Format acquired: Paperback
Publisher: Fahrenheit Publishing
Published on: February 20th 2013
Source: Received for blog tour (Thanks, Xpresso Book Tours and Arthur!)
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble
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.
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.
(Image and summary provided by Xpresso Book Tours)
Review:
I felt that The Photo Travel was a good enough read, I can't say that I completely loved it but I certainly enjoyed it. It was exciting and the plot was very interesting and well thought-out.
The idea that a person can travel to the past through a picture is taken quite literally in this book. Gavin comes from a line of "Photo Travels", they are literally just that. They have the ability to travel through time by chanting a few words in front of their chosen photo. It was a really cool take on photos and having powers in general. I love that Gavin had an affinity for taking photos (that came from his photo traveling abilities) because it shows his appreciation for capturing beauty. The way he talked about the images he captured was very fascinating.
Gavin is pretty much your average typical boy... without parents. Both his parents are MIA, I'm not saying that they've passed away because it certainly isn't a guarantee that they're dead. There was no proof, and I honestly felt sorry for him because of this. He spent so many years thinking that all his family members had already passed away, which really isn't true. I bet you're wondering about his foster parents? Well, let's just say that his foster father continuously abuses him because he blames Gavin for his wife's death. I wanted to give Gavin the biggest hug ever, after that. Moving on, after some pretty important stuff happened, Gavin left for Washington D.C. to look for his grandparents, Estelle and Ed Greene. It wasn't easy getting to D.C. especially when you're a minor and a bunch of evil Europeans were coming after you, and when you're still pissed about being abandoned by said grandparents. But in the end, when he finally met them (there was an underlying anger) he was able to reconcile with them and forgive them for what happened. It was then he found out that he was a Photo Traveler and that evil people really were after him; they were looking for his family's share of the five crystal vials. (I'd tell you the whole story of the vials but then it'd take too long.) The point is that if one person possesses all the vials, then he'd have the ability to time travel any time and any place. This is Gavin's story of how he survived.
This story also talked about giving people your trust. The line between friend and foe become ambiguous because you never really know who to trust, and it was definitely hard to Gavin to do as well. He's a pretty good judge of character but you can see how difficult it is to understand people unless you've been in the situation they've been in. Gavin is the type of person who needs some time-out moment to take a breather... He needs a break. If he isn't trying to run away from a bunch of evil people, then he's trying to survive through school and protect his friends.
All in all, I really enjoyed the idea of this book, the direction it took and the way the plot went. There were times I was able to tell what was going to happen, but there were times I was really caught of guard. I am really interested as to what is going to happen next for our dear Gavin.
I would definitely recommend this to people who want a book that has a lot of adventure and action-y stuff in it, because this book has A LOT of it. A LOT. And also if you're looking for a book about friendship, loyalty and maybe even a good romance, you should definitely try this one out!
This story also talked about giving people your trust. The line between friend and foe become ambiguous because you never really know who to trust, and it was definitely hard to Gavin to do as well. He's a pretty good judge of character but you can see how difficult it is to understand people unless you've been in the situation they've been in. Gavin is the type of person who needs some time-out moment to take a breather... He needs a break. If he isn't trying to run away from a bunch of evil people, then he's trying to survive through school and protect his friends.
All in all, I really enjoyed the idea of this book, the direction it took and the way the plot went. There were times I was able to tell what was going to happen, but there were times I was really caught of guard. I am really interested as to what is going to happen next for our dear Gavin.
I would definitely recommend this to people who want a book that has a lot of adventure and action-y stuff in it, because this book has A LOT of it. A LOT. And also if you're looking for a book about friendship, loyalty and maybe even a good romance, you should definitely try this one out!
Rating:
.5
.5
About the 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.
You can find him here:
Great review, Louisse I'm glad you enjoyed it and I like how trust seems to be a topic of this story.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Giselle! :D
DeleteThank u as well for taking the time out to review my lil ol' story! ;)
ReplyDeleteLove the review!
-Arthur
Thanks, Arthur! :) We really enjoyed your book! I can't wait to read the next one!
Delete