Traveler by L.E. DeLano - Review

Title: Traveler
Author: L.E. DeLano
Format: Paperback
Rating: 5/5

Fair warning: may be spoilers

So, I put off this review for a while solely because I'm not entirely sure what to say about it without being repetitive of the review I wrote a while back. Of course, this book is the final copy, therefore different, but for the most part, it's the same.

It is no secret that I absolutely love this book and that it's one of my (if not my all-time) favourite books and has been since I first read it on Swoonreads.com. The way DeLano writes is like I'm actually in the pages of the book. From page one through the last page, you are having adventures with Jessa and Finn. With this writing, you are a Traveler. And I think that's all a book lover really wants. To have the adventure of a lifetime. So, when you read a book that gives you the sense of that adventure, what more could you ask for? Besides a book 2, of course.

I could read this book a dozen, a thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, a million times and I will fall in love with it every time. I could read this book until it falls apart in my hands, turns to dust, and I have it memorized and I would still fall in love with it. In a day and age where supposedly there are 'no unique story ideas', L.E. DeLano sure did find a way.

Now that I have my swooning (see what I did there?) out of the way, let's get down to some points and characters.

Let's start with Jessa; creative, clever, caring (especially when it comes to family), and down to earth. In the beginning, Jessa comes off as the normal day-to-day teenager; school, work, home, repeat, but Jessa is a writer. Her dreams are so vivid that she can take those and put them on a page like no other. That is, until she meets a guy from her dreams. After some coaxing, Jessa finally gets the truth behind her vivid dreams. She is a Traveler, a person who can travel between the different realities using reflective objects. But all is not as it seems as Jessa learns that being a Traveler isn't all it's made out to be. Some of her "other lives" don't have it as well as she does, not to mention she's being hunted in every reality.

Finn. The thing that I just can't get over about this book is that you can have one character, but actually have him be like a hundred different characters at the same time. But he's still always the same character. It might be a little confusing when you look at it that way, but trust me, it makes sense. I can't say much about Finn without giving away some things, but just a warning, this character will make you cry at every turn.

Another thing about DeLano that just blows me away is that she must have had to come up with dozens of back stories and lives for every reality, because they are literally so detailed and insightful, it's almost hard to believe. I could spend weeks just reading about all the different realities and how they differ from the one we're in.

There's just so much about this book that I love that if I went over everything I want to, this would win an award for world's longest review, so I'll just leave it to the reader to find all the amazingness (and pirates). This story and this world has so much to offer, I can't believe I have to wait a year for book two!