Eighteen year old Callista Price has learned the hard way that life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect.
Four years ago she witnessed the murder of her family in Chicago. Almost a victim herself, Cally was saved by a man she had never met, who disappeared immediately and left her with only the memory of the moment his eyes met hers.
Haunted by a stranger she never expects to see again, Cally relocates to her grandparent’s farm in Tennessee, spending her days wandering the land, unable to form any connection to the outside world.
Until one day, the man she has been dreaming of returns, altering not only her life, but the very world she thought she knew.
Tate Harper is not just an ordinary man. He’s a traveler, a free soul. Physically they are natural holograms in solid form possessing powers that are almost limitless and only bound by their mind, which acts as their source of power.
Drawn together by a connection they don’t understand, Cally and Tate fight to be together in an existence that neither one of them belong in. Tate finds himself longing to be a part of Cally’s world, while she grasps to understand his.
An amazing story of love, adventure, and the existence of life outside of our own.
I recieved this First Reads Goodreads Giveaway book for an honest review.
The Traveler: The Amulet of Life by Melissa Toppen is a paranormal romance that deals with grief, life, and the world of angels, demons, and travelers.
That said, I did like the book. There are quite a few grammatical errors that are bothersome. For instance, in the first half of the book quotes began with a hyphen and ended with a quotation. The second half fixed that issue. There are also no commas when the characters are addressing each other. i.e. “Hello Angel.” instead of “Hello, Angel.” I know, it’s a common mistake. In fact, those mistakes didn’t bother me as much as it would for another reader. There are also missing words, but I’ve seen that in well edited mainstream books.
The format is also an issue. This one was cumbersome. The spacing between paragraphs were large and made everything look choppy. It was sometimes deciphering who was talking when. Also, if the spacing was more like other books, the page count wouldn’t be as large as it was. Not to mention there weren’t any page numbers in the book itself. It made chronicling my progress very difficult. I basically had to go by the chapters. Which did work, but it would have been needless if the page numbers were there.
The characters were okay. Cally didn’t seem to have much of a personality until about halfway there. However, given the traumatic event and her lack of coping, it sort of made sense. And there was a bit of insta-love involved too. Which did get a quasi-explanation about how they were connected so well. However, I would have liked to see some growth in their relationship to help solidify that they were going to stay together. I did like the explanation, though. I just wanted more.
Another thing I wanted more of is the world. We are forced to see this in Cally’s eyes, with minor changes to Tate. This means, as a reader, you will not learn much and what you do learn can be considered mythology because Cally learns it from a professor. However, there may be more of this series to give the reader more of the world. I’m not too positive about that, but sense there is a by title to the book, I’m more inclined to believe that there will be more of Tate and Cally. Besides, their relationship isn’t welcomed.
It would be interesting to see what Toppen has up her sleeve. If there is a sequel, I wouldn’t mind reading it. The story does grip the reader and keeps you going. Despite the errors, I did find myself liking the book and cheering when Cally started to reveal who she is as a person; not the empty shell of a grieving daughter.
Casia's Corner 