Today we’re celebrating the release of Kathi Oram Peterson’s third book, THE STONE TRAVELER, which came out at the end of August. Ms. Peterson has been known to haunt these parts, so I'm more than pleased to be a part of her blog tour.Ms. Peterson’s junior novel follows the first-person narratives of two main characters: Tag Quincy, a modern-day teenager with a fondness for dog collars, and Sabirah, a first-century nineteen-year-old from somewhere in Central or South America. With the help of a mysterious stone, Tag travels back in time to help Sabirah rescue her father, who has been captured by the nefarious King Jacob, or so she suspects. But here’s the catch: Since Ms. Peterson weaves her tale around events described in the Book of Mormon, Tag already knows the story will end with an inferno consuming Jacob's kingdom. What remains to be seen is whether Tag will survive the day.
THE STONE TRAVELER takes a while to get going, but by the end, I wanted to find out what happened to Tag and Sabirah. Tag starts off as a sulky, eyeliner-wearing moron, but over the course of the novel, he breaks out of that stereotype and matures into a fairly well-rounded human being able to think and act for himself. I didn’t always buy Tag’s character development--even when he’s still wearing the dog collar and eyeliner, he’s quoting most of the relevant Book of Mormon stories almost verbatim (despite the fact that most of the clean-cut Mormon kids I know don’t remember those stories as well as he does)--but by the time I reached the climax, I was rooting for him.
Would I have recommended THE STONE TRAVELER if I hadn’t been a part of the blog tour? Probably not. Then again, I recommend very few of the books I read because I only recommend books I absolutely loved. THE STONE TRAVELER doesn’t fall into that category, but it was all right.
Thanks for dropping by, and be sure to check out the other stops along THE STONE TRAVELER blog tour for a chance to win a Kindle. For a complete list of the other blog tour participants, check out the sidebar of Ms. Peterson’s blog.
In the interest of full disclosure, I did receive a free copy of THE STONE TRAVELER in connection with this review, but as you can see, that didn’t stop me from giving you my honest opinion about the book.
35 comments:
Thanks for the honest review. I can't wait to explore your blog.
Too bad you didn't like it! I can't wait to read this. I don't think it's unbelievable that Tag knows the Book of Mormon so well. In high school there was a boy in my class who was a hard-partying rebel, and he knew the Bible verbatim. He started learning the Bible since he could sit up and hold a book. So the verses for him were as easy to remember as, say, the alphabet is to everyone else!
Thanks for an honest review!
I read it and liked it, but I enjoyed reading a review from a person who didnt think that it was all that!! Now if only Kathi would get the second book of the forgotten warrior book out for me!!!
Christina, Laura, and Meagan, thanks for your comments. There were things I liked about the book. There were just some things I thought could have been better, too.
I guess we've all got different tastes, right? Thanks goodness!
Now I'm curious if I'll agree with you. We'll see. :)
MT, I'm glad we've all got different tastes, too. Thanks for stopping by.
Taffy, you're welcome.
Great honest review! Your description of Tag in the beginning was awesome! Nice blog!
For some reason, the word "moron" made me laugh. Maybe because I wasn't expecting it. Nice.
So, who published it?
Thanks for the great review! I'm the same way about book recommendations on my blog.
Emfawcett, thank you. Those were nice things to say.
Ben, the "moron" just kind of slipped out while I was writing the review. But I figured it was what Ms. Peterson was going for in her early characterization of Tag, so I went with it:)
Myrna, Covenant.
Sloshed over from a wet Kathi's Nook. Lovely review, thanks for sharing.
You're welcome, Glynis. I've been playing catch-up on all the other reviews, and your comment on each has always made me smile:)
Thanks for answering my question, Krista!
Great review! I enjoyed it as well! Thanks for sharing! :)
Enjoyed your review. Can't wait to read it for myself:)
bchild5@aol.com
We are getting a slightly different picture with each review. What fun.
Thanks for the honest review. I love seeing everyone's opinions.
Chantele, you're welcome.
That's great, brendajean.
M.R.Bunderson, a blog tour like this is great because you get such a well-rounded look at the book before you even start to read it. Ms. Peterson had a great idea.
You're welcome, carolsnotebook.
I always appreciate what people like and dislike about books - it gives me something more to think about. Can't wait to see whether or not I agree with you!
Thanks for your comment, Tracy. Feel free to stop back here and tell us what you think once you've read it.
Great review. Sounds like an awesome book!
Thanks for dropping by, Elizabeth!
Thanks for such an honest review.
You're welcome, Annette.
Interesting review. It's great to read all these different takes on the book.
Nice review. It's good to know you're not going to glow all over a book just because you were asked to review it. :o)
Peggy, I agree. Ms. Peterson's idea with this blog tour was a fantastic one.
Jenn, the FTC would be so proud:)
Thanks for the honest review. I'm looking forward to forming my own opinon. :)
Jilly Bean, you're welcome. And that's one of the great things about books: They're one of the few things we can all have our own opinions about and still get along:)
Thanks for the review! I loved the book! Tag's knowledge of future events made the book even more interesting and relatable to me as a teenager.
Sometimes I think young boys do things without really thinking it through. I love that Tag and my grandson seem to share this attribute, but learn from it. Great review. Can't wait to get this book.
Glad you liked it, Catia. It's always interesting when one character knows something the others don't, especially if the readers know it, too.
Thanks for stopping by, flsongbyrd. And I think the rest of us do the same thing:)
I love that we can all have our own opinions and applaud you for sharing yours honestly. Thank you for the nice review.
Thanks for the review.
Lori and Valerie, you're welcome.
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