A Dream Within A Dream: The Time Traveler's Guide to Modern Romance Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/tour-schedule-the-time-travelers-guide-to-modern-romance-by-madeline-j-reynolds/

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Modern Romance
Author: Madeline J. Reynolds
Publication Date: March 4, 2019
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Description:

Elias Caldwell needs more than his life in nineteenth-century England has to offer. He’d rather go on an adventure than spend one more minute at some stuffy party. When his grandfather gives him a pocket watch he claims can transport him to any place and time, Elias doesn’t believe it…until he’s whisked away to twenty-first-century America.

Tyler Forrester just wants to fall hopelessly in love. But making that kind of connection with someone has been more of a dream than reality. Then a boy appears out of thin air, a boy from the past. As he helps Elias navigate a strange new world for him, introducing him to the wonders of espresso, binge-watching, and rock and roll, Tyler discovers Elias is exactly who he was missing.

But their love has time limit. Elias’s disappearance from the past has had devastating side effects, and now he must choose where he truly belongs—in the Victorian era, or with the boy who took him on an adventure he never dreamed possible?

The Time Traveler's Guide to Modern Romance is a great mix of several genres - time travel, science fiction, romance, and LGBTQ+. I found it to be a quick and easy read, but I wasn't able to really get into it as much as I would've liked. The big issue for me was that the story is told from the two main characters perspectives, but from in the third person point of view. I almost always prefer the first person when reading and this story was no different. I honestly think that if the book was done in that writing style (the dual characters from the first person POV) I would've had a much better reading experience. But that's completely my opinion and other readers won't have any problems with it. I just wanted to explain why I rated it the way I did.

The story itself was interesting - especially the time travel part - and sweet (due to the romantic aspects). It wasn't anything groundbreaking or wholly unique, but that's hard to come by at all anymore. There was a bit of insta-love between the two main characters that I thought was a bit much and too quick to be believable. Other than that, the story was well written with great attention to detail and vivid imagery. The characters were pretty well rounded with distinct personalities and flaws to help make them feel realistic to the reader. Although it wasn't a huge hit for me personally, I would recommend it to fans of YA, time travel, science fiction, LGBTQ+, and romance.

Madeline J. Reynolds is a YA fantasy author living in Chicago. Originally from Minneapolis, she has a background in journalism and has always loved storytelling in its various forms. When not writing, she can be found exploring the city, eating Thai food, or lost in an epic Lord of the Rings marathon.