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Portal Portal Chronicles Imogen Rose Books

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Portal Portal Chronicles Imogen Rose Books

I loved this first book in the Portal Chronicles. It wasn't your typical time travel story. There were only a few characters involved in traveling across dimensions with the rest of the people unaware of the portals concept or existence. Arizona, the main character. somehow changes, setting up the plot. The epilogue sets up the next book, pulling you in. You will not be able to resist the urge to start it immediately so I'd suggest you have it shipped or the e-book loaded before you come to the end of book one.

This book was well written & edited. The characters, time, setting, etc. were well developed. Everything about it seemed plausible. You won't be sorry you purchased it.


Tags : Amazon.com: Portal (Portal Chronicles) (9780615345079): Imogen Rose: Books,Imogen Rose,Portal (Portal Chronicles),Imogen Rose,0615345077,Families,Family life,High school girls,Love,Love stories,Science fiction,Time travel,Juvenile Fiction Love & Romance,Love & Romance,Romance & relationships stories (Children's Teenage),Young Adult Fiction

Portal Portal Chronicles Imogen Rose Books Reviews

The plot of this book, the first of a trilogy, is a very creative concept, and the author does a pretty good job of developing it. The main character, Arizona, is a stereotypically bratty teenage girl with a peculiar talent for full-contact ice hockey. Then, suddenly, she finds herself someone else, ALMOST entirely. Her mother, a physicist, works on a top-secret project involving a dimensional portal, and she has recreated a new life for her family with it. This could be the stuff of some people's dreams.

My problems with the book--aside from the occasional typo/capitalization/punctuation error--might be resolved in the two sequels, which I haven't yet read, since I generally like to read series in order. But, here are my main issues, nonetheless

1. Mom--Olivia--is dissatisfied with her first husband, so develops and uses the portal to give him the toss and hook up with a more interesting lover, essentially re-writing history in a new dimension to accommodate her own selfish desires, without regard as to how everyone else's lives will be affected. It seems like an awful lot of work to go to to dump someone, though, especially since the new love interest already exists in her original time/dimension.

2. The "good" life that Olivia has brought her children to is curiously plush. Family members and their friends/co-workers routinely drive high-end vehicles; ALL of the teenagers not only have the best laptops and mp3 players, but also have cars, motorbikes, designer clothes, and CREDIT CARDS of their own, yet they inexplicably attend the local public high school; everyone takes expensive, cross-country flights on the spur of the moment. Teenagers--because they have their own transportation--just take off for parts unknown to their parents, since the kids don't bother to tell anyone where they're going, nor do they seem to be expected to. The girls have even been bleaching their hair since elementary school, for Pete's sake! (What conscientious parent would allow such a shallow focus on physical appearance at that young age?) My husband is a physicist/electrical engineer, too, and I can attest that we do NOT have that kind of money to throw around on such ostentatious crap. What the heck are these parents trying to teach their kids with this sort of indulgence? Another reviewer commented that Olivia and Rupert need parenting classes; I agree.

3. Olivia's research laboratory, Ames, has a disturbing lack of security for a top-secret facility. (It doesn't appear to be a government one, however.) Family members seem to wander in and out without challenge. Who else might?

As I noted, these matters might be addressed in the sequels, and redeem the story by making it a constructive parable. I certainly hope so!
I really wanted to like this book. And parts of it were enjoyable. I certainly wouldn't characterize the book as a complete waste of money. But there were several problems that kept me from rating this above three stars.

First, the good. The premise of this novel is highly imaginative and has great potential. The author is obviously writing to her intended audience- teens. Which is, of course, a good thing if you are a teen. Not so much if you are an adult.

Now for the bad. As several reviews have already mentioned- there is a lot of product placement in this book. Almost to the point that it is distracting. The author also gets bogged down in the mundane. I don't know how many times I read the line "I got out of the shower, threw on a hoodie and jeans, and my Uggs." Hoodies are referenced at least 15 times throughout the book. Clothing references and descriptions of every day activities were just unnecessary and resulted in a sluggish feel at times.

Another annoying aspect of the book was the relationship between the main character, Arizona, and her love interest, Kellan. Arizona is supposed to be this strong, independent tom-boyish figure, but whenever Kellan is around she seems to become frail and needy. For instance there are several scenes where he has to physically pick her up and carry her. One instance is in a hotel lobby where he "picked me up and carried me over to the seats where he held me silently while I composed myself." It was just kind of weird picturing this scene. It's fine to be upset and need a hug, but to be carried around like an invalid? It just seemed to suggest an unhealthy attachment.

The science fiction/fantasy aspects of this novel had great potential, but they just weren't fleshed out very well. It definitely seemed like more of a romance/teen drama than a science fiction or fantasy novel. Which can be a good or bad thing, depending on the reader.

My last negative comment involves the characterization in this novel. Everyone is amazing and talented and beautiful. Arizona's mom is beautiful and intelligent and has a highly lucrative and esteemed job. Arizona's "step" dad is a musician, rides a motorcycle, and is, of course, good looking. Arizona's brother is intelligent, also rides a motorcycle, is a talented athlete, and is good looking. Arizona's friends are all beautiful and talented. Arizona's little sister is an up and coming Hollywood starlet. Arizona is smart, great at hockey, and- you guessed it- beautiful. It just got a little boring and made it hard to identify with these characters who seemed just a little too perfect to be believable.

Objectionable content This book was fairly clean, although there were a few things parents might want to consider. There were a few mild profanities interspersed throughout the book. There is a scene that involves fake i.d.'s and a club- underage drinking included. Nothing explicit in terms of sexual situations. The most Arizona and her boyfriend do is kiss. The parents all seem to bend over backwards to appease their children. They seem to worry more about being their kids' friends than authority figures.

All in all, I just can't glowingly endorse this book as a highly enjoyable read. The book had a lot of potential, and I think the author has raw talent. Hopefully her second book in this series will improve and she will be able to overcome some of the problems that plagued this first installment.
Imagine waking up not knowing who you are. I am not sure what the real life I'm living is, the one I appear to be in now or the other life I seem to remember from the past. In this life I have an older brother, younger sister and a different dad, in the other I only have the younger sister and the dad I remember. Which is the right life for me, I want help finding out which I need the most.
I loved this first book in the Portal Chronicles. It wasn't your typical time travel story. There were only a few characters involved in traveling across dimensions with the rest of the people unaware of the portals concept or existence. Arizona, the main character. somehow changes, setting up the plot. The epilogue sets up the next book, pulling you in. You will not be able to resist the urge to start it immediately so I'd suggest you have it shipped or the e-book loaded before you come to the end of book one.

This book was well written & edited. The characters, time, setting, etc. were well developed. Everything about it seemed plausible. You won't be sorry you purchased it.