Tempest by Julie Cross

Tempest by Julie Cross

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Source: Raincoast Books for review
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Format: Hardcover, 334 pages
Release Date: January 17, 2012

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

Wow. If you are into fresh, exciting reads, Tempest is the book for you. I loved it!

I have said it probably ten times by now but just in case you missed it, I LOVE TIME TRAVEL. I am completely enthralled by the idea of it and the possibilities and the likelihood and just... everything. Julie Cross definitely puts her own spin on it and I really felt like she had set up the world nicely so that there were no gaping plot holes or anything (yay!).

Jackson is pretty much the perfect boyfriend... he can waltz with his girlfriend while simultaneously reciting poetry to her. Not bad, huh? Except, Jackson doesn't really come across as "perfect" to me. Sure, there seem to be some pretty awesome perks to dating him, but his voice comes across as quite a normal teenager. It was nice to be switch into a male's perspective for this story -- not that I don't adore my heroines, but you know, variety is the spice of life.

As for the other characters, they were likeable enough. There were moments when I really, really liked Holly and then others where I wasn't as enthusiastic. Again though, I think all of the supporting characters were reasonably well-done.

Except Adam. I kind of have an inexplicable love for Adam.

Exciting jumps between time, mysterious powers and an ending with just enough loose ends to make you wish for the sequel are just a few of the things you can expect from Tempest.

Cover Comments: Dramatic! I really like how this cover is done but I guess I shouldn't be surprised since apparently it's shot by the same person that did Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush cover (which I also love). This is actually a scene from the book, too! That's always a nice bonus.