Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest
Author: Julie Cross
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Published By: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: Provided by the author for a blog tour

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.

THOUGHTS:

While reading Tempest, the first thing that I noticed was that the author made sure to not keep things too technical. Being that Tempest is all about time-traveling, I was mentally prepared for all sorts of confusing terms and concepts to be all over the book, but while they were indeed present, Cross made sure that us readers would be able to understand the said concepts clearly. Easily understood analogies were present, and because the MC himself is in the midst of discovering his capabilities, we are also able to understand things through his eyes. I don't know about you guys, but that's an automatic plus in my book - I do adore books about science fiction, yes, but I tend to not finish them when I can barely tell what's going on. Thank God I didn't encounter that problem while reading through Tempest!
 
After witnessing his girlfriend, Holly, get shot in the year 2009 by strangers, Jackson is unable to control his time-traveling and inadvertently jumps back to 2007. Though Jackson has learned through all the past experiments and studies he has done with his friend, Adam, is that he is unable to change the future, Jackson is willing to push boundaries and learn more about his capabilities, as well as the strangers who attacked him and Holly in the future, in an attempt to save Holly's life. As Jackson settles down in the year 2007, gets to know a younger Holly, he ultimately realizes that there are bigger things at play than he initially thought - and that the person closest to him may be the one who has all the answers to all the questions he has.

While I did enjoy reading about Holly and Jackson's romance, one thing I particularly liked about Tempest was that the romance did not overshadow the other aspects of the book. Tempest is all about Jackson and his ability to time-travel first and foremost after all, and thankfully the author didn't forget that. Furthermore, I loved how Cross made sure to give enough focus to not only Holly and Jackson's relationship in both time periods, but also Jackson's relationship with his family, and ultimately his desire to unravel the mysteries of his ability. Cross was able to successfully weave all aforementioned aspects of the story together into one unforgettable novel that has so much twists and turns!

Moreover, I really enjoyed reading about Jackson. He's an easy character to like, and he has so much depth. At first glance, it seems that Jackson is your typical spoiled rich kid, but because the book is told through his POV, we are privy to his innermost thoughts and emotions - his despair at the thought of losing Holly, his guilt at not being by his sister's deathbed, his lamentations over his relationship with his father, and his sheer desperation to change the future. Jackson also grows so much as a character throughout the book, as he is finally able to gather enough courage to face the past, and to make difficult decisions concerning his and Holly's future as well.

Action-packed and unpredictable, Tempest would be a nice addition to the bookshelves of both YA and Science Fiction afficionados. I finished it in one sitting - I was literally tearing through its pages because I just had to find out what was coming next! I guarantee that this is a novel that everyone can enjoy - it has science fiction, romance, sublime character development and a unique plot - what more can you ask for? I can't wait to read its sequel!

Rating: 5 Stars