Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross

Title: Letters to Nowhere
Author: Julie Cross
Release Date: August 2, 2013
Goodreads

Seventeen year old Karen Campbell has just lost both her parents in a tragic car accident. Grief stricken and alone, her gymnastics coach opens his home to Karen, providing her a place to live while she continues to train, working toward a spot on the world championship team.

Coach Bentley’s only child, seventeen year old Jordan is good-looking and charming enough to scare away a girl like Karen—someone who has spent ten times more hours on balance beams and uneven bars than talking or even thinking about boys. But the two teens share a special connection almost immediately. It turns out Jordan has a tragic past of his own, grief buried for years.

As Karen’s gymnastics career soars, her nightmares and visions of the horrible accident grow in strength. She can only avoid facing her grief for so long before it begins to surface and ultimately spin out of control in a very dangerous way. Can discovering love and lust (simultaneously) help with the grieving process or will it only provide a temporary distraction while waiting for reality to hit full force?

THOUGHTS:

As a huge fan of gymnastics (and I do mean HUGE - I stay up to watch all sorts of competitions from all over the world and everything, plus I cried like a baby when Alicia Sacramone announced her retirement), this book is something that I simply can't pass up. I adore everything about the sport - from the highly intricate routines and down to the drama that comes with team selections - and I have nothing but respect for what these gymnasts go through just to achieve their goals. When I saw Julie ask for bloggers who would be willing to review an early copy of her new novel set in the elite world of gymnastics, I jumped at the offer. Not only do I follow the sport, I'm also a huge fan of Julie's Tempest series, so it's a win-win right?

Damn right it was!

I was half-expecting a sort of watered-down version of elite gymnastics (hey, Make It or Break It) but Cross surprised me with how accurate everything was. Folks, if you want a deeper look into the world of US Gymnastics, this is it. The skills, the elaborate selection process that comes into making a team, the choices that plague an elite athlete's life, the grueling training and conditioning... Cross didn't skip past ANYTHING. Every single thing that cements the notion that elite gymnasts are among the world's toughest athletes... Yup, all here. Cross was able to paint such a vividly detailed picture of the world of elite gymnastics, and I believe this is possible due to her experiences as a coach and (I'm going to assume here) as a serious fan of the sport.

Cross did such an amazing job writing this novel. Elite gymnastics - the skills, the scoring system - is not exactly an easy sport to fathom (I've been following the sports for a few years now but there are still skills I can't name), but she was somehow able to make the novel as easy to understand as possible. Also, Cross was able to portray how these gymnasts sacrifice so much of their childhood to fulfill their dreams. The way Cross wrote as Karen truly shows that though Karen may be seventeen, she has been sheltered all her life, and there are situations that others teens may perceive as normal that she hasn't encountered yet. I also loved the concept of Karen writing in letters what she can't say to other people face to face - it shows that even the strongest athletes are still human, and that they can still go through what everyday people go through.

Off the bat, I loved Karen, and I couldn't help but root for her every step of the way. Heck, I can almost see her as one of the gymnasts I cheer for at Worlds and the Olympics! I wanted nothing but the best for her - I wanted her to shoot for the stars and continue towards her dream of being an accomplished elite gymnast; I wanted her to face her fears and come to terms with her grief towards her parents' sudden death. I wanted her to get that Amanar on vault and that standing arabian on beam; I wanted her to finally be able to speak her thoughts out loud. I yearned for her to get that self-confidence she badly needed, and most especially, I wanted her to fight for HER dreams. Not her parents', not her coaches', but hers and hers alone.

Nothing about this novel's romance felt forced. Jordan is a great male lead, and I enjoyed reading about him tremendously. I can't help but adore just how easily he understood what Karen was going through, and just how willing he was to help her through her most difficult times. Karen and Jordan started off as friends, and I believe that's what makes the gradual change of their relationship to something more so believable - it wasn't all about lust, but rather more about trust. Both characters were able to understand each other so thoroughly, and their connection was just so palpable!

Julie Cross really impressed me with this novel. The writing, the characters, the plot... everything was perfect. I honestly felt like I was able to connect to every aspect of Letters to Nowhere, and I truly can't wait to find out what else she has Julie has in store for us in the next two books of the series!

Rating: 5 Stars

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