Thursday, January 26, 2012

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Tempest
(Tempest #1)
by Julie Cross
Publication Date: January 17th, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 339
ISBN: 9780312568894

Where to Buy:
B&N | Amazon | The Book Depository

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. (Goodreads)
It’s 2009, and Jackson Meyer is a 19 year old college student. Jackson also has a special ability; he can travel back in time. But this is nothing like time travel you’ve heard about. When Jackson jumps back in time, he doesn’t have the ability to change something in the future. It’s all fun and games until one night, two strangers appear and kill Jackson’s girlfriend, Holly. In a state of panic, Jackson jumps back in time, and where he gets in 2007. With help from his friend Adam, he must figure out a way to get back to 2009 to save Holly.

Jackson was a very interesting main character. To be honest, when I first started the book, I didn’t really think I was going to like him at all. However, as the story went on, I ended up liking him more and more. He is one of those characters that starts off as kind of a jerk, but then something bad happens, and he realized the error of his ways. I definitely enjoyed watching him grow throughout the book.

I really enjoyed Jackson’s girlfriend; Holly, and his best friend; Adam. I thought they were really interesting characters to read about as well, and I really enjoyed all of their interactions together. Jackson’s dad was an interesting character as well; he was very mysterious, and it took me a while to figure him out. I’m glad we got more of his story as the book went along, and I hope we get to see more of him in the next book.

Time travel books are hit and miss with me. I enjoyed that the time traveling in this book was different, because Jackson couldn’t change the outcome of the future. That’s the first thing I think of when I think of time travel, being able to change the future. So I enjoyed that aspect of the book.

Overall, I thought this was a really interesting read. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline, and I am really looking forward to the next book in this series.

14 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm so glad you liked it! I really enjoyed this too, and am dying to read the next book. I need to know what happens to Jackson and co. Jackson's dad was one of my favourite characters! Great review :)

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  2. Your review left me utterly intrigued. I've been reading/seeing a lot about this book on the blogosphere, but I'm waiting until I get the opportunity to read it for myself to find out how I feel about it. I do have it on my shelf, so there's really no excuse left! I can't wait to read about time travel and meet the wonderful characters you mentioned in your review :)

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  3. I definitely think of changing the future as a huge part of the whole time travel situation, so it's really interesting that he can't do that in this book! I really like that we have a male narrator as well, those are so few and far between so I'm looking forward to this one:)

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  4. tnx 4 reviewing
    hoping 2 read it soon

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  5. I just ordered this one a few days ago. I hope it comes soon so I can read it. I really like male protagonists so I'm interested to see if I like this one or not. Great review :)

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  6. It seems as though you liked this book more than me. I'm really glad that you enjoyed it for the most part!

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  7. Same. I hope the next book is even more awesome. Plus, I want more of Jackson :P

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  8. I agree with you on the time-travel concept. It has to be really done well to work, but it sounds like it does in Tempest. I just recently picked up a copy of it. Can't wait to get started. Great review!

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  9. I really want to see much more of Jackson's father in the next book. I think he brings a lot to the story, and like you, I took some time to figure him out, but I was glad that he ended up being who and what he was. I'm so thrilled you liked this, Christy! I loved all the emotions and the action. I thought Julie Cross blended it all quite well.

    Molli | Once Upon a Prologue

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  10. I love the idea of time traveling, so whether movie or book, any time I hear it mentioned I will JUMP at the chance to read/watch! So naturally, I am really excited for Tempest :D I'm glad to hear that while Jackson was a bit of a jerk at first, he changes as a result of whatever he's going through. Soo happy you enjoyed this, I cannot wait to read it now!

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  11. good to know you liked this one. i do have a copy so i might give this one a go sometime soon :)

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  12. Great review I was worried about the time travel too since I'm like you - hit or miss. But I was really happy with the way she wrote it. Glad you enjoyed it!

    Giselle
    Xpresso Reads

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  13. I didn't like the time travel in this because of its limitations. I want to be able to travel to any time, any place-way more exciting in my opinion although I understand keeping the story within these parameters.

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  14. I'm really anxious to read this! It sounds so different.

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