Review: Tempest

Tempest

by Julie Cross

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Purchase: Amazon | BookDepository
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Sci-Fi/Paranormal
Source: Requested from Publicist
Special: 2012 Debut Author Challenge
Rating: Perfect Bed Partner

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About the Book:

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.

Saturday, April 11, 2009: Okay, so it's true. I can time-travel. But it's not as exciting as it sounds.

ON THE STORY: I'm a major time-travel fan. In books, that is. So when a trace of Tempest flitted passed my eyes, I instantly knew that this book was something worth checking out. It's so exciting when a debut author whips around and dazzles you with their first book, and Cross's simplistic, insightful narrative in Jackson Meyer's point of view (big plus right there) and her fresh outlook on time-travel completely drew me in to the story and left me fascinated.

Constant questions flash in our minds as Jackson is suddenly thrust into the impossible time and again, and feelings of sympathy and pangs of grief worm into our hearts for this once seemingly normal boy, who's sanity and willpower are harshly tested. Each new addition to the puzzle is like being slammed by brutal fists from all corners with no real way of deflecting them. Watching as Jackson is forced to grow up and endure a lonely quest for answers makes us feel as though we have to stick close to him, a warm body to lend heat in the cold. From gazing at a near-lifeless Holly to being pressed into the past with no escape to home to unearthing confusing bits of the past of a father he thought he knew, Jackson's perseverance endears him to us further.

Although the other characters don't embed themselves deeply into our lasting memory, they still create a likable impression. Jackson's geeky, computer nerd side-kick, Adam, and his beloved girlfriend, Holly, who is pretty tolerant of Jackson's secretive ways, are a charming and fun and witty duo to read about and enjoy. And the twin sister Jackson lost years ago slashes at our hearts with her weak and fading reflection in the weeping portions of Jackson's memory.

As if Cross doesn't wrangle with our emotions enough, she builds-up for her final, wrenching blow, slicing our hope into almost irretrievable shreds. And despite the wit and hilarity and shocking truths, the pain and sadness woven into the story is its most memorable element. Tempest's finishing development is STILL dominating my thoughts.

ON THE AUDIOBOOK: In a previous IMM, I mentioned that I was an audiobook virgin, having never had the inclination to try one out. My expectations were of an unyielding, sterile voice just playing the story for me. I was happily surprised when Matthew Brown portrayed every inflection and created voices for every character which worked. I found that even while I was reading the book, Brown's voice came to me as Jackson. My only qualm, which may be for audiobooks in general, is that they appear to take forever, and, I, a very fast reader, am far too impatient to listen to audiobooks all the way through for every book I read. So, while it was a nice experience which I enjoyed, audiobooks aren't my preference.