ARC Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Book 1 in a brand new trilogy
Tempest
By: Julie Cross
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Source: ARC from Raincoast Books (Thanks Crystal!)

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads:
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.


My Thoughts:


I was actually going to publish this review a couple weeks ago, but I thought I'd keep it closer to the release date, so when you finish reading this amazing review you'll be able to go out and purchase a copy for yourself right away :). 


There has been quite a bit of hype with regards to this title: Pre-empted by Summit Entertainment (Twilight) for a feature film, and after reading this book, I really feel it lives up to the hype. Now that I'm thinking of it, the hype kind of resembles that of I AM NUMBER FOUR, although I think this title may have more success in theatres. Another film that this book reminded me of was Jumper with Hayden Christensen, not sure if I was one of three to go see that film, but I actually really liked it. The difference between this book and that film is that Jackson jumps through time rather than area (i.e. place to place).


If you've read my reviews before you know I'm not a fan of reading from a male P.O.V., but I really enjoyed Jackson, he's a great guy with a unique ability that's willing to "turn back time" to save the girl he loves- please excuse the horrible cliche :). But seriously, I think a lot of readers will fall for Jackson like I did, you kind of grow jealous of Holly because you want someone to care about you the way he does for her. I loved the connection between these two, they're already together so there's no typical angst that many couples have in YA fiction right now. They're in love and complete/compliment each other in the best possible way.


One thing I did find a little disruptive was the jumping back and forth through time, but please don't let this sway you from giving this title a chance, I think this is just a personal thing for me, it was no where near as confusing as THE TIME TRAVELLERS WIFE, and of course this is to be expected in book where the hero is a time-traveller!


One last thing I want to mention is the action in this book. Tempest, in my opinion, is action-packed from the first chapter right through to the end. We're sucked right into Jackson's worst nightmare from the start and the ending leaves you wanting more! I didn't find myself feeling bored or restless at all during this read.


I would recommend this read to male and female readers, don't pass it up!


Favourite quote from Jackson (I'm not giving the pg. # so as not to spoil anything :))


I closed my eyes and attempted a full jump back to one of the most important days of my existence.


*sigh* Love you Jackson!


Happy Reading!