Book Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Rating:

Genre: Young Adult > Science Fiction > Time Travel

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.

*****

Oh, no. What the H did i just read?!!

It took me two-thirds of reading before I understood Cross’ concept of travel. Ugh. I don’t think my words will be coherent enough to convey my distaste. SoTempest, exactly how bad are you?

Well, Jackson is a jerk of a boyfriend. I can’t believe that Holly needed to get shot and bleed to death so he’ll realize what he had. However, Jackson as a brother is another thing. Courtney is a doll, and in association, so is Jackson when he’s with her. The scenes between them is the only thing that i like in the story. I remembered the longing for things long gone, the regret for words left unsaid, the guilt for what-ifs. 

This book would’ve been more interesting if Cross explore Courtney’s life more. Courtney said something that i didn’t get: she told Jackson that she always liked it when she was the one visiting him. Huh? Does that mean…? Oh, forget it!

Like i said, the time travel was hard to digest. The story was out of sorts. Jackson & Holly – well, with the going back and forth between their 2007 and 2009 versions, i couldn’t keep track of their romance if it was any good. I have more questions than answers when i finished.

The ending was sad. Even if i didn’t like Tempest as a whole, the ending made me kinda wistful.

 Publisher: Macmillan

Imprint: St. Martin’s Griffin

Pub Date: 01/17/2012

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for granting my galley request.