Review for Tempest by Julie Cross

Tempest (Tempest #1)
By Julie Cross
Release date is January 17th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin
Source: ARC from Netgalley
352 pages

"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

Tempest has it all, time travel, action, adventure, romance, mystery, suspense, a little bit of humor.... and an awesome cover. It has easily made it to one of my favourite books. What you have EVER learned about time travel - earse. This was such a fresh take on time travel and get this - it made sense! Julie Cross made this story for me in mind, it was totally my 'thing'. If I had a physical copy I would read it again and again and again!!

One of the best elements I enjoyed was that we get to read through Jackson's POV. Yes you have heard me correctly! A male protagonist! Hipee horray! And what a MC he is! I don't mean to say that in a swoon-worthy way like I usually do. I mean I totally love him but I just feel different because I got to know him personally. Jackson cares so much for the people he loves, especially Holly. He sometimes messes up, says the wrong thing and hides his feelings - but that made him amazingly realistic! I loved that! He just recently discovered that he can time travel and has fun with it, but as the story progress he learns more and more. Thus as the reader we learn right along with him. Jackson was very easy to read about, I never got annoyed with him or angry, I totally just went with it. All the characters were like that. I can't go into detail about all of them but there are a few that stood out to me. Holly by all means could be my friend, she is a very rounded and dynamic character that was perfect for Jackson. Adam, who is the 'science/math' whiz, was incredible too! I loved his character and I feel that without him in the story it woulnd't have been the same. The last character I'll mention is Jackson's dad because he plays an important role in Jackson's adventures. I was on the fence about him, I didn't know to love or hate him, but I decided on one. But I won't tell for fear of spoiling. Cruel? Yes.

Tempest was a book filled with suspense for me because I wanted to keep reading and reading. I felt like I was on an adventure (or an awesome roller coaster with lots of twists!) and it seemed like I was physically along for the ride. When events unfolded I gasped and like I said before, the way Ms. Cross explains it, I think everyone will be able to understand! The ideas she had are so fresh, her take on time travel has left me pondering. I really love time travel and this theory has become my favourite because it makes sense and sounds plausable!

I highly recommend this book to everyone because I think everyone would enjoy a certain element. It flows easy, the pace is great and I've become so attached to the characters! Normally I want to keep reading a series because of the plot but this one is different - I want to know and get to know more of the characters! Overall, a best read for this year that caused me to scream "OH WHY DID IT HAVE TO END!"

Excerpt:

Okay, so far all I had was a newpaper that said this exact day was two years in the past. Well.... the past for me anyway.
I ran down the sidewalk as the raindrops grew more frequent. I spotted a police officer standing under a tree and raced toward him, not caring in the least about getting soaked.
"Excuse me. Officer. Do you know today's date?"
"The ninth," he mumbled, not even looking me in the eye.
"Of September?"
He snorted a laugh. "Yeah."
"Of 2009, right?"
He rolled his eyes and pushed past me. "Damn kids! 2009?"
The panic that followed his words felt like caffeine being injected straight into my veins. I used the bottom of my shirt to wipe the rain from my eyes and searched for a third source.