Tempest by Julie Cross

Sci-FiYoung Adult

Author: Julie Cross
Series: Tempest, #1
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (Imprint of Macmillan)
Published: January 17th, 2012
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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 Review:

Oh my goodness this was an incredible book. I couldn’t put it down. It’s one of those books that pulls you in so quickly and you’ll lose hours of time because you become so invested in the world and the characters and the story that nothing else seems to matter at the moment!

Tempest is an incredibly unique story that brings a new version of time travel to the table. If I had to compare it to anything else I would say it sort of feels like a blend between Back to the Future, Time Traveler’s Wife, and Groundhog Day. But don’t get me wrong, it’s so unique in it’s own right that it really isn’t like any of those three at the same time. It’s an absolute adventure though, that’s for sure.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I would love being inside a guy’s perspective. Sometimes I’ve found in the past that I prefer being inside a girl’s head instead of a guy. But despite my initial hesitation, Jackson is an incredibly strong and dynamic protagonist who is easy to follow along with. What is hard to follow sometimes is the timelines and when Jackson is at any given time. It’s stated at the beginning of each chapter what date and time he’s at now, but you really have to pay close attention, especially at certain times during the book because it can get a little bit disorienting before you get used to the jumping around. Once you do though, it’s seriously a trip and so much fun to read.

Not only is this book all about the crazy trippy time travel, but it has a lot of mystery to it too. Jackson is trying to solve several things about his ability to jump through time and his life as he thought he knew it. I won’t give any of it away, but along the way you get to piece together parts of the mystery and it’s a lot of fun.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyone who is the least bit fascinated with time travel stories. Even if you aren’t, you’d probably enjoy this one. You’re in for lots of action, mystery, and an incredible story that you will not want to end!

P.S. Check back later today for an ARC giveaway of Tempest! (US Only)

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