January 05, 2012

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Hardcover, 352 Pages
Expected Publication: January 17th, 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin


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.


Tempest was an enjoyable book, but unfortunately there were a few hang-ups that prevented me from enjoying it fully. But it was still decent.

Tempest reminds me a lot of The Butterfly Effect, although there are some obvious differences. I think this story will be more enjoyable as a movie, because I think it would be easier to follow that way. Maybe I just wasn’t understanding it completely, but I really had a hard time keeping track of things, and everything just felt all over the place. Not to mention far-fetched, and dare I say, cheesy.

I liked that Jackson felt believable as a male character. He had thoughts that weren’t always grand, and it made his voice feel authentic. However, there was so much jumping around (obviously) that I didn’t feel all that connected to any of the characters. There were different versions of everyone, depending on what year Jackson was in and at what point these characters were at in their lives. It made it difficult to get to know any of them, so I just didn’t care about them. Holly specifically—she was supposed to be a main focus in the story, and I didn’t feel like I knew her at all. She was just…there.

There are a lot of unanswered questions. And while I realize this is setting us up for the sequel, it was frustrating. There are a lot of things that Jackson doesn’t understand, some (what seemed like) foreshadowing that doesn’t amount to anything in this book, and a lot of “I can’t tell you’s”. After a while, I just stopped expecting answers.

It ends with a cliffhanger that did not leave me excited for the sequel. It actually made me think, “Really? This setup again? Really?!”

I’m sure it sounds like I hated this book, but I really didn’t. It was okay, and there was never a moment I even considered giving up on it. I will most likely read the sequel, but with much lower expectations. I think a lot of YA lovers will latch onto this series.

3 out of 5 stars.



Purchase:



16 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review. This is and DNF for me. I really didn't like the characters, especially Jackson. Because of so many glowing reviews on Goodreads, I considered trying to finish it but there are enough negative or mediocre reviews to convince me to not waste my time.
    NC
    Truly Bookish

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  2. Great review Amanda. For me Tempest was a BIG FIVE STARS lol. I just loved all the craziness of Jackson's world.

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  3. Loved this book!!! It was a huge five stars for me, too. I was addicted to Jackson, and the plot itself had me reading so fast I couldn't see straight! :)

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  4. I almost purchased this one the other day...I am not sure if I do or don't want to read it.

    Mary

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  5. This book is getting lots of mixed reviews. It looks awesome, though. Will be reading it with low expectations, I guess. Great review :)

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  6. "and a lot of “I can’t tell you’s”. Well, that's not good news. I don't like "can't tell you's". Still going to read it anyway

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  7. This has definitely been getting mixed reviews. I'm still intrigued by the time travel aspect. But it has to be done perfectly to turn out well. I'll still check this one out, just not on my must read list.

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  8. Hmmm...I think I will probably pass on this one. I have also seen mixed reviews. Since I'm not much for time travel books anyway I might as well save my money. Thanks for the review you helped me make up my mind on this one, since the only reason I was considering it all was because the cover sucked me in. (o:

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  9. I ordered my copy yesterday and I can't wait for it to come in. I actually loved The Butterfly Effect and am dying to see how this compares.

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  10. Ho-hum for mixed reviews... I was extremely excited about this, but now I'm still waiting for my review copy and my excitement has dwindled a bit. Curious to see how it compares with The Butterfly Effect--now that you actually made that connection I can't stop thinking about it.

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  11. This one does sound a little intriguing. I've always enjoyed time travel books. I will be looking for it.

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  12. Great review. I've seen some mixed reviews on this, but I'm still intrigued and can't wait to see what my opinion will be

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  13. I can't wait to read this. I have read a lot of mixed reviews, too, but I'm going to give it a chance.

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  14. This is one that is on my must read list. Can't wait as it sounds so intriguing.

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  15. Thanks for the review! I've read a lot of mixed reviews. I have this at the top of my wishlist. I can't wait to read it!

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  16. I Need more review about Tempet coz I want to read this book and
    Thank's for your review. it's great review... ^^

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