Pages: 334
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Pub. Date: January 17, 2012
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads says, "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."
Jackson Meyer is a happy college student with good friends and a great girlfriend, Holly. He has one small secret though....he can travel back in time. It has never really been a serious thing, just something he experiments with along with his friend Adam. However, one morning in 2009 while Jackson is with Holly, people break and enter into her bedroom and there is a fight between them. Unfortunately, Holly is shot and Jackson travels back to 2007. This is unlike any jump he has completed before, because he cannot get back to 2009. He seems to be stuck in the past and in turn, he tries to learn as much as possible about his ability, about Holly and his dad's secret. Tempest is an edge of your seat debut that fans of time travel will revel in.
I love time travel. I love the idea. I love movies about time travel (Back to the Future) and I find it all so fascinating. So when I received the ARC of Tempest, I knew I had to read it. Cross does a good job weaving this tale and I liked learning more about Holly and Jackson's family secrets when he was stuck in 2007. The only issue I had was all of the time travel. At times, it got rather confusing, especially towards the end. It was hard to keep it straight, which is why I gave Tempest a 3.5 instead of 4 stars.
There is no doubt that Tempest is an impressive debut though. The movie rights were already bought by Summit Entertainment (Twilight) and foreign rights were sold in many countries. Plus, it's part of a new trilogy that sounds promising and I must admit that it is a nice break from the usual fantasy.
Will I read book two in the series? Probably. Tempest ends in a crazy way and, like any good trilogy, it had me desperately flipping pages towards the end. I must admit that this book might translate better to the big screen and I'll be excited to see that come to fruition. Lastly, I think many of my students might enjoy Tempest, so I will definitely be adding it to my classroom library.
*Buy Tempest
*Watch the book trailer
Like you I really like time travel and that was the main reason I read this novel. It did get confusing at time but I think that's the tragic flaw of all time travel stories. Inevitably they all start to get confusing.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of time travel too, but the fact that you said there's just so much of it in this story has me a little worried. I like to think I'm not easily confused, but I can see how a great deal of leaping through time would throw me off balance and that would be somewhat detrimental to the overall story. Thanks for the review Christina!
ReplyDeleteIt's all that time travel you speak of that has me wondering if the audiobook will feel too jumpy. Great honest review.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't read this yet though I received it from NetGalley awhile ago. I don't know if I'd watch it as a movie but the book sounds interesting enough. I'm glad you liked it even with the confusion of time travel.
ReplyDeleteI gave this a 3.5 too. I liked it pretty well in places, but all the time travel confused me too. Like you, I think it will work really well on the big screen. I'll read the second book too, as I'm invested enough in the characters.
ReplyDeleteThat cover is so cool!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read Tempest for awhile and I'm sad to hear that it too much time traveling. It gets confusing enough in The Time Traveler's Wife(which I loved).
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