Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest
Author: Julie Cross
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin
Publishing Date: January 17th 2012

Pages: 352
Genre:  YA Sci Fi- Romance

Series: Tempest  #1
Source: Audio

  

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.

I had my eye on this book forever. I kept trying to fit it in to my reading and then kept pushing it back. I am not sure why I was pushing it back, there was just something about the book did not scream "read me now". I finally got to it and I LOVED IT!!!!! I think this will be a book I gush about for a very long time. I heard good things about the book, but was a skeptic for some reason. I thought it would be good but not AMAZING!! Loved the plot , the characters, the romance, the mystery, it was all there and more. 

The story is told from Jackson's point of view, a 19 year old rich college kid. He is not spoiled, a bit rebellious, and very closed off to the idea of love. He likes to "have fun" Tragedy struck his life when he was 14 and he has never really worked through it. When Jackson turned 18 he found out he could time jump to the past. Ever since he has been having fun with it and seeing where this ability could take him.

One peaceful morning Jackson and his girlfriend wake up to men in suits storming into the dorm room and one of them shoots Holly. As she is lying on the floor bleeding he jumps back to 2007- and get stuck there. While Jackson is stuck in 2007 and trying to figure out how to get back to 2009, he decides to visit events in the past. Jackson discovers years of  family secrets, tons about life, and even more about love. The only think he has left to do is figure out is the actual time jumping, how to get back, and how to save Holly.

This book was not what I expected at all. I was drawn in from the very beginning and felt like I couldn't breathe during the entire book. There were so many good and awesome things in this book. I will start with the romance. Wow, the romance. The romance was already built when the readers jump into the story. Holly and Jackson have been together for quite some time and call it "having fun" But in reality they are in love, very easy to see that. They are good together, they laugh together, they know each other. There is passion but not the kind in the first love stories. It was a breath of fresh air to see a romance that felt real, honest, the way it should be not the way books always make it. Best book romance for me a very long time!

The book goes beyond just the romance. There are many family issues in this book, issues of secrets, of being ignored , of death and grieving. There were many times I felt my heart swell and eyes get teary. Jackson's life and person is so multi-layered. The time jumping allows him to unravel the secrets and deal with some of the issues that have haunted him for so long.

The plot is also very interesting on a sci fi stand point. Lots of conspiracy, enemies, men in suits, action, intrigue. I was sucked into this part of the story as much as the romance.

The characters are what really wowed me. I fell in love with Jackson! ( I feel like such a cradle robber) He is sweet, kind, very protective and loyal, sarcastic, honest, oh and so much more. I love the voice that the author gave him and the narrator of the audio did an excellent job capturing the true character. I also liked Holly very much. A very kind heart. She is is about as true to herself as they come, gentle, caring, and all that good gushy stuff. I also liked Jackson's dad and Jackson's best friend very very much. They bring so much more  to the story. The cast of characters complimented each other and made the story from great to spectacular.

The writing was amazing, the world setting was phenomenal. With all the sci fi stuff, I didn't feel lost or confused once and that says a lot. I usually don't read sci-fi as much as I do other genres because I often get lost in the babble. There was no babble in this story. Not only easy to follow but easy to get sucked into.

I think this was on of the best of 2012 for me. I am glad to end the year with a big boom. This book with stay with me for a long time and YAY the next one comes out in January. Great timing. If you have not read this book, READ IT!