Book Reviews: Tempest

TEMPEST
BY JULIE CROSS




Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (January 17, 2012)

Length: 352 Pages, Hardcover

Format: Ebook

Source: NetGalley.com

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Series: Yes, Book #1

Completed: January 2012

Challenges: 2012 E book Challenge, 2012 YA Debut Author's Challenge, 2012 Outdoor Yourself Challenge, 2012 YA & MG Fantasy Challenge

SUMMARY

When Jackson Meyers discovers he can time travel, he solicits the help of his best friend Adam, a science geek, to uncover everything there is to know about this unexpected "gift".  Carefully documenting everything in a journal, the reader slowly learns, alongside of Jackson and Adam, about time travel in a whole new fashion. Jackson's experiments do not go unnoticed. They unfortunately attract the unwanted attention of a gang of some very evil villains. Eventually they threaten the life of Jackson's girlfriend Holly, during her attack Jackson plunges into another time zone.  There, unable to time travel back, he slowly ascertains the true value of his gift. When it becomes clear he may possibly possess the power to change the whole world - for better OR worse - Jackson's life begins to take on a whole new dimension.

BACKGROUND

The original title for Tempest was Enemies of Time. Its the first book in a planned trilogy on time travel and Julie Cross's debut novel. Julie Cross lives outside Chicago, where she works at the local YMCA. Summit has bought the rights to this story for the big screen, so we can all look forward to watching the story in movie form.

SETTING PACE AND STYLE

Tempest is set in New York, key parts of the book take place in both 2007 and 2009, though other years are also involved.  The story doesn't disappoint when it comes to action, suspense and fight scenes.  However, pacing is unusual, with distinct peaks and valleys.  Sometimes its so riveting the reader can't turn the pages quick enough, while strangely, at other intervals the story almost drags along. Luckily, the peaks were most prevailent. The valleys may be a strategical ploy, giving the reader a little extra time to digest everything. Julie Cross writes in first person, with simple prose, utilizing easy to read vocabulary and lots of dialogue to tell the story, in first person, from the perspective of the male narrator, nineteen year old Jackson Meyers.

CHARACTERS AND PLOT

Jackson Meyers is the nineteen year old protagonist of Tempest.  Through his voice we discover, he's sweet, funny and tough.  He also has strong moral character, evidenced by his brotherly love for his twin sister Courtney and his ability to abstain from doing much more than fooling around with the younger seventeen year old Holly.  I mean how many young men would actually request their dad to walk in on them?


Holly is Jackson's girlfriend.  We are given hints about her character in two different years 2007 and 2009: the 007 Holly (her younger self) and the 009 Holly(the one Jackson dates in his current life).  She seems like a dreamer, a romantic and a terrifically sarcastic, sassy gal. I almost wish the reader was given a better chance to get to know Holly on a more personal level. I felt like we only scratched the surface.


There are lots of other side characters, like Jackson's friend Adam, Jackson's father and of course Courtney, Jackson's twin sister.  They all played important roles in the story, but as I look back on this read, I think I may have been more attracted to the plot than the characters themselves.

The main plot revolves around second chances, romance and sacrifices, intermixed with action, time travel and a slice of mystery.  It involves a nineteen year old Jackson witnessing his girlfriend's potentially fatal shooting. Then following up with him getting stuck in another time, ferociously fighting to return to her, to help save her life or at least change it for a different ending. The main theme according to the author, Julie Cross, is.. "have no regrets."

RECOMMENDATION

With a college aged male narrator, this book will reel in guys just as easily as the gals. Even though the underlying theme is somewhat romance based, I do recommend it to anyone who enjoys time travel books, especially ones brimming with action, adventure, suspense and mystery.  If interested in reading a fast paced book, which will generally keep you on the edge of your seat, most of the time, don't miss out on Tempest. Warning to parents of younger readers, there is the occasional drop of an "F bomb" in this story, along with very mild (PG) "sex" scenes.

PERSONAL NOTE

I have to admit, the cover on this book is what initially sucked me in to the story.  I probably would have read it regardless of what it was about. The cover was just that powerful. I didn't even read the synopsis before requesting if from Netgalley.  The cover called my name and I answered.  So, I was pleasantly surprised when the story lived up to the cover, in most ways. The cover design eludes to tension and suspense, it wasn't lying to me! It also it quite symbolic to the storyline.


Having a male voice brought a welcome change up from the books I've read lately.  Jackson's a great narrator, being well versed at letting me know everything going on around him. This was challenging at times too, with all the evil villains just popping up out of nowhere.  However, there was almost an excess amount of dialogue in this book.  I felt a lot of the story was divulged through telling instead of showing, especially the mystery parts.  I just wish I was privy to a little bit more of what was going on in Jackson's head on a more emotional level.  The times when I felt closest to him were in scenes involving his twin sister Courtney.  I really feel like he bared his sole during these encounters or flashbacks.


He and Holly's relationship deepens as the novel progresses, though I didn't find it nearly as interpersonal as the one he had with his sister. Jackson slowly realizes how important Holly is to him as the story unfolds.  In the beginning, he sort of took her for granted, immersing himself in his time travel research, keeping secrets from her. My favorite piece of their developing romance was the humor, digs and personal jokes between the two of them during their moments alone with each other. Over the course of the book their relationship evolved into something completely more meaningful.


The time travel aspects in this novel break all the rules. The author was thinking outside the box when she created Tempest - exciting stuff! Wildly, though, it is the one piece of the novel which held me back from just really falling in love with the story - well, that and the ending.  For me the time travel was mind boggling.  Many times, I was left feeling utterly baffled. The story jumps around as Jackson moves from time period to time period. I was forced to backtrack and re-read parts to try and get a better grasp on what just transpired.  In this book I was introduced to abstract, new time travel concepts such as "half jumps", "full jumps" and "displacements".  I found out along side Jackson, the intricacy of the time travel worlds and how they interrelate.  Sometimes, an overabundance of information was revealed in such a brief period of time, I found it very hard to digest it all in one big bite.


The ending, well, some have described it as a cliffhanger.  I disagree.  The story certainly ended.  I just wasn't a huge fan of the way it did. It could be described as heartbreaking, almost making me want to ask what was the point of the book? I understand the reasons behind the actions, though I don't know if I entirely agree with them. I was left with a lot of unanswered questions, like who is Emily and what does she have to do with anything? What purpose will Jackson serve now?  I have my suspicious, though. I'm also just not at all sure where this story will go from here, but I'm still curious enough to continue on with the series. Its looks like I'll have to wait until at least 2013 to see the next installment.

RATING

Initially, I believed I may give this one 4 rings.  As I read it to completion, I found the ending had an adverse effect on me. It sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. The ending and the difficult to follow time travel aspects are the reasons why I deducted one and a half rings.  My rating is .....

3.5 Rings
(IT WAS OK - KEPT ME TURNING PAGES)