Tempest by Julie Cross

GoodReads
352 pages, YA Sci-Fi, Time Travel
Tempest #1
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis

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 2 cents

I knew when I heard about this book that I would love it!  I love the mystery of time travel, and all the questions it brings.  Its not like you can know exactly what's going to happen in the universe!  But I didn't expect to love Jackson and Holly as much as I did.  I fell in love with Jackson after about 4 pages!  He was the perfect male lead character.  He's rich, pretty popular, easy going, very smart, and witty--and at time, a bit of a jerk.  He's definitely not perfect, but he's very honest about his mistakes.  Holly I didn't like very much in the beginning of the story.  I thought she was a little cold.  Until Jackson gets stuck in 2007, and goes out of his way to meet her and try to protect her.  Then she definitely grew on me!

The other characters in the book are just as good.  They just came alive on the pages.  I loved Adam, he was definitely the sidekick comic relief so badly needed in this intense story!  I was most impressed with the author on how she made it feel like Courtney was an active character in the story.  Courtney was Jackson's twin sister, who died of a brain disease when they were 14.  Jackson jumps back a few times to talk to her when she was 12, and again at 14.  So she wasn't there in most of the story...but I could feel her presence all through the book.

The writing was superb.  There were so many great little moments between the characters.  It wasn't all gloom and doom, which was refreshing.  Some of it was from Jackson's memories.  Another thing I really liked was that Jackson, Holly and his friends were 19 years old.  It was a refreshing change from 16 or 17. 

What I think I love most about this book, is there is so much that happens in 350 pages--but we still get all these beautiful little moments between characters, true character development, and some major twists and turns.  Again, the writing was just superb.  I am a huge fan of Julie Cross now!  I also really enjoyed the short story ebook from this series, Today and Tomorrow.  Its a story about Jackson and Holly before they were dating.  They are just so perfect for each other!  Both the short story, and the book are getting 5 stars from me!

Quotes:

 “We were an island. Me and Holly. Completely alone in this strange moment.” --Jackson thoughts after telling Holly he loves her.

“Nothing went exactly right. And yet it was perfect.” --Jackson thoughts, on remembering his and Holly's first time.

"  'So you're not afraid to walk on a swing set ten feet above the ground, but you're scared to kiss me?' I teased.  The whole idea was amusing and made me realize how much of a journey she would take between now and 2009.  
'Later,' she said with a smile.
'Like I said, only if you really want to.'
She turned her back to me and headed down the hall.  'I do.' "--Jackson and Holly's exchange in 2007 after Holly confesses she is worried about their second kiss. 

"I'm just a little bit of a freak sometimes.  That's all."  --Jackson to Holly after a time jump, trying to cover it up.

Book 2 in the series: Vortex
Releases January 15, 2013