Monday, June 25, 2012

Tempest (YA)

Tempest. Julie Cross. 2012. St. Martin's Press. 352 pages. 


Saturday, April 11, 2009,
Okay, so it's true. I can time-travel. But it's not as exciting as it sounds. I can't go back in time and kill Hitler. I can't go to the future and see who wins the World Series in 2038. So far, the most I've ever jumped is about six hours in the past. Some superhero, right?

Tempest is a great example of why you should never judge a book by its cover. For me this cover just doesn't work, it doesn't shout out time-traveling-spies, does it? And with a premise as appealing as time travel (in general) AND featuring mysterious secret agents fighting evil-time-travelers, it should have an awesome cover.

Jackson Meyer is our time-traveling hero with a girlfriend named Holly. But within chapters, Holly's life is in danger--she's dying before his eyes--and Jackson does the only thing he can do: panic as he jumps backwards in time. Because of the traumatic events leading to the jump, Jackson does something he's never done before which traps him in the past--in the year 2007. Once there, he'll have plenty of time to find out who he is, who his father is--why his Dad is so very, very weird and out-of-touch with him, and much much more. He has tons of questions, and he wants some answers at least. Mainly: can he change the future, is there anything he can do to prevent the tragic events leading up to Holly's (alleged) death? Also: can he find a way to jump back to the future, or is he stuck in 2007? Will he have to relive two years of his life? And then there's all the super-super mysterious stuff about himself, his father, his mother, his abilities, etc.

So how does he spend his time? Well, he a) time-travels back and forth in his own past trying to piece together clues b) meets his girlfriend, Holly, years before he "really" meets her c) meets his best friend, Adam, years before he's supposed to really meet him d) confronts his Dad with some super-tough questions.

This one has dangers, thrills, mysteries, secrets, lies, spies, and time-travel. What is NOT to love?! Seriously!!! The book has a GREAT premise. Jackson is a fully developed character whom we get to know surprisingly well considering how this is an action/plot/premise-driven book. Loved the emotional range we get, not only all the scenes about Holly or with Holly, but all the scenes about his twin-sister, Courtney. There was even a great heart-to-heart with his Dad towards the end. The book has a quite a few complex relationships, and I appreciated how they were developed. I loved also the exploration of consequences. I really appreciated the ending, I thought it was just right.

Read Tempest
  • Time travel
  • Good vs. Evil
  • Secret Agents/Secret Agencies
  • Romance from a guy's perspective


© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2 comments:

Kailana said...

I have heard mixed reviews about this book. I am not sure if it is for me or not...

Becky said...

It is always easier (for me) to decide to give a book a try if it's a library book. I do check out many books that I'm not sure about and go into them with low expectations--such was the case with Tempest. For me, with low expectations, it worked. I would never, ever, ever say Tempest was perfect. Few books--YA or not--are perfect.