Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest
Author: Julie Cross
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Length: 352 pages
Original Publishing Date: January 17th, 2012
Series: Tempest #1
Where I got it: I honestly don't remember! It's an ARC so I assume it was from a giveaway? I feel bad but I just found it buried away somewhere and was like, "I totally forgot that I had this!".
Links: Goodreads Amazon Author's Website

Synopsis from Goodreads:  
"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."
 
Main characters: 4/5
I wasn't sure about Jackson at first, but as the novel went on he seemed to gain more complexity and depth. Sometimes he was tedious and a little boring, but more than anything he just seemed like a normal kid. I liked that he was a "good guy", but he still had these flaws and quirks that made him not just that "good guy". He was kind of a player at times, and that made me giggle. I also really liked the fact that Jackson was a male narrator and that he had a girlfriend before the book started.

Secondary characters: 3.5/5
Holly was sweet and I liked the back and forth between 2007 and 2009 Holly, but she was a little less developed. Part of it was because we weren't as deep into her mind as we were Jackson. I really liked Jackson's sidekick, Adam, both for his role Jackson's foil and for his humorous inputs. I also thought Jackson's dad was an interesting addition to the story and I liked their family history. 

Writing style: 3/5
The dialogue in Tempest was refreshingly real, and the pacing was excellent. Once I started, I couldn't put the book down. The one spot where the pacing fell apart was toward the end, where we started bouncing around at breakneck speeds. I was finding it difficult to keep up with all that was happening. The descriptions were perfect and the writing was entertaining and Jackson's voice was funny and unique. My only negative was that the novel was a bit long and it dragged a little in the middle.

Plot: 4/5
The time-traveling in Tempest was surprisingly fresh: I liked the details that made it different. The rules, the "home base" time, all of that was fun and unique. I also liked the conflict: Jackson being stuck in time and trying to get back to save his girlfriend, Holly. Cross seemed to have the worldbuilding down. Some of the plot conflict was sparse in the middle and then jampacked at the end.

Ending: 2/5
It's not that I didn't like the ending, I just felt like there was so much that my brain was completely overwhelmed. It didn't help that a lot of it would hurt my brain anyway. Also, there was definitely a bit of a cliffhanger.

Best scene: Jackson and Holly's picnic in Central Park

Reminded Me Of: The Time Traveler's Wife

Positives: The refreshing aspects of the time-travel trope, a strong male narrator, the writing style

Negatives: Some of the pacing was off (middle and end), slightly less developed secondary characters, the ending

Cover: I really like this cover. The font, the background, the foreground image... all of it is so pretty!

Verdict: An entertaining twist on the time travel trope.

Rating: 6.6/10 (4 stars)

What I Was Listening To: 
I love some throwbacks and while I was reading Tempest I was satisfying my classic rock addiction. PS- this is also a great song to run to. 

Your Thoughts: Have you read it? What did you think? If you haven't, will you be adding it to your TBR list? How does it compare to other time travel books you've read? Let me know!