Reviewed by Amber (The Literary Phoenix) on
Jackson Meyer is a likable protagonist with extraordinary abilities. Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, he learned he could time travel. At first, it was a couple hours, and he only submitted a projection of himself. Then, suddenly, it is two years and Jackson is living in the past. The problem is, his abilities have taught him some strange things about his family, and he isn't sure who he can trust. And for good reason - someone just shot his girlfriend.
Trusting a friend from the future and trying to thwart the CIA and other time travelers alike, Jackson is placed in a precarious position. He must make important decisions about his future, his family, his love life, and he must pick a side.
Tempest has a lot going on all at once and sometimes, it's difficult to keep track.
On one end, we have Holly. I believe the author really wanted Holly to be the center of everything. As far as I'm concerned, she's a pretty mediocre girl. I understand why Jackson likes her - they're very compatible. For the reader? She's a bit boring and flat. Jackson spends a lot of time trying to win her love and protect her, and that was SO TEDIOUS compared to time travel.
Then we have Courtney. Jackson's twin sister died of brain cancer when she was 14, and Jackson has many regrets. He misses her dearly. EVERY TIME Courtney shows up in this story, things get interesting. I believe she's much smarter and knows a lot more than this first book lets on. Even at the end, we don't get a lot of answers about Courtney and she is my primary reason for going to book two - I really liked this character and thought there could be a lot more story around her and Jackson and their abilities.
Then we have the whole CIA/EOT plotline. This is the high-action angle of the story, but it's written in such a way that it always feels like it's INTERRUPTING the love story, which is an issue for me? The book isn't marketed as strictly a KISSING BOOK so the plot and subplot shouldn't be all switched? That said, the CIA plot felt weak and I didn't like it anyway. Mostly people appeared and try to shoot other people, then everyone threw their hands in the air and asked questions or laughed evilly. Then. Jackson jumps, because we're done with that! YUP.
Overall, I couldn't put it down.
For whatever this story lacks in cohesion and focus, it makes up for in curiosity. The time jumps happened just as soon as things were starting to get interesting, so you'd have to read more, faster, so you could find out what happened. Characters have a habit of disappearing as well. There was several pages where Jackson & Co. were getting shot at on a boat? And the whole time, all I could think was, "OKAY. BUT WHERE IS ADAM. IS HE DEAD. TELL ME THINGS!!!?!" ... (You do eventually find out about Adam.)
This book will swallow you up. Some of the scenes are really beautifully written. I'm glad I read it.
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Reading updates
- Started reading
- 8 September, 2017: Finished reading
- 8 September, 2017: Reviewed