Monday, February 11, 2013

Tempest - Julie Cross

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. (From Goodreads)

I'm confused by my emotions about this book. Part of me thinks I didn't really care for it, but then there's that moment where I had to exercise serious control to not cry in public because a moment came from out of nowhere and hit me. Or the fact that I did actually have a hard time putting it down. So there's something that's not quite clicking for me. I can't point at why I didn't like it, I can't find anything concrete to say - this is why this book didn't do it for me. I can give you moments I loved, which would point to I love this book. But still, I'm kind of indifferent.

Are you confused? Because I still am.

Maybe it's just the fact that time travel confuses me. I'm waiting for the book that explains perfectly the rules of time travel. This one did it better than most, but I think I spent most of the book thinking - can you do that? Are you sure you didn't just accidentally alter the entire course of history?

But still, Jackson is a great character. I think my favorite part about this book was his relationship with his twin sister - a relationship he can only keep going in the past because she died of cancer. The moments with his sister, or about his sister are some of the most beautiful, emotional and reallyly make this book worth reading. His relationship with his father was fascinating as well. It was a nice change to have a super busy, emotionally damaged, typical work-a-holic father turn it around and actually be there for his son. Even though I still don't completely trust him, the way his character progresses was great.

The ending. I just have to say that I LOVED the ending. It was perfect. It was unexpected and beautiful and brave. Because, even if I waver from I liked this book to indifference, I will remember and cherish that ending. I know the story continues, but to be honest I don't want to know what happens, because I have a feeling it won't go the way I want it to. I want to believe that it ends there.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Tempest - Julie Cross

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. (From Goodreads)

I'm confused by my emotions about this book. Part of me thinks I didn't really care for it, but then there's that moment where I had to exercise serious control to not cry in public because a moment came from out of nowhere and hit me. Or the fact that I did actually have a hard time putting it down. So there's something that's not quite clicking for me. I can't point at why I didn't like it, I can't find anything concrete to say - this is why this book didn't do it for me. I can give you moments I loved, which would point to I love this book. But still, I'm kind of indifferent.

Are you confused? Because I still am.

Maybe it's just the fact that time travel confuses me. I'm waiting for the book that explains perfectly the rules of time travel. This one did it better than most, but I think I spent most of the book thinking - can you do that? Are you sure you didn't just accidentally alter the entire course of history?

But still, Jackson is a great character. I think my favorite part about this book was his relationship with his twin sister - a relationship he can only keep going in the past because she died of cancer. The moments with his sister, or about his sister are some of the most beautiful, emotional and reallyly make this book worth reading. His relationship with his father was fascinating as well. It was a nice change to have a super busy, emotionally damaged, typical work-a-holic father turn it around and actually be there for his son. Even though I still don't completely trust him, the way his character progresses was great.

The ending. I just have to say that I LOVED the ending. It was perfect. It was unexpected and beautiful and brave. Because, even if I waver from I liked this book to indifference, I will remember and cherish that ending. I know the story continues, but to be honest I don't want to know what happens, because I have a feeling it won't go the way I want it to. I want to believe that it ends there.