Title: Timestorm (Tempest #3)
Author: Julie Cross
Published: January, 2014 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 358
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The battle between the Tempest division and Eyewall comes to a shocking conclusion in this final installment of the Tempest trilogy, where the need for survival stretches the boundaries of history, both past and future, and the world Jackson once knew is a place forever marked by the detrimental effects of time travel.

As Jackson recovers from his brush with death, he’s surrounded not only by the people he loves most—his dad, Courtney, and Holly—he’s also amongst a few of the original time travelers. As he learns more about their life and how this world began, it becomes apparent that they need to put a stop to Thomas and Doctor Ludwig’s experimenting at Eyewall Headquarters. What starts out as an escape plan becomes a war between time and humanity, between freewill and peace. It’s the battle Jackson was born to fight and he’s not about to back down. Not for anything. Not for anyone.

Final Thoughts:
What was with that ending? No, I’m not going to give it away, but seriously…I didn’t like it. Timestorm was all over the place for me. There were moments where I was in love with the book, where it managed just the right balance of time-traveller stuff and the romance, but at other times, the book had a tendency to drag. It was the final book, so I expected a back and forth battle between the series-long antagonist, Thomas, and our hero, Jackson, but unfortunately that played out as more of a side issue to the Jackson/Holly love saga.

Title: Vortex (Tempest #2)
Author: Julie Cross
Published: January, 2013 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 358
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Jackson Meyer has thrown himself into his role as an agent for Tempest, the shadowy division of the CIA that handles all time-travel-related threats. Despite his heartbreak at losing the love of his life, Jackson has proved himself to be an excellent agent. However, after an accidental run in with Holly—the girl he altered history to save—Jackson is once again reminded of what he’s lost. And when Eyewall, an opposing division of the CIA, emerges, Jackson and his fellow agents not only find themselves under attack, but Jackson begins to discover that the world around him has changed and someone knows about his erased relationship with Holly, putting both their lives at risk all over again.

Final Thoughts:
This is what books should be like. I never felt bored, I never wanted to put it down, the characters didn’t frustrate me. Please, people, write more books like this. Vortex may be markedly different from its predecessor, but it works. There’s less of a focus on the romance—it’s not gone, but it comes in second. So much happens in this novel that thinking back, it’s hard to imagine it all fit into just over 350 pages. You may find yourself missing some of the old characters, but with plenty of new ones thrown at you, you won’t have time to notice. Plus, if you’re anything like me, you will soon lose yourself in the intricately plotted mess that is time travel.

Title: Tempest (Tempest #1)
Author: Julie Cross
Published: January, 2012 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Thanks: Macmillan via NetGalley
Pages: 352
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

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.

Final Thoughts:
Seriously…I need the second book now! A year is just too far away. I’m so glad that I loved this book and that it wasn’t just another pretty cover. It managed to bring tears to my eyes not once, but three times. Maybe it’s just me, but when a book can do that to me, it immediately enters my favourites. And if a time travelling 19yo guy wasn’t cool enough, the addition of interwoven conspiracies had me hooked. This is definitely a book to get guys into YA, although it’s still very female friendly. Whereas some books tend to fall to one extreme, this one managed to balance a variety of genres. Easily shifting between action and romance, it incorporates issues such as sex, lies, friendship and family, all while creating an intricately mysterious paranormal world.