{Book Review}: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest 
Author: Julie Cross Website | Twitter
Stand Alone or Series: Tempest, #1
Genre: YA Fiction/Sci-fi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin  (January 17th 2012)
Hardcover:  334 pages
ISBN:  9780312568894 
Source: For honest review from publisher
Available On: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository | Kindle | Nook

Description 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.

My Review

First Impressions: I am not an usual reader of this genre but the idea of time-traveling and the motives of trying to save the girl he loves pulled me in to read this book.


Plot & Characters: Jackson is trying to live a normal life and control his time-traveling abilities. That all changes when his girlfriend is shot and he finds himself stuck in the past. 


I enjoyed the adventure Tempest takes you on. However, I was not able to relate to the characters or understand how their world worked. Especially when it came to the rules of time travel I have no clue how they work. I was constantly having to go back and forth trying to figure out what year it was. There were other aspects that were a little hard for me to believe like his friends Adams incredible knowledge.


The pulling force in this story is Jackson's want to save Holly's life. This is what made me want to read this story. Yet, I found their relationship weak and at times a bit strange. 


Final Thoughts: The adventure and suspense where great but the story and character development were a bit weak for my taste. The only other time-traveling story I read was The Time Traveler's Wife and Tempest was very different so I can't compare it. It could be that I am not an usual reader of this genre or that it lacked the romance or connection between Jackson and Holly for me to give this a higher rating. 


Buy, Borrow or Skip: Borrow unless you enjoy action packed sci-fi thrillers and are not looking for the romance between the characters.


My Rating:

Book Trailer:

{Review}: Ultraviolet by R.J Anderson

Title: Ultraviolet
Author: R.J Anderson
Genre: YA Fiction, Sci-fi
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (September 1st 2011)
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN: 9780761374084
Source: NetGalley*
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

My Rating: 4/5

Description from GoodReads:

"Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her." 
Sixteen-year-old Alison wakes up in a mental institution. As she pieces her memory back together, she realizes she’s confessed to murdering Tori Beaugrand, the most perfect girl at school. But the case is a mystery. Tori's body has not been found, and Alison can't explain what happened. One minute she was fighting with Tori. The next moment Tori disintegrated—into nothing. 
But that's impossible. No one is capable of making someone vanish. Right? Alison must be losing her mind—like her mother always feared she would. 
For years Alison has tried to keep her weird sensory abilities a secret. No one ever understood—until a mysterious visiting scientist takes an interest in Alison's case. Suddenly, Alison discovers that the world is wrong about her—and that she’s capable of far more than anyone else would believe.

My Review:


Was it just me or the whole "This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her" grab your attention.  I don't usually read Sci-fi but this one was amazing. I was not expecting the twist in the last part of this book. I should have from different clues that were dropped but no I was like "WHAT?!!" 


This story begins with a bam! Alison is in a mental hospital because it appears that she may have killed a girl from school. She doesn't remember much just Tori disintegrating before her, so she assumes that maybe she is losing her mind. Like any sane person would believe given the circumstances. The beginning of the story takes place in the mental institution were she meets other kids with problems and tries to get a grasp of reality. Then Sebastian Faraday comes into her life and appears to have the answers to all of her questions. He believes her and listens and his voice tastes like chocolate. What's not to like. Right? This is where the unexpected twist occurs. Won't say any more because I don't want to ruin the story.


I liked the character of Alison. I believe she took the whole I might have killed someone and ended up in a mental hospital pretty well. She has a very believable voice and her ability to taste and see colors when people speak  sounds incredible. I admit it was one of the things that made this book a joy to read.


I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance and Sci-fi.


*Disclosure: This e-ARC was provided by the publisher (Carolrhoda Books via NetGalley) for free in exchange for an honest review.

{Review}: Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across The Universe
Tagline: What does it take to survive aboard a spaceship fueled by lies?
Author: Beth Revis
Genre: YA Fiction
Publisher: Razorbill (Jan 2011)
ISBN: 9781595143976
Source: Bought on Amazon
Available on: Amazon
Rating: 4/5


Description on GoodReads:

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Review:


This is the first Sci-fi book I read. Verdict? I really enjoyed it.

This book captured my interest from the first pages. The way the author describes the experience of being frozen alive was scary. I remember pulling my blanket and shivering at the idea. Amy is an extremely brave girl, I cannot imagine volunteering to be frozen after I seeing how horrible and painful it is.

The dual narrative was great in this book. I like knowing what the characters are thinking and it was especially nice to read about the same event from two perspectives. I was able to see Godspeed and its inhabitants as an outsider and also as their future leader. This allowed for me to care about the people but also see their dark side. There was a scene that I almost put the book down because I was literally scared and disgusted but it showed how inhuman people can become.

The story kept me interested and eager to discover Godspeed's secrets. I admit, I wanted Amy to finally notice how awesome Elder is but the story also kept me reading. I love when books shock me, and this one has a few twists that left me reading with my mouth open in shock.

I like knowing why characters behave the way the do and what leads them to become who they are. So I was a little disappointed that the reasons behind Eldest and some other character's actions where not explained.  Hopefully, more will be explained in the next installment of the series.

I will definitely take another journey aboard Godspeed, a spaceship full of secrets, hope, and love.