{Audiobook} Review: Vortex by Julie Cross

Title: Vortex
Author: Julie Cross
Narrator: Matthew Brown
Series: Tempest, book #2
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: January 15, 2013
Source: audio from publisher for review
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Julie Cross's Vortex is the thrilling second installment of the Tempest series, in which the world hangs in the balance as a lovelorn Jackson must choose who to save.

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.

I must say, this book is aptly named.  I'm not going to lie...this book confused the heck out of me.  Much worse than the first book.  And I was all set to not love it because of that, but then somewhere along the way, it hit its stride.  And despite still being thoroughly confused by the laws of time travel, I reconnected with the story.

There isn't nearly as much time travelling done in Vortex as there was in Tempest, but there was a lot of discussion about it as Jackson tried to figure out just how far his capabilities reached.  He's also now training as a Tempest agent, and so he's learning more about his role in the agency, as well.  All the while, he's trying to forget Holly.

I love a good story told from the male perspective, and this series is no different.  But whereas I never fully connected with Jackson in the first book, I actually felt that his emotions were raw and genuine this time around.  Maybe because he's lost so much....the love of his life, his best friend, any chance at a normal life.  But it was also in the way he approached new relationships.  It's gratifying to see that he's changed so much from the playboy he was before.  And he's actually close to his father now, whom he needs more than ever.  His character has definitely shown a lot of growth over the pages of these two books.

Admittedly, Jackson didn't make up for the lack of Holly or Adam, though.  Adam's absence was felt for the entirety of the book, but Holly did become an integral part of the story midway through the story.  Though I can't say her presence was entirely comforting.  She is definitely not Jackson's 009 Holly, but that's all I can say without giving too much away.

The narrator for this audiobook is fabulous.  As he's reading, I believe that he believes he is Jackson Meyer, so convincing is his portrayal.  He actually sounds much like I imagine Jackson would sound...young and intelligent, with a bit of swagger.  And he doesn't use a high-pitched voice to represent female dialogue, which is always a plus.

After the events of Vortex, I am even more intrigued with this storyline.  I'm really hoping the time travel antics are fully explained in book three, but even if I'm still unable to comprehend the science behind it, at least the consequences still make for a great story.  And even if I hadn't been fully on board with this book, that ending was enough to guarantee that I'll be reading the next installment.  It was a whirlwind journey, but explosive doesn't even begin to describe the ending of Vortex.

Rating:   

Be sure to stop by and enter to win your own copy of Tempest and/or Vortex (depending on your location) at my stop of the Back to the Future Giveaway Hop!

Read More

Labels: audiobooks, julie cross, macmillan, reviews, sci-fi, tempest, time travel

Judging a Book By Its Cover #11: A Kid's Perspective on Tempest by Julie Cross

Okay, so I totally stole this idea from Sara at Forever 17 Books, who got the idea from an article on Babble called Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About.  I just discovered her lovely segment, and I immediately requested forced my own four-year-old daughter Katie to provide me with some of her own cover art artwork and then asked her what she thought the book was about.



This week, Katie gave me her take on the following book:

"I think it's about a girl jumping up to grab a boy from the rain cloud that was sucking him in.  And she just jumped and got him and pulled him to the ground."

Cover Art

Tempest as envisioned by Katie

I gotta admit, when I first saw this cover, I thought it might be weather-related, too, especially with a title like Tempest.  They've since changed the covers for this series, though...maybe because of that?

Have you read Tempest?  What do you think of Katie's guess at the premise?  Did your little darling create a work of art based on a book this week? If so, be sure to link up with Sara over at Forever 17 Books.

Be sure to stop by and enter to win your own copy of Tempest and/or Vortex (depending on your location) at my stop of the Back to the Future Giveaway Hop!  Also, my review of the Vortex audiobook will be going up later today, so be sure to check that out, as well.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Read More

Labels: cover art, judging a book by its cover, julie cross, katiebug, tempest, time travel

Feature: Tempest by Julie Cross

The word about Tempest (my review here), the first novel in a trilogy by Julie Cross, is already spreading like wildfire.  And thanks to the wonderful people at Macmillan/St. Martin's Griffin/Griffin Teen, I have some goodies to share to prepare you for this time travel adventure!




First up, I have an audio clip of the first chapter of the Tempest audiobook:

If that's not enough of a time-traveling Jackson fix for you, you can read an excerpt of the first four chapters of Tempest on the book's Facebook page.  And if that's still not enough Jackson for you, here's a bonus short story from Julie Cross that takes place before the events of Tempest: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Facebook



Tempest will be released on January 17, 2012, by St. Martin's Griffin.

Read More

Labels: features, freebies, teasers, tempest

ARC Tour Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title:  Tempest
Author:  Julie Cross
Series:  Tempest
Publisher:  St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date:  January 17, 2012
Source:  Wendy Darling at The Midnight Garden
Links:  Amazon | Goodreads
Rating:

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.

Review:

Maybe my expectations for this book were too high, or maybe it was just too hyped to begin with, but I just couldn’t connect to the characters or the story the way I would have liked. I love the whole aspect of time travel, but rather than be mysterious and science-fictiony (yup, another review where I make up my own words) like I had anticipated, it felt more like a rip-off of that movie Jumper. And not in a good way.

The premise is intriguing, though not all that original. However, the time travel itself is rather different, though that doesn’t mean it’s easy to understand…at all. Some things are explained well enough, like how Jackson got stuck in 2007 in the first place, but I found the logic questionable when it came to traveling along the same timeline or departing from one’s own timeline altogether. The general rules for time travel definitely needed some clarification, but maybe the reader is supposed to learn about them as Jackson does. Though he clearly had no idea what he was getting into when he started his little time travel experiments with his friend Adam and landed himself in all of this hot water in the first place.

I found the characters lacking and generally cliché. As formulaic as the plot was, the characters should have been exceptional and well-rounded, but they just fell flat. Jackson is supposed to be your typical hot, rich guy with commitment issues. And he totally fits the bill. But through this ordeal, he should show some growth, and though there are times when his character shows promise, he never truly lives up to his potential. His sacrifice is just as much selfish as it is noble.

Holly is your average girl-next-door who somehow manages to land the super-hot, rich guy, though he’s clearly not her type. Adam, who was friends with Holly before he ever met Jackson, is suddenly best buds with him, but that’s predictably because he’s the nerdy, science type, and he’s helping Jackson figure out this whole time-travel thing. And, of course, neither of them thinks to tell Holly what’s going on until it’s too late and the evil “Enemies of Time” are hot on Jackson’s trail.

I think that too much focus on time travel itself detracted from the actual storyline, and the fact that so much time travel occurs in a relatively short span of time left me reeling. I understand that the role of the first book in a trilogy is to grab the reader’s attention and guarantee that they’ll want to read the rest of the series, but I found much of this novel to be an information dump rather than an actual story. Considerably less time could have been spent on Jackson being chased through time and instead spent on aspects that are clearly going to be important in Jackson’s future (or past or present or wherever he ends up), such as his dead sister and the little girl who travels from the future (or a future timeline?) who just happens to look very much like his dead sister. Also, the romance was sweet, but most of it was just fluff, only serving as a detour from Jackson’s true purpose or calling or whatever you want to call it.

Despite my feelings toward this novel, it’s received quite a bit of buzz. The film rights have already been snapped up by Summit Entertainment, even before the novel has been officially published and released into the wild. And as I mentioned before, this is only the first novel in a planned trilogy, and a massive marketing campaign is in the works. I wish I could say I think it deserves all of the attention it’s garnering, but regardless of my thoughts on this first installment and how it’s being handled, I’m definitely intrigued enough by what I suspect is to come that I’ll pick up future installments.

Much appreciation goes out to Wendy Darling for offering up her ARC for this tour.

Read More

Labels: arc tour reviews, disappointments, tempest