Tempest by Julie Cross

Genre: Time Travel

Hardcover: 352 Pages

Published: January 17, 2012

Series: Tempest

            1. Tempest

            2. Vortex

            3. Timestorm

Rating:★★★

Goodreads 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.

My Review:

     I think many people will enjoy reading this book a lot more than I did. Don't get me wrong, I loved this idea of time travel and the whole concept, but by the end of this book I just wasn't feeling it. It is similar to the movie Jumper, which btw was an amazing movie and I guess one of the reasons why I chose to read this book was based on the movie (the movie and book have no correlation). The beginning was fast paced and interesting. I was turning pages and reading so quickly you would think that I was eating potato chips or something.

             

     Jackson Meyer is a college student in 2009 who has recently discovered that he can jump back and forth through time. He has begun to test the limits of his abilities with the help of his friend Adam. Then one day a bunch of mysterious guys burst into his dorm, to capture him and instead accidently kill his girlfriend. Now it's up to Jackson to figure out a way to go back in time and save his girlfriend. At the same time he has to be careful of the things he changes in the past and try to stay away from the bad guys who are chasing him.

     The concept of the plot was very interesting and I enjoyed reading this book. However, at numerous times I was totally lost and confused to what time we were in. I didn't like the fact that the timings kept changing and I had to re-read chapters to understand what was going on. I think this book has a lot of potential, but the execution was poorly done. I did try to read the second book in this series (Vortex), but I just couldn't get into the book. Hopefully, I can come back to it in another year and see if I can continue with the series, but for now I think if time travel is something that interests you then definitely give this book a try.  

The Soul of the Sun by Genevieve Crownson

Genre: Time Travel

Kindle: 348 Pages

Published: November 22, 2013

Series:  The Argos Dynasty

            1. The Soul of the Sun

Rating:★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

“The hands of time turn on the face of the sun. Only you can move them. If the Watcher controls the hands of the clock he can go anywhere, past or future-- and destroy our planet.” 

Since the days of ancient Greece, the Argos dynasty has kept a secret, a mystery passed down through their descendants from generation to generation, in the hopes that the forces of good can stop the evil destruction of planet Earth. 

Margaret Ingall is harboring that secret. Time is running out for the descendants of the Argos. They know a great healer and time traveler will be born of their blood. But the only person that knows whom they will call “the soul of the sun” is Margaret’s sister, Abigail. Before she can reveal the healer’s identity, disaster strikes… 

Evil stalks them, watching and waiting to find out which member of her family has the ultimate power. Is it Margaret’s own child? Or her beloved granddaughter? Or even herself? Their only clue is a powerful protective amulet that will lead them all in a cat-and-mouse game to discover secrets as ancient as time. 

If the Watcher discovers the truth before they do, all will be lost. 

Fate, time and love weave together in their struggle to fulfill their destiny. Will Margaret’s fears sabotage her family’s protection? Can the healer accept her gifts in time? And once the soul of the sun is finally revealed, will it be too late? 

Her power is incredible. The sacrifices required of her are immense. 

Will it be enough to stop the Watcher?

My Review:

     The Soul of the Sun is the first book in The Argos Dynasty and it was a good read. I really enjoyed the beginning of this book because it introduced the characters, the plot, and the setting in a quick and simple manner. The topic of time travel is what really caught my attention and got me interested in the book.

        As I got to the middle of the book that's when things started to get a little confusing. Some of the things I didn't like were the minor grammar/spelling errors, the back and forth of the time frame got a little confusing because I wasn't sure what time we were in, and that's when I started to lose interest. The story in the past was more exciting and interesting than what was happening in the present.

            The characters were well written with well rounded attitudes. I really liked Margaret's character. She was strong and independent with a quirky attitude. The Watcher's character was also interesting because I really wanted to know more about him, but we didn't find out a lot.

           

             Overall, a good start to this series. I did enjoy reading this book, but I don't think I will be continuing with the series. The reason for that is not because the story wasn't interesting or that I didn't like the characters, but because the pacing was way to slow for me. I like reading books where the plot is fast paced with lots of action and excitement. However, I do recommend this book to anyone who is interested in time travel, magic, and crazy villains.