My Library in the Making

(This review was originally posted at My Library in the Making.)When Tempest arrived in the mail, I immediately leafed through it and was quite taken aback by how long it seemed (it's not thick, but the letters were smaller than in most other books), but now that I've read it, all I can think of is I want more!At first glance, Jackson Meyer seemed like he had the perfect, normal life - he was in college with Holly, his girlfriend, and free of parental and financial concerns because his father was the busy CEO of a pharmaceutical company. At first glance - because he was also a time-traveler.Tempest had the perfect beginning, providing enough knowledge to understand Jackson's abilities and avoiding an info dump. The author clearly understands the meaning of "need-to-know basis", which also added suspense to the story. That said, I still got confused with the principle behind Jackson's time traveling, especially during his first few jumps - or maybe school just distracted me. Anyway, I got the hang of things soon enough.Aside from the whole business of time-traveling, I also really loved the characters. At first, I imagined Jackson as this cute, nerdy guy who could quote Shakespeare in French (!!!), but as I read more of him with Holly, he turned into this smart, sexy dude whose girlfriend I seriously envied and wanted to hate, but I couldn't because Holly was everything a YA heroine should be: intelligent, level-headed, and brave - though minus some kind of special power. A whole plethora of logical characters - so there was zero facepalm moments! - were introduced, and I really mean it when I say each stood out on their own. Fast-paced, action-packed, and surprise-filled, Tempest was one hell of a ride. It held me in its grip until the ending that has me desperate for Vortex, which, thankfully, will come out in January 15, 2013!MY FAVORITE PART was when Jackson tried to adapt to his new "home base".