Vortex (Tempest) [Unabridged] [Hardcover]

Vortex starts where Tempest left off, with Jackson trying to put things right and get on with his life without Holly and Adam. In order to achieve this, he joins the Tempest program, a part of the CIA. I really enjoyed the setting of Jackson being a part of Tempest as it is what made this book exciting. Tempest takes Jackson all over the world in his training and it also introduces some great new characters. Kendrick and Stewart, two female members of Tempest get quite large roles in Vortex and although they're both really different, I loved them both.

With everything that is going on, Jackson himself changes as a character. Unlike the loveable guy we got to know and love in Tempest, he changes quite dramatically at times. With being a part of Tempest and going through a gruelling training scheme, he becomes a bit harder, a bit more guarded and also more determined to make things right. Jackson constantly beats himself up for what happened to Holly before and what he probably could have done to prevent it. Although Jackson does change as a character, I liked this. I think these changes made him a stronger person and also someone who thought things through a bit better.

Unfortunately, when it came to the actual time travel stuff, I just ended up being really confused. Julie Cross uses so much technical terminology and goes into deep and intricate descriptions of how time travel works and I just didn't get it. Even though Jackson attempts to explain this in a simple way early on, it just made my head hurt. There are full jumps, half jumps, jumps that end up in different worlds - basically too much information in a short space of time that doesn't make much sense. I really liked the time travel aspect in the first book, Tempest, but I feel like in this one it was overcomplicated for no reason.

The setting of Vortex provides a hell of a lot of excitement. With a fast pace, Vortex doesn't stop very much for you to catch your breath. There is always something quite big going on and there were plenty of times that I was shocked and just didn't know where the story would go next. There are so many twists and turns in this book and I sometimes didn't know if I was coming or going. However, as this is such a big book, it would have ended up being quite boring without all of these things going on.

Vortex was a really mixed book for me. While I liked the excitement of the story, the time travel aspects were far too confusing.

First thing's first, Tempest was an awesome debut. Most people I know loved it when they read it last year. I was nervous about how Vortex would hold up, because the possibilities for what could have happened were basically endless, considering the main character can travel through time and there are a bunch of people chasing after him.

I'm happy to announce that Vortex was just as good as Tempest. It was fast paced, and held my attention all the way through. There wasn't one boring moment, which is excellent considering that this is a big book (my copy is ~430 pages).

In Vortex we got to know a little more about the time travelling stuff. Honestly, I found myself reading over the explanations a couple of times. I wish I had read the book more slowly to give all the new information time to sink in before continuing. But instead I read this in just two days because I simply could not put it down.

I loved reading about Jackson as he trained with the Tempest group. Jackson is one of my favourite male protagonists, since he's just so intelligent, brave, strong, etc. He met a couple of new characters who I LOVE, and also became closer to a couple of others. My favourite new character has to be Lily Kendrick, who becomes Jackson's partner in the CIA.

In addition to the new characters, we also got to see more of Holly. I'm not usually one for cheesy romances, but Jackson had me tearing up when it came to his love for her. It's just so... timeless. Was that cheesy? It totally was. Holly and Jackson have turned me into a cheesy romantic. Oh gawd.

The ending was amazing. I knew something like that was going to go down, but I didn't know exactly what. It was so exciting! Lots of fighting, lots of running around, and lots of time travel! There's also a kind-of cliffhanger. I say kind of, because it's pretty obvious that Jackson isn't going to die, but it was still distressing!

I can't wait to read the third book to see where all this leads up to. How are they going to get out of the situation they're in right now? And what are they going to do about Eyewall? What's happened to various other characters? What's gonna happen with the timelines? It's all too much to think about. The fact that Julie Cross managed to pack all of this stuff into one book is unbelievable. I guess that is why there were no boring moments!

I do recommend rereading Tempest - or at least reading an in-depth summary of the novel - before reading Vortex. There are just so many mind-blowing things that happen, it was difficult to keep track of them in your head. Once Jackson thinks he knows what's going on with his time travelling abilities, something else pops up and knocks everyone for six.

Jackson Meyer has thrown himself into being an agent for Tempest. While still struggling with a broken heart, Jackson proves himself to be a brilliant agent. But all the training in the world can't prepare Jackson for when Holly reenters his life. Holly, the girl who altered history to save.

Vortex starts shortly after Tempest ends. With the loss of Holly still very raw for Jackson, he throws himself into his training. Jackson must prove himself not only to his instructors, but to many of his other classmates, a lot of whom have seen him in his pre time travel days living it up as an Upper East Side party boy.

Vortex was a lot more complex than the first book in this series. We have a lot of jumps and more questions than answers. In this book we get more of a scientific explanation of time travel, and why certain EOT's and Jackson have different jumps. For this reason, I found I could only read Vortex when I was feeling sharp. No distractions. You will lose yourself in this book like never before and the world around you will be totally shut out.

The Jackson we see in this book is a lot harder than Tempest Jackson. Because of his training he bulks up and because of Holly, he has extra thick, bomb-proof walls up. I adore Jackson. He's the kind of guy who takes everything on his shoulders and expects so much of himself. The guy who thinks he has to save everyone and figure out everything else.

And, can I just say, I love the girl power in this book! Stewart and Kendrick, two completely different women, two totally kickass agents. Stewart is this bilingual chameleon than can work any situation to her advantage. Kendrick is super smart with a softer side, who is determined to work for Tempest and have her home life too. She grounds Jackson and reminds him the world isn't the hard place he makes for himself.

Vortex is full of action and suspense. It is utterly heartbreaking and tragic. Really, it is everything. It steals you away to another world (or two) and makes you believe it is possible for people to appear right in front of you from the future. And with an ending like that? Safe to say, I need the third instalment like yesterday.