Timestorm by Julie Cross Review

"The battle between the Tempest division and Eyewall comes to a shocking conclusion in this final installment of the Tempest trilogy, where the need for survival stretches the boundaries of history, both past and future, and the world Jackson once knew is a place forever marked by the detrimental effects of time travel.

As Jackson recovers from his brush with death, he’s surrounded not only by the people he loves most—his dad, Courtney, and Holly—he’s also amongst a few of the original time travelers. As he learns more about their life and how this world began, it becomes apparent that they need to put a stop to Thomas and Doctor Ludwig’s experimenting at Eyewall Headquarters. What starts out as an escape plan becomes a war between time and humanity, between freewill and peace. It’s the battle Jackson was born to fight and he’s not about to back down. Not for anything. Not for anyone."

This series (trilogy, really) started off great. The first book was good that I came back to the library to finish (after being forced to abandon it at pg.152). Then there is the second book. It was good enough for me to read the third. Now the question is "Do I like the third book?"

Well, I think that question will be answered by the end of this review.

First of all, I congrat Julie Cross for completing this series (trilogy, really) after so long (three or less years, to be truthful, but it is probably forever for Cross). Jackson Meyer and Tempest division's hidden secrets are all secretive and complicated creations. That goes the same for most books and characters. (There is tons of examples. Harry Potter, Grave Mercy, Cinder, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, etc).

Jackson Meyer's life was torn apart in the previous two books and the events before those books. Courtney, his sister, died before the beginning of the first book. Jackson's mother remained out of the picture for almost all of the pages other than a few mentions here and there, because she is gone. In the first book, Jackson discovered time traveling and its unfortunate consequences (CIA and Eyewall are only part of it). Then in the second book, it turns out that Jackson screwed everything up, so...Timestorm is practically guaranteed to be interesting and an entertaining story for most readers, right?

As we followed the plot, Jackson (I keep thinking Andrew Jackson, US President) learns several lessons about self-sacrifice, sacrifice (kind of a repeat), letting things free, and how far a mother's love would go. I know. I know. It sounds so cheesy.

Let's talk about Holly. One of the most confusing aspects about time traveling books (along with dimensional-traveling and other variations) is the number of different personalities/versions. Timestorm is no exception to that problem. Period. (I'll admit that I liked Agent Holly Flynn out of all the different versions of her).

Then there is the writing, plot and story. One thing I'll say is how bored I was throughout the entire time I was reading this book. Something about Timestorm is missing. It was there in Tempest. It was definitely there in Vortex. It isn't there in Timestorm.

Overall, I think Timestorm ended poorly compared to the rest of the trilogy. (That is low marks for sure). So what now? Everything goes back to where it once were (other than Holly's death)? That is a crappy ending.

Rating: Two out of Five (Boredom)