Reviews

Sturz in die Zeit by Julie Cross

nalani_maria's review against another edition

5.0

Words cannot even express how much I enjoyed this book. I absolutely loved Jackson, who is the time traveling main character, and Holly, his girlfriend. I really think that this book can go far because there is really noting else like it. The premise of Tempest is so different from all the other things out there, like all of the vampire stories that are 'popular', that it was refreshing and new. I can't wait until the second book comes out, and see what happens next, especially after the semi-cliff hanger that I was left with. All in all, the cover was beautiful, the writing well done, and basis was amazing. A+ to Julie Cross!

brendaclay's review against another edition

5.0

Jackson Meyer can travel through time. Only his best friend Adam knows about his recently developed talent, and they've been experimenting to test his limits. But when a stranger bursts into his dorm room and fatally shoots his girlfriend Holly, Jackson freaks out and finds himself two years in the past. Stuck in 2007, he starts with two objectives: find and protect Holly, and find Adam and enlist his help. But the more he learns about his abilities, his always-mysterious father, his family history, and what the CIA has to do with it all, he realizes he's falling down a deeper rabbit hole than he ever could have imagined. This book was more than I expected, too. Consider me hooked!

bungleboo's review against another edition

3.0

First reviewed over at http://themidnightreaders.blogspot.com/

First Line:~ My name is Jackson and I can travel through time.

Last Line:~ I have no regrets.

Favourite Quote:~ And I could see it, a clear picture in my mind: her knuckles white, fingers gripping around a rock, and then the instant relief of letting go. Free falling, feeling nothing but air, no weight. No pain.

WOW! What to say about this book!?! I was so torn about how I felt! I loved how the book started, it got right to the point about who our main guy Jackson, was and the fact that he could time-travel. And with this time-travel comes a relative fast-pace story that could leave some readers feeling confused. I was glad of the journal entries Jackson made as I was able to keep up with what year he was in and what date he was on. But for me there were still some unanswered questions about his time-travelling.

I think it's not until the end of the story that you actually appreciate this book! Cross is able to slowly build a world in the readers mind giving them just enough information to keep them reading to find out what happens next. As Jackson's past unravels I was reading faster and faster to see what he would find out next about himself and his father's secret life.

I loved Jackson as a character, I found him easy to relate to and easy to care for. As the story concentrates mostly on Jackson some of the secondary characters are not as well developed but I think this will come over the next book. I did like Adam, Jackson's friend and time-travelling theorist and Holly, Jackson's girlfriend was like able. I warmed more and more to Jackson's dad and I hope to read more about him.

Although the book is fast-paced because of the time travelling, sometimes I was wanting more to happen and boy did I get it with the last 90 pages or so. This is where the story really picked up and I can't believe how Cross left the story!!! Who is that little red head? Where did she come from? Who are the goodies and who are the baddies? What is going to happen? Will Jackson make the right choice? This last part of the story were some of the best page I've read and part of me wishes the whole book had me as gripped as much as those 90 pages did!

3.5 out of 5 stars because Cross knows how to build a story in a readers mind giving them enough to just keep them hanging on. And if you can get your mind around the time travelling this book is worth the read. I think this is a series that's only going to get better!!

nika_nix's review against another edition

5.0

I don't see why people don't like this book. Seriously. I have no idea. I really enjoyed it, if I had time, I'd probably read it in one sitting. It was really good! I had totally different expactations and I was pleasantly surprised. The plotline was interesting, action-packed, intense and I just kept turning pages because I had to find out what happens next. Okay, the characters were maybe a bit dull, but I managed to connect with them anyway and I actually liked them. I didn't even try to figure out what will happen at the end because I knew it I would probably fail. I was completely ready for this book to surprise me. And it did. Writing style was very simple and easy to read, I flew through this book. Okay, sometimes stuff happened too fast and I found myself a bit confused and sometimes I had a feeling like I was reading about one scene and the second later something else was happening and we just jumped right into that. But I don't find that necessarily a bad thing, because, as I said, this book was really fast paced and a lot of stuff happened in these four hundred pages. Seriously, A LOT. Also, while I was reading this book, it kind of reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye. I know, the plot is totally different and the main characters are different, but the feel and the atmosphere are kind of the same. And I liked it. I don't think I have ever read a time travel book before (okay, there were some books where characters went back in time, but there was no book where time travel was the main plot) so this was pretty new for me. It was very refreshing to read something new and different. Another thing, isn't this cover nice? Yes, these people do make it a bit cheesy, but I really like the background.
I would definitely recommend this book and I will definitely continue with this trilogy, I just don't know when, since I have so many book to read, but I will, once!

SPOILER PART – if you haven’t read the book yet, I recommend not to read any further, go and read the book and then come back.

As I already said, I love the idea of time travel and I've never read a book about that before. In my opinion, the whole time travel thing was done very well, everything was expalined from scientific side. I wish this all was true, I'd love to be able to go back in time. I liked the idea of jumps and half-jumps and the effect they had on Jackson and the rest of the world. Also, all these experiments Jackson and Adam did were pretty cool and they made a lot of sence, which was a big plus.

I found myself really liking Jackson. He was amazing protagonist and I found it easy to connect with him. I loved how he was ready to do anything for Holl, the girl he loved and it was very nice to see how she made him feel, both 007 and 009 Holly. He was funny and I loved that about him a lot. Also, I love his relationship with his sister, but he totally won my heart when we got to read the letter he wrote to her. It was just so beautiful! He's a really interesting character, but I liked him the most because he was not perfect. He did some stupid things throughout the book and he was reckless and impulsive almost all the time. Also he was very lost, especially at the beginning when time traveling still confused him a lot. But he definitely managed to get under my skin and I liked him. Very much.
I didn't really manage to connect with Holly. I have to admit, I liked 007 Holly more that 009 Holly because I found 009 Holly pretty boring. Maybe it's because the book is written from Jackson's POV, and maybe not, but I think she was portrayed too perfect and without any flaws. 007 Holly was much more interesting to read about and I liked the younger version of Holly, especially when Jackson was hitting on her, but 009 Holly was there only as a love interest and she was not her own character, in my opinion. But still, I liked her relationship with Jackson.
Adam was awesome sidekick character and I love him. The way he was trying to help Jackson as much as he could, any version of him, actually, just proved how good friend he is (or maybe even how crazy he is, but that's not the point). What impressed me the most about him (except his ingeniousness with codes) was the fact that 007 Adam who never met Jackson before was ready to help him and accepted Jackson's story from the beginning. That was just awesome.
Jackson's dad, Kevin, was a very confusing character. I hated him the one moment and loved the other. I never knew should I trust him or not, but closer we got to the end, more I trusted him. And I'm glad he didn't disappoint me at the end. I actually felt very sorry for him when I found out his story.
I'm not very sure should I even talk about Courtney as a character as well, since she was dead throughout the whole book, but I consider her the character in the book just like any other because I believe she played a vary important role in this book. I love her and Jackson's relationship and their talks when he went back in time were so nice but also so sad at the same time. I loved it how she believed his story immediately and she even tried to help him (she bought him a coat!). I was expecting her to miraculously be alive and just to show up from nowhere, but that never happened, unfortunately, It's really weird that I got so connected to her, but I did.Also, it was not cool when we got the scene where she died!
These Enemies of Time people are pretty cool and I actually liked them. They are really badass! But I didn't like Tempest people (except Kevin) at all and I constantly felt like they are hiding something big. I still feel that way. I do not trust them.
I am curious about that Emily girl. It seems like she will play an important role in the next book, but I have no idea how.

Can we just talk about that ending for a moment? First, I want to say how much I like the last sentence. I think it's so amazing and it's a perfect ending of a book. So good! But everything else that happened before that last sentence just sucks. Okay, I kind of like it, but it sucks anyway. I definitely wasn't expecting Jackson to go back in time and change the day when he and Holly met! That is so not okay. I hate it! Authors, stop sinking my ships! Still, I do think it's a good conclusion and I think he did the right thing by letting her go so she can be safe, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it, right? Because I don't!

justcrystalxo's review against another edition

5.0

i really enjoyed this book. it kept me interested. i couldnt wait to figure out how things would turn out next. it reminded me alot of the movie jumper. im interested in reading the rest of the trilogy in the future and seeing the movies as well. thank you to st. martin's press for sending me an advanced readers' copy.

artyemis's review against another edition

5.0

E ho sentito, senza ombra di dubbio, di aver finalmente fatto una cosa giusta.


Grazie a chi mi ha consigliato questo libro perché probabilmente non lo avrei mai letto di mio visto il mio rapporto contrastante con gli young adult (c'è sempre qualcosa che non mi piace e la copertina era fuorviante a dirla tutta) e invece questo libro mi è decisamente piaciuto molto.
Cosa numero uno, il protagonista. Sarò solo io forse ma sono contenta che sia un ragazzo e non una ragazza. Si perché le protagoniste degli young adult tendono a diventare tutte Mary Sue e le loro storie sono per il 90% incentrate sulla loro relazione con il loro fidanzato piuttosto che nella storia vera e propria del libro. Jackson invece non è un personaggio banale, ha delle uscite divertenti è una persona credibile (escludendo i super poteri derivati dai salti del tempo, quelli non hanno niente di normale ovviamente ma almeno non li sfodera ogni cinque minuti per far impressionare la belloccia di turno) e la sua storia è focalizzata nei viaggi nel tempo non sul suo amore per Holly. Non ho trovato particolarmente noiosa la sua storia d'amore con Holly in realtà, immaginavo che alla fine sarebbe tornato indietro per spezzare ogni rapporto con lei in modo da non metterla in pericolo nel futuro solo che Holly come personaggio è davvero sciapina. E' intelligente, la migliore atleta della sua squadra ma non abbastanza ricca da poter gareggiare, il suo rapporto nel 2009 con Jackson è solo sesso e lo dice anche Adam. Lei cerca (ed è lei stessa ad ammetterlo) il principe azzurro, un ragazzo perfetto insomma e se anche se dice di "accontentarsi" con Jackson (cosa brutta da dire al proprio fidanzato a proposito) in realtà gli fa pesare ogni errore, arrabbiandosi con lui ogni volta che lui non fa il passo perfetto che lei si aspettava. Tornato dopo il salto nel 2007 Jackson dice addirittura che Holly gli sembra diversa, che si stava "contenendo" e nascondendo la sua vera sè stessa per non far "fuggire" Jackson.
.. come? si lamenta con Jackson perchè intuisce che lui le sta nascondendo qualcosa ma poi lei è la prima a nascondere qualcosa ed adattare sè stessa in modo da piacere al proprio ragazzo? Ok Holly, decisamente non sei un personaggio che mi piace.
I pezzi con Courtney erano molto toccanti, avevo subito immaginato che i problemi al cervello fossero dovuti al gene dei viaggi nel tempo e all'inizio avevo creduto che la bambina con i capelli rossi (Emily) fosse veramente Courtney che spostava la sua casa base nel futuro per aiutare/vedere ancora Jackson. Poi alla fine sono arrivata anche a speculare fosse la figlia di Jackson nel futuro che torna indietro per aiutare la versione giovane del padre, ma sarebbe stato troppo banale (anche se in un certo senso è così diciamo).
Adam mi è piaciuto molto, peccato che abbia così poco spazio nel libro. Mi dispiace anche che Holly abbia potuto fare un salto con Jackson mentre Adam, che è interessato ai viaggi nel tempo da sempre, non abbia potuto e visto il rischio che corre una persona normale nel fare un salto direi che non lo farà mai. Spero che sia più approfondito nei prossimi libri (che non vedo l'ora di leggere a proposito), perché secondo me come personaggio aveva molte potenzialità ma non è stato approfondito abbastanza.
Il personaggio che mi è piaciuto di più, Jackson escluso (che novità, di solito non sopporto i protagonisti XD), è stato il padre. Diciamo che ho dubitato di lui solo appena all'inizio poi gli ho sempre dato fiducia quindi sono contenta che almeno in questo libro si sia rivelato essere dalla parte dei "buoni" (ammesso che esistano davvero dei buoni).
Insomma, dov'è il seguito?

jnlletrry's review against another edition

Idk how I felt about this book ... It was intriguing, full of mystery and adventure, leaving me with more and more questions as I kept reading, but as I got further into the book, I didn't feel like my questions were completely answered ...
The book was a very interesting new sci-fi read for me with Jackson being a new kind of time traveler, but when I finished the book last night, I laid in my bed and contemplated what I'd just read ...
It wasn't a bad read, but Idk if I'd recommend it. But I wouldn't say it was the worst book I've ever read. There were parts that made me laugh and the bits about Courtney brought tears to my eyes ...

sunnydee's review

4.0

4 von 5 Sternen
*Inhalt:*
Jackson hat ein großes Geheimnis. Nur Adam, sein bester Freund, weiß davon. Er kann durch die Zeit reisen, zumindest in die Vergangenheit, aber so richtig unter Kontrolle hat er das ganze nicht. Aber er ist nicht der Einzige der Geheimnisse hat, auch Jacksons Vater verhält sich sehr merkwürdig. Bald gerät Jackson in große Gefahr und seine Fähigkeit läuft aus dem Ruder. Jackson weiß plötzlich nicht mehr wem er trauen kann und wem nicht.

*Wie kam das Buch zu mir*
Eigentlich interessieren mich Zeitreiseromane nicht sonderlich, aber die Meinungen gingen hier so stark auseinander, dass ich es doch schon wieder interessant fand. Dann gab es die Hörbuchaktion bei Amazon und ich habe mir das ungekürzte Hörbuch für 6,99 € zugelegt.

*Aufmachung/Qualität*
Die MP3 CD befindet sich in einer Papphülle.

*Meinung:*
Die Grundhandlung war recht interessant, aber gerade der Anfang zog sich wie Gummi. Noch dazu kam, dass die Handlung über das ganze Buch hinweg eher verwirrend war. Trotzdem fand ich das ganze ab etwa dem zweiten Drittel wirklich gut. Die Zeitsprünge und wie Jackson auf die Personen dort regierte waren sehr interessant und man war immer auf Jacksons aktuellem Wissensstand. Man erprobte sozusagen mit ihm zusammen seine Fähigkeiten. Durch das wachsende Misstrauen von Jackson gegenüber fast allen Leuten in seiner Umgebung wurde die Handlung sehr spannend. Der Leser selbst gerät dann auch das ein oder andere Mal ins Grübeln. Auch die Actionszenen konnten mich voll überzeugen. Leider hatte ich aber auch das Gefühl, dass zu viele Informationen in diesen ersten Band gepackt wurden. Es gab jede Menge Dinge, die mir selbst nach Beenden des Buches unklar sind. Man hat das Gefühl der Autor hat hier eine ganz exakte, sehr ausgeprägte Vorstellung von seiner Geschichte, aber findet nicht das richtige Maß um dies an den Leser weiterzugeben.

Der Sprecher, Matthias Koeberlin, gefiel mir ausgesprochen gut. Allerdings wurden oft Gedanken der Hauptperson wiedergegeben, was man nicht heraushören konnte. Dies führte dann zu Verwirrung, weil in den Momenten ja niemand darauf reagierte.

Der absolute Pluspunkt dieses Romans ist der extrem sympathische Hauptcharakter. Ich war ja anfangs überhaupt nicht begeistert vom Buch und hätte es am liebsten abgebrochen, aber Jackson hat mich einfach gefesselt. Er ist ein wirklich netter Typ, aber trotzdem alles andere als perfekt. Er wirkte unheimlich authentisch. Die Nebencharaktere verblassen neben ihm völlig, aber auch das Zeitspringen macht eine Bindung an andere Charaktere schwer. Das glich Jackson aber voll und ganz aus.

Die Liebe spielt hier durchaus ein Rolle, aber eher nebensächlich. Trotzdem fand ich die Beziehung sehr authentisch. Es war mal angenehm über eine Beziehung zu lesen, die bereits am Anfang des Buches bestand und nicht erst aufgebaut werden musste. Das Zeitreisen sorgt in der Beziehung natürlich noch einmal für einen ganz besonderen Kick, aber das lest bitte selbst.

Das Ende war leider nicht nach meinem Geschmack, aber dafür gibt es keinen Abzug, da es wirklich nur meine ganz persönliche Vorstellung von Enden ist. Rein schriftstellerisch war es sehr gut gemacht. Es gibt für mich jede Menge offener Fragen, die glaube ich gar nicht offen sein sollen. Zumindest habe ich das Gefühl eher etwas verpasst oder nicht verstanden zu haben, als dass es ein stilistischer Mittel des Autors war. Ich werde auf jeden Fall Band 2 lesen, wenn er im August erscheint.


Grundidee 4/5
Sprecher 4,5/5
Emotionen 4/5
Spannung 4/5
Charaktere 5/5
Liebesgeschichte 4/5


*Fazit:*
4 von 5 Sternen
Dieses Buch hat einen sehr, sehr zähen und für mich langweiligen Anfang. Ab dem zweiten Drittel hat es mich dann aber total gepackt. Ich fand es ab dann spannend und fieberte mit Jackson mit. Ich war genauso misstrauisch wie er und genauso verwirrt. Der absolut sympathische Hauptcharakter macht dieses Buch zu etwas besonderem. Leider blieben für mich viele Fragen offen und ich hoffe, dass diese im zweiten Teil im August beantwortet werden.

Reihe:
Sturz in die Zeit
Feinde der Zeit (erscheint im August 2013)

melfurious's review against another edition

4.0

Good concept and easy to follow. Heart breaking ending though!

isxelle's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0