A review by michalice
Tempestuous by Kim Askew, Amy Helmes

4.0

I was contacted by the authors to review both Tempestuous and Exposure.  While I had not hear of either of these authors, or even the books, when I looked into them more I accepted and quickly made a start on them.  Tempestuous is a modern day spin on The Tempest by William Shakespeare, and while we had to read Shakespeare's work in school, I am in now way a fan of his work, and while Tempestuous sounded interesting  I was wary about reading it.

The minute I began reading I was instantly intrigued and wanted to know how a girl and boy end up hand cuffed together. I soon found myself engrossed in Miranda's story and learning about her fall from grace, from the top of the popularity ladder, right down to the bottom rung.  This leads to her having to find a job, which is working at a hot dog stand and having to wear a ridiculous hat, leaving her at ridicule from her ex-friends and most popular girls in school.  While Miranda may not have the best job, or the best head gear, her co-worker is one I instantly liked.  Ariel is quirky and is often in her own little world, but she makes for great comedic responses to whoever she speaks too.

As Tempestuous progresses we soon find out the reasons for Miranda being handcuffed to Caleb, and I loved the build up between this duo.  From the minute they meet they are at each others throats, and as the situation gets worse and they find themselves trapped in the Mall it led to more conflicts between them.

"Well, excuse me for having a perfectly natural freak-out response to all this. Unlike you, I do not have the emotional detachment of a cyborg".
[Miranda, kindle location 1655 ]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tempestuous, and even though I probably wouldn't have the nerve to do this myself, I loved the pranks Miranda plays to get back at the popular group and I often found myself laughing out loud at them.  After finishing Tempestuous I was extremely happy to know I had the second book in this series to read.  Kim and Amy have done a great job at modernising Shakespeare's work, and while I still can't see myself willingly picking up a book of his, I enjoyed reading this alternate version.