Book Review: Vortex

Title: Vortex.
Author: Julie Cross.
Format: Audio Book.
Series: Yes, #2.
Source: Publisher.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press.
Published Date: 1/15/13
Summary:

"Jackson Meyer has thrown himself into his role as an agent for Tempest, the shadowy division of the CIA that handles all time-travel-related threats. Despite his heartbreak at losing the love of his life, Jackson has proved himself to be an excellent agent. However, after an accidental run in with Holly—the girl he altered history to save—Jackson is once again reminded of what he's lost. And when Eyewall, an opposing division of the CIA, emerges, Jackson and his fellow agents not only find themselves under attack, but Jackson begins to discover that the world around him has changed and someone knows about his erased relationship with Holly, putting both their lives at risk all over again."

Links:
Goodreads.
Barnes and Nobles

My Thoughts:

First off, let me start by saying I loved Tempest and I couldn't wait to read the second installment before I was even done with the first one! Yes, there was a lot of information dumped on the reader in Tempest, and it was difficult at times to keep up with everything, but overall I really enjoyed the story, the characters and especially the ending. With all that said, I knew I HAD to get my hands on Vortex.

When reading books in series, my biggest fear is 'middle book syndrome'; a disease that is caused by being a stepping stone book which only leads or builds up to the next segment. At the beginning of Vortex I was feeling a little bit of that 'middle book syndrome' vibe, but only a few chapters later Cross took that vibe and threw it out the window, with her amazing character development, action packed story, and intense cliff hanger ending!

As I said before Tempest was filled with tons of information, and a lot of the times it was hard to take in and remember all of the details. Vortex was the same way, but Julie spread the information out a bit more, instead of just throwing loads at us. With that said, I usually enjoy giving you guys my quick summary on the story, but I feel scared to do that with Vortex. There is so much to know about this world Cross creates, that my summary probably wouldn't make sense to people who haven't read it themselves, and I don't want to give to much away...to make that summary make sense...does that make sense??

I would rather talk about my thoughts on the story, instead of the story itself (:

Vortex introduces many new characters, especially two female spy characters, Kendrick and Stuart! They really added a bit of comedy to the story, and total awesome girl butt kicking! Vortex also has some serious character development, which I couldn't get enough of! Jackson isn't the same boy I came to love in the first book; he showed his tremendous amount of love for Holly, his need for his sister, and that he could take care of himself by becoming an agent. We see a whole different Holly in Vortex then we did in Tempest, but she, in some ways, is still the Holly I enjoyed reading about and that Jackson fell in love with. Sadly we don't get to hear much from Jackson's best friend Adam in this second installment, because I really liked him in the first!

Overall I LOVED Vortex, just as much as I had Tempest! The characters were amazing in both, and the reader got to learn more about each one and see different sides of them. Also many new and interesting characters were added to the story. Again there was a bit of information over load in Vortex, as there was in Tempest, except I felt that Cross did a good job spreading it all out, instead of having constant information dumping! The ending was like nothing I excepted it to be, and left off with a cliffhanger, which is now what's forcing me to get the third book, once it comes out.

I recommend Vortex to anyone who enjoyed Tempest, or who was on the fence about it; its still a bit confusing with everything you need to know about time traveling and the different worlds, but Vortex was much simpler that Tempest was!