Review: Tempest by Holly Hook

Tempest by Holly Hook
Published: September 2010
Available: Amazon


Blurb:


Sixteen-year-old Janelle never thought the gray spiral birthmark on her arm meant anything special. That is, until she meets Gary, a boy her age with a birthmark exactly like hers. Gary’s attractive, brooding, and perfectly normal…except for the fact that he materialized out of a dangerous hurricane right in front of her. Janelle’s certain of only one thing. Gary’s mark—and hers, too—mean something, but he’s reluctant to tell her what.


At last she squeezes the truth from Gary about their markings. And the truth is utterly terrifying: Janelle and Gary are more connected to the destructive power of nature than she ever dreamed possible. And learning the truth about herself is only the start of her nightmare.

Review:

I really loved this concept. The idea of hurricanes as people was really interesting and I think that it's an original idea in a market flooded with vampires, angels, and witches. The action gets going right away and there's very little down time in it. It really felt like a fast read and that was a nice change after some of the other books I've read lately.

The characters were interesting and I really liked that there was no love triangle. The only issue I did have was with Janelle's voice. It was hard to believe she was sixteen, especially during the first half of the book. She definitely felt much younger and I had to go back to the book blurb to see just how old she was. This does seem to clear up later in the book.

The last third of the book moves very fast and I think it could have been fleshed out a bit more, slowing things down just to get more time for an emotional reaction. Then again that would have taken away some of the urgency. I think this is a pretty solid start to the series, and the resolution in this book definitely leads to another book, while not being frustrating by leaving the reader hanging.