Review: Tempest

Tempest by Holly Hook

Series: Destroyers # 1

Also by author: Rita Morse and the Sinister Shadow

Official Website

Description: Life blows for sixteen-year-old Janelle. Ever since moving to Florida, she’s been accidentally breaking people’s arms just by touching them and yanking steel doors off their hinges. Then her new crush, Gary, sees her gray spiral birthmark and tells her she’s a Tempest, able to turn into a hurricane by touching the ocean. Like him. So that’s why she feels ready to explode when she’s at the beach. 

As if that’s not lousy enough, all Tempests have to become storms once in their lives. It’s their law…and it’s Janelle’s turn.

No way in hell is Janelle going to kill people, even by accident. So she does what any sane person would do—she runs away from home.

But it’s not long before the Tempest leader discovers and abducts her. Janelle’s told that she’s destined to become the worst hurricane ever. And now she’s the main weapon in the Tempest leader’s plot to hold the world ransom. No way can Janelle live with herself if she kills thousands. But using the power she fears most might be the only way out. 

Review:  When the story opens up, we find Janelle in the midst of Hurricane Gary. Her father is surprisingly calm, even though police have advised citizens to relocate to a safe shelter. Their town is falling apart, but Janelle and her father, Lucas, are just hanging out in their home. At first I thought, Wow, Janelle's father is a PHYSCO what is he doing? But then, we are introduced to the world of Tempests. A Tempest is a human being that can turn into a hurricane when they touch the water. They all have a spiral birthmark, and then Janelle sees this boy 'pop' out of the hurricane, and HE has a birthmark just like hers! It's all just a craaazzzzy coincidence.

So she visits this boy in the hospital and guess what his name is. GARY! As in, Hurricane Gary. As in, he was the hurricane. Then we're introduced to Andrina, who is Gary's guardian. She wants Janelle, and then it's just a big whirlwind (no pun intended) of action, angst, and boats.

Although I enjoyed Tempest, there were a few things that I did not like. Lucas treated Janelle like a baby for half the novel. Like, she would ask him questions about the birthmarks and such, and he'd be like, "Not now, Janelle." Or just ignore her. Now, this girl has a lot going on. Her hormones are raging because of Gary, and then there's that little hurricane thing. Give her some credit, man. Give her some answers. Oh, and I'd like to point out that her father was going to just throw her in the water and let her deal with it then. Not even explain it to her. I'd be more pissed about that than anything else.

And then there's Janelle. The problem I had with her was that she was really stubborn, and babyish at times. For instance, when Gary explained to her about the Tempests, she didn't want to talk to her father, isntead decided to run away. Maybe being a hurricane isn't such a bad thing. Her father even explains to her that it's a good experiance and it's quick and easy. If she didn't run away like a little baby, she'd understand it and she wouldn't have gone through all the trouble with Andrina. All I could think was, If you just listened to your father, and not jumped to conclusions, your life wouldn't be in danger right now. 

I really liked that Holly didn't rush the relationship between Gary and Janelle. He comforted her throughout the book, but I hope we get to learn a little more about him in the sequel, Inferno. There are enough twists and turns to keep your interested. I was shocked at the ending, but nonetheless happy for her. Holly Hook will definitely be on my reading list in the future. 

"Never before had she felt so free. So able to leave behind all the crap of her other life."

-Tempest, Holly Hook