Tempest by Holly A. Hook

The first thing I noticed when I started reading Tempest was the unusual formatting. No paragraph was indented, with a double space in between each paragraph. I wondered if it would interfere with my enjoyment of the book. A few pages into it, I didn’t even notice the formatting any longer. Always the sign of a good book.

Tempest is about a teenage girl who discovers she has unusual powers relating to hurricanes, and also an unusual family history and purpose. The characters are well defined. We see everyone from the eyes of the main character Janelle. There is no viewpoint jumping.

In most books I read, there are always just little sections I skip, mostly long descriptions. Once I get the idea of how the author is trying to describe something, I will sometimes jump words ahead. That didn’t happen with this book, I read every word. Everything is well done from the dialogue to the descriptions. There were no long winded descriptions of a plant in the corner that was ultimately meaningless to the scene (I used to be guilty of this). I read the book in a matter of days, a record for me, which is a compliment.

Strengths:

• Tight, efficient writing.
• Very imaginative. I write a lot of stories about people with powers, and this is something I would never think of.
• Fast paced. Can’t think of a single lull.

Weaknesses:

• There were times I wanted to reach into the page and slap the main character Janelle.
• I thought the relationship/blossoming friendship between Janelle and Gary was undeveloped (at the same time, the lack of a central romance might be seen as a positive).
• Some people might have issues with the formatting. I did at first, but the story makes you forget that. That might not be the case for others.