Name: Hourglass
Rating: 3.825 (40 reviews)
ISBN: 9781606841440

Myra McEntire

Seventeen-year-old Emerson uses her power to manipulate time to help Michael, a consultant hired by her brother, to prevent a murder that happened six months ago while simultaneously navigating their undeniable attraction to one another.

Hourglass

Colleen

Ok, I will admit that I added this book because I liked the cover. The synopsis of seeing ghosts and time travel was intriguing, so I picked it up. 

The plot kicks in right away and is non-stop from there. The story line is very fast paced without any dull spots. I had no problem reading it in a couple of days (which, incidentally is about the span of time that the story covers).

My biggest annoyance with this book was the lingo they used. The "Ghosts" that Emerson sees are called "time ripples" or "rips" for short. The book was filled with sentences like, "When I first started seeing rips," and, "I tried to ignore the rips in the room." It made me want to face-palm and say, "Don't you know how ridiculous you sound?!" Every time I was really getting into the story, they would start talking about rips again, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. The rest of the time travel discussion sounded like it was derived from a quick Google search. There was nothing outrageously wrong, but it seemed like the few scientific words were just thrown in there for validation. I was tempted to excuse it due to just being a YA book, but then I thought of books like A Wrinkle in Time that prove that a YA sci-fi book doesn't have to settle for watered down science.

I was not wild about the main character Emerson either. When I read a great character, I can't help but want to be friends with them or at the very least feel like they would be interesting to have a conversation with. But Emerson irked me. I understand her dark past, but overall she is narcissistic, gymorexic, angst-filled, and self medicating (or rather, not medicating). She manipulates and lies to her brother and her best friend throughout the book. The author's attempts to make her bad-ass fell short. Mainly foiled by the fact that she somehow managed to reach black belt level in Karate over a ridiculously short period of time during which she was supposedly so medicated that she barely remembered her own name. I guess I'm too much of a stickler for authenticity even in fiction. Luckily the book focused on the plot more than character development, so overall it was a quick, entertaining read with a few annoyances. I haven't decided yet whether or not I will read the rest of the series.

Meghan M

I really loved the book. The concept was amazing and the writing was beautiful.

Alexandra Mellas

Read More at Raiding Bookshelves

In McEntire's debut novel Hourglass time isn't as straight forward as it has always seemed, especially not to Emerson Cole who can see what we can't: the ghosts time lost. When Emerson meets Michael Weaver she is introduced to a world where time no longer has boundaries and Emerson has the power to irrevocably change the world.

What I Liked: Hourglass is a highly imaginative and well framed narratie with complex ideas and characters. There is something very new about the idea that keeps your head in your (e)book, eager to taste the thrilling conclusion.
Emerson is a workable heroine, she has a tragic history, a loving pair of guardians, a reliable and quirky best friend, and eventually a sexy and mysterious romantic interest just beyond our reach. She has the required curiosity and impulsiveness that a good hero needs to ferret out any information being kept from her.
As for the plot itself, it unravels unexpectedly and can leave you close to tears as it navigates the doors of time.
I appreciated a sci-fi read that kept me in the loop without moving into complicated scientific mumbo-jumbo.

What I Didn't Like: This felt like another case of 'meet, greet and go' where our heroine is a stranger to the major players but still agrees to play within 72 hours of meeting them. Even though I appreciated the sparks that flew between Emerson and Michael, it all happened a little too quickly.

The sequel Timepiece is due out June 12, 2012

Lynn Braden

Hourglass is a paranormal thriller by Myra McEntire. Emerson has seen "time rips" in the form of people from the past for the last four years. It started just prior to the death of her parents. Her visions in combination with her deep depression led her brother, Thomas, to have her committed to a mental institution. When Emerson leaves the institution, she tries to establish a somewhat normal life, but her brother continues to try to find people to help with her problem. Most are frauds, but the most recent seems legitimate. Michael Weaver is a consultant with Hourglass, a place for people with the "time gene." Michael tells Emerson that all of the people at Hourglass have that same gene, just as she does. When he tells her that she is capable of traveling through time, she begins to doubt his sanity. There are problems, however, at Hourglass. Its founder has been killed and the man running it now seems to be using the time gene for his own purposes. Michael has a plan to stop him that involves Emerson, who starts to wonder if she is being used.
I really like the premise of this book. My only complaint is that it takes a frustratingly long amount of time for Michael and Emerson to realize that they had to be together even though that realization comes to the reader fairly early in the book. Some of the obstacles put in their way seem artificial. Overall, this is a very interesting book with enough twists, turns, and emotional bombshells that make it very much worth reading.

Hourglass

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