Name: Hourglass
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

Monicap

Things I Liked:
This book was really fun and really quick. Points.

Kaleb. Oh, how I liked Kaleb. This boy is the DEFINITION of Smexy, the Super Major Sexy.

Lily. Lily was a pretty good character as well, and I think we’ll be learning more about her in later installments (as I’m currently reading Timepiece and 50 pages in she’s already playing a bigger role) (view spoiler)[although I did say from the very beginning that she had to have some magic power. Magic power? Science power? Ugh, I’ll talk more about this. (hide spoiler)]

The family dynamic between Emerson, Thomas and Dru. I thought the family dynamic was so true and so well done.

Emerson’s backstory. Emerson’s backstory evoked emotion and gave reason to what was happening.

The connection between Emerson and Kaleb. Because of Emerson’s backstory, she was able to connect with Kaleb really well, and I appreciate that.

Things I Didn’t Like:
The time travel. It made no damn sense. the Novikov Principle? Where the held did you get that? You’re changing the timeline anyway, so just go back in time, save him, and make a whole damn new one! The time travel really, really frustrated me.

The whole thing with Cat. That just really, really, REALLY came out of NOWHERE.
Also, am I the only one who noticed that none of the GUYS on team freak turned out to be secretly evil? It was only the girls.

Michael. I don’t know why. He’s not a bad guy, he’s not a bad character, I just don’t like him. ((KALEB!!!))

Things That I Didn’t Really Feel One Way Or the Other About:
Emerson. I liked her backstory, her connections with the other characters, but just her, on her own? I really don’t feel one way or the other about her. I don’t really care that much about her.

Vicky  Nuñez 

Rating. 3.5

A novel about time traveling. TIME TRAVELING. That was enough to hook me up. Hourglass is one of the most unique YA books out there. I was definitely intrigued by the whole Time powers that were going on through out the novel. 

The reason I didn't loved this book was because with such interesting plot I felt that somewhere around the middle the plot stop revolving about the problem & it became more about the romance. Don't get me wrong, I loved Michael, but there are love triangles & romance in all YA books. But NOT all of them had such an unique story-line. And the romance, in my opinion, was not very different from any other. 

Other than that, Hourglass is definitely original & definitely worth reading.

Manda

I’ve been happily waiting for this book ever since I started stalking Myra McEntire on Twitter. When it came up for review, I snatched it up as fast as I could.

I had a lot of anticipation and excitement built up before I even read this one, and I’ve found in the past that such excitement brings let down. This WAS NOT the case with Hourglass. I was anticipating an amazing book and Myra McEntire delivered!

First off I have to say I was in love with Emerson from page one. I have a thing for strong female leads and I knew right away that Emerson was going to be amazing. The characters kept delighting me as I went on. I love Michael, Lilly and Kaleb too. My favorite for sure was Kaleb. We don’t see a lot of him in the story, but the places where he does show up are amazing. I was completely head over heels with him from first introduction. I actually found myself hoping he’d pop up in other places while I was reading. I loved his moments with Emerson, but I envisioned him with Lilly more. I really hope that there is going to be another book. I definitely felt like there needed to be a storyline of Kaleb and Lilly meeting and falling in love. I expected it to happen the whole time.

I also loved the storyline in Hourglass. I didn’t once feel lost or confused. It definitely was something I hadn’t read before. I loved the many twists that Myra McEntire wrote into this story and I was left surprised and in suspense all the way through the end. I love the idea of The Hourglass and people with abilities. Without giving anything away, I’ll just say you are going to love where this book goes. The plot was just so amazing and enthralling. The Squees were plentiful and overflowing.

I absolutely adored this book, as you can probably tell, and I love this author! Hourglass doesn’t come out till June 14th, but I just COULD NOT wait to put up this review. I’m working on getting an author interview closer to the release date and I’ll happily remind you on the day it comes out. Check this book out! You will not regret it.

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

Jade Flynn

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.

Jessica Nottingham

Someone please pinch me. I'm pretty sure I've died and gone to book heaven and, if Hourglass is what I can look forward to, I'm not coming back! Wow, just wow. I apologize in advance for all the rambling that will ensue. This book is so fantastic, so amazing, that I just cannot seem to express exactly how much I loved it. I'll try though, for you.

First of all, there are the characters. Emerson Cole takes her rightful place among my all time favorite female characters. She's sassy, she's fiery, and the best part is that Emerson isn't taken in by bedroom eyes and vivid smiles. Oh sure, she might notice them. However if you want to be a part of Emerson's life, you'd better be prepared to hold your own on the battleground of wit. The snark that comes out her mouth so naturally cracked me up, and I loved the chemistry between her and the other characters. Then there is Michael. Smooth, put together, and off limits for Emerson. The tension between them just crackles deliciously. Finally, and my favorite, the beautifully broken bad boy, Kaleb. This boy is a mess, but wow does he own it. In this humble reader's opinion, he is the only person who can stand their own next to Miss Emerson Cole.

The Science Fiction portion of Hourglass comes into play in Emerson's unique ability. She can see ripples from the past, and it's not doing her any favors in the normalcy department. I could definitely see that Myra McEntire had done her research on time travel. Everything that is presented is completely plausible, and as a regular reader of Science Fiction I found that amazing. In fact, this whole story is blended together so perfectly, so seamlessly, that I could almost believe I'd be walking down the street and come face to face with Emerson, or any one of her unwanted guests. Truth be told, the web that is woven in Hourglass is one that I wasn't able to pull out of, and I really didn't want to.

I know I'm rambling now, so I'll finish off with a last thought. I have read over 100 books so far this year, and sometimes they start to blend together. However, after finishing Hourglass, I am reminded that there are gems out there that stand out. Myra McEntire has written a stunner of a novel. Complete with realistic characters, gorgeously blended science fiction and paranormal elements, and one heck of a story line, this is a book that you need to read. Buy it.

Julie D.

Ashley shackelford

Melissa Railey

Amal Hassan

Talia Dominguez 

Emerson äEmä Cole sieht Menschen aus einer vergangenen Zeit. Sie glaubt verrückt zu sein, bis sie Michael, einen Experten für Paranormales, kennenlernt. Michael will Em in Sicherheit bringen, aber böse Mächte sind bereits auf der Suche nach ihr.