Review: Hourglass

by Myra McEntire

publisher: Egmont USA
date published: June 14, 2011
format: hardcover
pages: 397
source: purchased
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N

From Goodreads:

One hour to rewrite the past . . . For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

What I Thought

It is always a pleasure to read a book written by an author from my own state. It is an even greater experience when said book is of an imaginative, intriguing ilk. Such is the case with Myra McEntire's Hourglass. From her characters to her settings, McEntire has created a wonderful story that left me very satisfied as a reader and excited as a Tennessean.

Set in a fictional city in Tennessee by the name of Ivy Springs, Hourglass is a fantastic ride through the strange world of Emerson, a seventeen year old girl who sees the unexplained. What she believes to be ghosts are far more than that, and as Emerson discovers more about her abilities, she also discovers more about the world, namely the true characteristics of time. Hourglass draws on science fiction to create an intriguing new world in which the boundaries of the world as Emerson knows it will be tested. Once you read it for yourself, you will see what I mean.

While reading Hourglass, I found that I was able to connect to Emerson fairly well. The problems she experiences, such as anxiety, aren't too far off from some of my own life experiences. While she lives a life of privelege, she hasn't been given the easiest lot in other areas. Her emotional and mental health are on shaky ground and she feels set apart from others as she attempts to deal with the things she sees and the death of her parents a few years prior. Her coping method seems to be to put up a wall and employ an abundance of sarcasm, which I can also relate to. As she learns more about herself, she becomes all the more appealing. I loved watching her make discovery after discovery as she began to unlock the secrets of her past that she had never known. It all made for an excellent reading experience, one which I hope to repeat with the second book in the series.

The element of romance in this book was a little more convuluted than I am used to, but was enacted in such a way as to make the familiar a little more dynamic. While Michael isn't necessarily to my taste so far as love interest characters go, he did seem to mesh well with Emerson once he let go of his reservations. However, interesting questions about the nature of his chemistry with Emerson are later raised that led to much pondering on my part. I wish I could say more about this particular topic, but I don't wish to give too much away to those who have yet to read the book. Suffice it to say that it makes for many interesting scenarios to ponder, which definitely added to the experience I took away from the book.

I was surprised by how much I wound up enjoying this book. I'm not usually the biggest fan of sci fi elements in fiction, but the treatment of it in Hourglass didn't deter me in the least. I had an enjoyable reading experience that will definitely lead me to read the next installment in the series. If it's anything like Hourglass, book two will be sure to wow me and provide another great day of reading. I give Hourglass 5 hoots.