Summary:Since the age of fourteen, Emerson Cole has seen strange things - dead things - swooning Southern Belles, soldiers, and other eerie apparitions of the past. She's tried everything to get rid of the visions: medication, counseling, asylums. Nothing's worked.
So when Emerson's well-meaning brother calls in yet another consultant from a mysterious organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to give it one last try.
Michael Weaver is no ordinary consultant. He's barely older than she is, he listens like no one she's ever met before, and he doesn't make her feel the least bit crazy. As Emerson ventures deeper into the world of Hourglass, she begins to learn the truth about her past, her future - and her very life.
A seductive time-slip novel that merges the very best of the paranormal and science fiction genres, Myra McEntire's Hourglass is a stunning debut from an author to watch. (from back cover)
Review:
I haven't read a lot of paranormal lately, so Hourglass was a good choice to get back into the groove. I liked the concept and plot of Hourglass, though there were some things that should have been more developed.
The plot and concept make Hourglass for me. Emerson is a teenager who sees ghosts (at least that's what she thinks they are). But when Michael from Hourglass comes to help her, he explains what she is really seeing (I'll let you figure that out when you read the book). I liked that all the characters had some kind of power, which were all really interesting. I enjoyed that time travel was a big part of the plot because I haven't read a lot about time travel, so Hourglass gets points for creativity.
As for characters, I pretty much liked all of them. Emerson seemed like a normal teenager, except for her crazy power. She was an agreeable and likable character, not really annoying. Michael, the love interest, had that silent, brooding thing going on. Background characters who were also fun to read about like Kaleb (Michael's friend), Emerson's brother Thomas, and Emerson's friend Lily round out the ensemble.
As for things I disliked in Hourglass, I wished the time travel aspect had been more developed. It was too easy for the characters to travel to the past, that it seemed almost like a deus ex machina. The fact that the characters were able to quickly discover a way to time travel and not disrupt the space-time continuum was unrealisitic. The other thing that annoyed me was that all the outside characters, like Emerson's brother and sister-in-law, believe in time travel and supernatural powers without much convincing. That just didn't seem natural to me and was used to quickly move the plot along.
Overall, I enjoyed Hourglass and thought its concept was original. Even though there were some things I didn't like, I hope that the author will furthur develop the plot and characters in the sequel.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
FTC: received from publisher.
Release Date: June 14, 2011
2011/Egmont/397 pages.
1 comment:
Hourglass starts strong with the first person narrator, Emerson, describing her hometown and life as she is currently living it with the added factor of being able to see ghosts. She's on the outskirts of society, and lives with her brother and his wife after the accident that took her parents. Emerson hasn't had an easy life, but she comes across as a strong, independent teen who is trying to find out who she is despite being back in a town where she publically humiliated herself. Emerson is a likable character until she meets Michael.
Michael is a consultant from the Hourglass organization. He was hired by Emerson's brother to help her with her ghost-seeing problems. Predictably, Michael also just happens to be the most attractive guy anyone has ever seen. Or at least it seems that way. I understand a guy being attractive, but I don't understand Emerson's driving need to constantly fawn over Michael.
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