Hourglass (edition 2011)

This book started out well enough, and it had some good ideas in it (I liked the idea of all the different time manipulation abilities the Hourglass denizens had), but then it just became a mess of YA cliches and wobbly writing. Getting rid of the obligatory love triangle probably would have gone a long ways towards fixing the issues I had with it; why do all these YA protagonists have to have multiple boys falling for them? And it always happens the first time the dude lays eyes on her. I get that it's supposed to appeal to the teen reader, but so few authors write these flirtations convincingly. ( )

It's like X-men for girls with romance and time travel. Loved it. ( )

(Probably 4.5 stars--for most of it I was thinking 5, though, so I rated up.)

I really enjoyed this book. Yes, Emerson does spend a teensy bit too much time talking about how hot Michael is. But honestly, when you're seventeen and in your very first real relationship, who doesn't? And she did have a slight case of "duh!" when she couldn't seem to grasp that his "not now" didn't mean "not ever", but I'm willing to forgive and forget. Again, she's seventeen.

For the most part, this book had me completely enthralled; I just didn't want to put it down! The mystery of the "ghosts" Emerson sees and why they are changing, combined with the time travel element, really had my interest. The book lost me for a bit before and after the climax--it seemed to suddenly go for the easy way out of things--and that's the main reason for the half-star decrease. Overall, though, I am really looking forward to the sequel. I can't wait to see what's in store for Emerson, Michael, Kaleb, and Lily! ( )

I’m not really sure where to begin with this book. It has been recommended to me a few times by various sources and the description looked pretty intriguing. Apparitions? Dark and mysterious guy? Preventing a death that wasn’t supposed to happen? These all seemed to point to a book that would be right up my alley; unfortunately it turned out to be a bust. I know I’m going to have problems when I find myself putting my Nook down after a few pages or a chapter and wandering off to do other things, which is what happened multiple times while reading this book.

Hourglass is the début YA paranormal novel by author Myra McEntire, who writes very well – just not compellingly. “Bland” was the word that struck me throughout the book; a bland heroine, a somewhat bland hero who (for whatever reason) I was never able to get a clear impression of, bland style, etc. The most interesting character turned out to be a secondary one named Kaleb: a muscular young man with eight-pack abs, a red dragon tattoo across his shoulders, and a bit of a drinking problem – oh, and he’s an empath. Unfortunately, he didn’t show up until about half way through, by which point I was just trying to finish the story as quickly as possible.

First let’s take a look at our heroine. Emerson is a young woman who has lost her parents, is living with her much older brother and his wife, and sees people who aren’t really there. She was hospitalized after an incident where she argued in her school cafeteria with a man no one else saw. After being released and weaning herself off her meds, she now sees these apparitions daily and keeps them to herself as much as possible. All of this sounds pretty exciting, but somehow isn’t. I couldn’t help but compare Emerson to Kaylee from Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers series. Kaylee is a character that jumped out and grabbed me from the first page – Emerson not so much. But I really lost patience with her when she pulled a couple of stunts that edged her into the TSTL (too stupid to live) category. A TSTL heroine is one of the reasons that writer and fellow blogger Hallie Chandler gives in her entertaining post “Six Reasons I Give Up On A Book," and wouldn’t you know I’d just read her post and then came upon Hourglass. Now, Emerson is one of those girls who will completely ignore any warnings or pleadings from other characters to stay home safe, and will grab the car keys and take off to investigate on her own. She also won’t tell anyone about the strange “apparition” named Jack who just shows up randomly and knows her name. If this was a horror movie, she’d be the girl walking into the basement even though the lights don’t work.

Now, let’s turn to our hero. As I stated previously, I don’t really have any lasting impression of Michael. I know he is college-age and gorgeous (or “delicious” as he is called by Emerson’s friend Lily), and he has a complementary ability to Emerson’s, and…that’s it. He seems nice, but he is not “electrifying.” He is one of those male characters who is obviously drawn to the heroine, but refuses to do anything about it – until suddenly someone else (Kaleb) shows an interest in her. Then he’s willing to make a move and by the end they are deeply in love. I understood the initial reason given for Michael not to fraternize with Emerson (he was hired by her brother to help her with her problems), but that reason fell by the wayside about a third of the way into the book. I also didn’t understand why McEntire had Michael renting a loft from Emerson’s brother since he never spent any time in it. It just seemed to be more of a plot device to set some later scenes up, because it certainly wasn’t integral to the story.

Finally, we get to the actual story line. I’m still confused by it and don’t understand what the author was aiming for. I’m unclear about the science the author has developed for this universe, and I was not impressed by the radical change one of the characters goes through at the end when outed as an accomplice to the villain. The pacing of the story was off (obviously, since I kept walking away), with all of the excitement focused at the end instead of gradually building up. I also felt like a chunk of the book was spent with the heroine talking with herself instead of with others; more “telling” than “showing.” There were also a couple of references to the mysterious “powers that be” who are supposedly behind Hourglass and will be holding some of the characters accountable for what happened in the book. I’m never fond of hints like this. It seems to be more of a place-holder for a threat than an actual threat.

Hourglass was a novel that is well-written and has an interesting premise (hence the two stars), but never grabbed me with the story or characters. I’m a little surprised it was an ALA Teen’s Top Ten Nominee (2012), since it just didn’t seem compelling enough to garner awards. I’ve read so many great books recently, though, that maybe I’m spoiled expecting each one to grab me and drag me along for the ride. ( )

I was so very excited about the premise to this story and really enjoyed it until everything got all tied up with a "you're grounded" bow and then I was offended that the author thought that a 17 years such as Em would put up with that crap. Anyway, I'll still read the next one out of intrigue, but grrr.
( )