Hourglass (Myra McEntire)

Title: Hourglass

Author: Myra McEntire

Publisher: Egmont

Length: 390 pages

Rating: 4/5

Emerson Coles keeps seeing things that no one else sees. A girl in a Civil War era outfit, a piano trio, a horse-drawn carriage- none seem to really exist, because when Emerson touches these images, they disappear. People think she’s crazy. Emerson thinks she’s crazy. Her brother is determined to find a way to help her, but they’ve tried everything. In one final desperate attempt, he brings in consultant Michael Weaver from the mysterious Hourglass society.

Michael is the first person to fully believe in everything Emerson sees, and every time he and Emerson touch, it’s electric. But the Hourglass is in trouble, and Michael needs Emerson to help prevent a death that never should have happened. Can Emerson trust in Michael and herself enough to change the past? And at what price?

There was a lot in this book that I didn’t expect. I liked that. Physics, time travel, romance, bending the laws of nature. Pretty cool stuff, but I was never overwhelmed by the depth of it all.

Emerson Cole, our seventeen year old narrator: I have a lot to say about her, since we spend most the book in her slightly-messed-up head. I wasn’t completely sold on Emerson until about two thirds of the way through the book. I’m finding that one of my biggest pet peeves is when one of the crucial conflicts in a novel is that main character can’t accept the premise of the book. Emerson was far less willing to accept the idea of time travel than I was, and harped on it unnecessarily. Just accept it! I grew to like Emerson though- she’s head-strong, knows her own strengths and weaknesses, and is adorable awkward, especially when it came to Michael and then the later introduction of the equally gorgeous Kaleb.

Overall, a good balance of sci-fi, romance, and paranormal, and a book unlike any others I’ve read.