Book review: Hourglass

By: Myra McEntire
Published by Egmont USA

Release Date: June 14, 2011

Genre: Young Adult

400 pages
Buy it on Amazon, IndieBound or Barnes and Noble

Source: I own it

My thoughts:

It's been a while since I read this book, and yet, I still remember the storyline and characters pretty vividly. I loved it when I first read it, and it's stuck with me for the past couple of months- and considering how much I read, that says a lot.


The storyline is a bit misleading at first; your impression of what's going on at the beginning of the book turns out to not really be the case. Moreover, there is much, much more to it than first meets the eye. 

Emerson, the character from whose viewpoint the story is told, is a young lady who is doing quite well, despite being a teenager who is learning to live with the death of her parents in a tragic accident, as well as her ability to interact with ghosts. Her brother makes a living restoring historic buildings, to make matters worse. 

Said brother seeks help for his troubled little sister: enter the hottie who claims he can help her, Michael. And boy, do things get complicated fast.

This book features some good, strong characterization, as well as a setting that is well-crafted and lovingly described. The break-neck pace at which Emerson's relationship with Michael developed bothered me a bit, but since it really isn't the focus of the book, it was easy to put that aside in favor of focusing on the tantalizingly original mixture of paranormal ghosts and sci-fi time travel. 

I highly recommend this one- a really fun read. :)

Summary from GoodReads:

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.