Book Review - Hourglass

Hourglass
by Myra McEntire

Synopsis: (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?

Why I Picked this Book: The buzz in the blogosphere sure kept this book in everyone's eyes.  I finally gave in and bought it, put it off a bit longer, then sat down to devour.

My Thoughts:
Hourglass went from being that book at the bookstore that I wanted to read but passed up every time, to the book I finally gave a chance and couldn't put down.  Myra McEntire spins a story that not only intrigues you and tugs at your heart strings... but it makes you wonder: What if?

I have to admit: I thought this was a ghost story.  That was the main reason I kept putting this book aside.  While I do not hate ghost stories... I don't dive for them either.  Boy, was I wrong as soon as I gave Hourglass the chance.

Emerson started seeing apparitions of people, strange people, just before her parent's death.  The apparitions wouldn't leave her alone.  Though she found touching them caused them to "pop" and leave for the time being, they always returned.  Emerson lost it.  After being committed to a mental institute for while, she was sent off to a private school until her funding ran out.

Now home, she moves in with her brother and his wife.  And starts seeing the "people" more than ever before.  Only Michael seems able to help, a man her brother hired in his attempt to save his sister.  And with Michael, comes more secrets and knowledge of a world she never knew existed.

Okay, see?  Sounds like a ghost story.  Minus the popping part.  That right there is what started to draw me in.  Popping?  Ghosts?  That's not right.

Wormholes.  Time travel.  People with strange mysterious powers and an organization running out of control.  NOW you have my attention!

It was like... X-Men powers meets Stargate wormhole theory with some Twilight romance thrown in.
Loved it.

Here were my few hiccups:
- I don't know why, but repeatedly pointing out that the MC is short always bugs me.
- There was a slight love triangle.  Very slight. As in Emerson never even had to decide.  And though it wasn't horrible, it felt forced. As if it wasn't planned to be there originally.  Whenever the triangle moment started to happen, I groaned inside.  Luckily, it never lasted long.
- Emerson was tough.  While seeing a tough woman is always nice, having her almost be a black belt and pretty much fearless felt too convenient, at times.

Everything else?  I pretty much loved.
The literal electrical touch between Emerson and Michael.
The plot twists I never saw coming.
The playing and toying with the entire Time continuum.

The effort to right a wrong in the past, to save the Hourglass foundation.  And the battle of what is right to change, and what memories should be left just that: memories.

McEntire has me pulled in and left me wanting the next book in the series, now.  I was very delighted to have my doubts proved wrong.  This is a book I love showing off on my shelf, and plan to share it with many friends and readers.  Such as you.

My Rating:

(5 out of 5 stars)