Hourglass (Hourglass #1) by Myra McEntire

Hourglass (Hourglass #1) by Myra McEntire

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Release Date: June 14th 2011

Publisher: Egmont USA

Page Count: Hardcover, 397 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

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. - Good Reads

I remember the first time I saw the cover of this book I knew I had to read it. It's gorgeous. It has this haunting feel to it that just sucked me in. I didn't give a crap what it was about, I just knew I had to read it. Then I found out there was time travel involved and I was done for. So, for me Hourglass had two amazing things to live up to. Luckily, it didn't disappoint!

I liked Emerson quite a bit. So often times in paranormal books the heroine finds out something is unusual about herself and accepts it without much of a hitch. In Hourglass, we find Emerson already knowing her ability to a certain extent and she has learned to live with it. She had already been through a stay at a mental institution resulting after a breakdown from all the stress on her shoulders. So she's a realistic girl. She is weak, but not too weak. She has her strength. I think that is one of the things I liked most about her. She's balanced.

The love story was good. I felt it paced itself for a while and then escalated quickly. Teetering on the edge of a little too quickly. I guess it just seemed as if it started out nice and slow and then suddenly escalated to "I love you long time". I think that may be because I feel so used to the drawn out tension and attraction that is usually in books. It wasn't eye roll worthy by any means, but it didn't exactly capture me like it probably could have. I still liked it though and I awww'd a few times.

The plot kept me on my toes and there were a lot of twists and turns I didn't anticipate. The writing was well thought out and the style of writing appealed to me.

Overall, I liked this quite a bit. And I think it's unfair to have to wait until 2012 to read the next book. I'm horribly impatient.