Publication Date: May 8th, 2012
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Source: ARCycling
Overall rating: 3 / 5 stars
This story follows Emerson, a teenager girl who has been seeing phantoms/ghosts of people from the past since her parents died. In an attempt to help her, Emerson's brother has continuously hired consultants that claim they can help Emerson, but none have so far. Then he hires Michael from the Hourglass, a mysterious organization that starts to bring answers into Emerson's world of chaos.
I remember reading the synopsis for this book a few years ago and was really intrigued by it. But for some reason it dropped off my radar and I never picked it up. Thanks to the amazing team and donators at ARCycling though, I was sent a copy of this for review. I have always loved the cover of this one and thought of the concept could go any number of ways.
Unfortunately though, this book didn't wow me. With my star rating system, I give three stars to books that once finished consider to just be okay. And that is definitely where 'Hourglass' lands for me. I enjoyed the overall storyline, there were twists at the end that I didn't see coming, but I also would have liked more of the science fiction/paranormal feel to it. It definitely felt more like a romance for me.
I also didn't really connect with any of the main characters, they were very stereotypical YA to me and I really wanted them to be more unique. Michael and Emerson's relationship felt very rushed to me at times and there was way too much insta-love for me. I did enjoy Lily though, Emerson's best friend, and I though McEntire set her story up nicely for the rest of the series.
Looking back on the storyline, I can definitely say that it kept me interested and wanting to know more about the Hourglass but I really felt it needed to be delved into more. Rather than focusing so much on the romance, I think it could have benefited from more world and character building. I would hope that that is accomplished in the next two books.
Overall, I did enjoy the overall story but at the same time it is not something that will stick with me. The characters and the interaction between Emerson and Michael was very predictable, leaving them as a couple that I will likely forget. In general I am not the biggest fan of love triangles and this one definitely didn't impress me, it felt forced and unrealistic. This book is advertised as a science fiction style story, but it definitely fell short in that category for me.
[I received an ARC paperback copy of this book for review from ARCycling. Thanks again!]
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