Hourglass

I can't believe it took me so long to read this one! I will admit it is completely my own fault, and a case of judging a book by its cover. I saw so many reviews of this when it first came out, but I took one look at that cover and said "Oh it's one of those really heavy contemporary books, I might read it eventually, but it's gonna be hard." WRONG! The cover totally doesn't match what I thought it would be! What this book REALLY is about, is time travel, one of my favorite topics.

Time travel is a very difficult topic to deal with, and I felt McEntire did a very good job of knowing what her rules are. Every time she introduced a new event, she was careful to place it in perspective with the rest of the events. She made the changes in timeline make sense, on a level that even those unfamiliar with theories of time travel should be able to follow it.

My main complaint (and it's not much of one) is that the love story seemed a little too pat. I'm not a big one for the "love at first sight" angle, nor the "I'm so in love after 1 week I can't live without you" thing. It just feels too unreal for me. But, that said, McEntire makes a point of explaining the attraction beyond that, at least a little. I am curious what would happen if one of them lost their ability. Would they lose their connection? Would they lose their entire relationship? (Probably not - YA authors aren't nearly as callous as that!)

So, bottom line: Don't judge this one by its cover! Give it a chance!

I love me a good time travel story, and this had all the trappings of a great one. I liked Emerson. In spite of her 17-year-old-girl-ness (a plague among YA heroines, considering they are inevitably 17-year-old girls), she was likable. She was obviously attractive yet a bit insecure, but not one of those narrators who's constantly lamenting her ugliness while every guy around her proceeds to walk into telephone poles as they are stunned by her beauty. She had a quick wit and dry sense of humor that I enjoyed. She actually used her brain a good chunk of the time (not all the time, but I dare you to name a main protagonist who always makes well-informed and fully considered decisions).

I also liked the sci-fi elements of the story. I liked the premise and the structure. I liked that a "scientific" explanation was given for how all their crazy abilities worked individually, and how they worked in tandem. And of course, a major sticking point for me is always if the "rules" of the world made sense. In this case, I think they did.

We drifted a bit into X-Men territory for a little while, but I forgive Ms. McEntire for those small similarities. I kind of think X-Men has such a large scope that it's kind of hard not to call it to mind when writing anything about people with powers. Also, like with almost any time-travel book, there were scenes reminiscent of other time-travel stories (the one that came instantly to my mind was Back to the Future II). But again, it's hard to have a time-travel story without talk of paradoxes and the space-time continuum. There was no mention of flux capacitors, so I'm good.

The love story between Emerson and Michael was a bit heavy-handed at parts. It was obvious that was where the story was headed from the first moment they laid eyes on each other. But I honestly mean it was only a bit heavy-handed, and only in parts. She talked about his superhuman gorgeousness a little too often for my liking (although it was probably toned down for what an actual teenage girl would have been thinking). Her descriptions of her reactions around him were occasionally a tad over the top. But overall, I enjoyed their chemistry and their interaction.

I will also give Emerson credit for not turning into a complete pile of mush, a la Bella Swan, every time he was around. He may be super-pretty and she may have a tummy full of butterflies, but at least she still spoke her mind and stuck to her guns. She even got annoyed with him on occasion. That was refreshing.

The secondary characters were mostly well-developed. I loved Thomas and his wife Dru, and their sweet relationship with each other and with Emerson.

Emerson's quintessential gorgeous BFF Lily was also fun. She wasn't ridiculous and annoying like gorgeous BFFs so often are in YA lit. She was actually loyal and funny and I could understand why she and Emerson were friends. Plus, her character had some intriguing twists that I hope and expect to see developed in the sequel(s).

Michael also had a likable best friend, which is something I find a little rare in these types of books. Normally the male love interest either has no friends or his best friend is a jerk. But I really enjoyed Kaleb. He was charming and interesting, and the more I found out about him, the more intrigued I became.

I guess that's a good thing, since Timepiece is all about Kaleb.

Another bonus: for once, there was a twist at the end that took me completely by surprise. I am very rarely taken by surprise in a YA book, and when I am, I even more rarely feel that the book really earned the ending. Sometimes I feel like a twist ending is dropped in simply for the sake of a twist, with nothing else in the book backing it up. It feels forced and awkward. This one I totally didn't see coming, but it also didn't feel random just for the sake of having a twist.

Anyway, this review has gone on long enough. Bottom line: I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun, exciting read that put its own spin on the special powers/time travel theme.

** SPOILERS **

MAIN CHARACTERS:
Emerson. I love her. She's just so witty, and stubborn, and sarcastic. My kind of girl! I love her with all my heart! And then there's Michael, her love object. Michael is fiercely protective of Emerson. He would do absolutely anything for her. The thing is, he keeps hiding things from Emerson saying that he just wants to protect her. Much like Edward. I hate it.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:
Time travel. Various gifted individuals. School for gifted individuals. One character is so similar to Professor X. The book is about acceptance of oneself and literally correcting past mistakes.

FAVORITE CHARACTER:
Emerson. So snarky! I think I see myself in her.

FAVORITE LINE:
"I am sorry." Kaleb grinned at me. "Sorry I didn't meet you first."

MUSINGS:
Like the others would say, this book is about time travelling, correcting mistakes in the past. But the romance in this book, oh! the romance! Swoon. The tension between Michael and Emerson is amazing. I wanted to possess Emerson, and jump on Michael for her. I like these kinds of books, where you think you already have someone when you don't. So close, yet so far. Rubberband-ish. I couldn't stop reading. Once I stopped, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

CONTENT REVIEW:
profanity: moderate
violence: moderate (There was Arson, by a character like Pyro from the X-Men.)
sexual content: moderate
mature themes: mild to moderate
age recommendation: 14+

RATING:
Cover: 3.5
Plot: 3.5
Writing: 3.0
Characters: 3.5
Ending: 3.0
Overall Rating: 3.5 - Superior (93% - 96%)