Review: Hourglass

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Publisher: Egmont USA
Publication Date: June 14th 2011
Pages: 394
Format: ARC
Source: Young Adult Book Central Bag of Books Giveaway
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
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?

This is a story that had me sucked in from the moment I started the first chapter. It is a beautifully and well thought out story of Emerson, a teenage girl who has been seeing people from the past for four years. Starting just before her parent's deaths, Emerson has no idea where these hallucination are coming from and her brother is doing everything he can to to make her better. Then her brother finds a new person who might be able to help her, Michael. And Michael says he can do something much like she can, and together they would be even more powerful. And of course he's gorgeous.

This story has a very engaging and exciting plot that never became boring. The writing was all very well done and I enjoyed McEntire's style very much. I loved the paranormal aspects that were in the story- all of which involved the manipulation of time. The paranormal powers of each character were all very unique and interesting. The romance in the story was both sweet, and a bit annoying. The boy love interest is very very hesitant and I really didn't like that.

Emerson is a very loveable character that grows so much from the beginning to the middle to the end of the story. Emerson begins very worried about what was going on with her and desperate for it to stop. When she meets Michael for the first time you see the first glimpses of her stronger self, and then in the end she is able to stand up for her self and be a confident girl.

Overall this is one of my favorite paranormal stories because it is so unique and interesting. This story is highly recommended, and  I can't wait until I can read Timepeice, the next book in the series to find out what is going to happen next.