Book Review – Hourglass

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 to 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 organisation called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may also 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 to help prevent a death that never should’ve happened?

I was fascinated with Hourglass from the get-go. Unfortunately I didn’t get decent chunks of time to read this in a couple of sittings like I wanted to – moving across country had me consuming sometimes single pages at a time before having to abandon it for more serious real life issues.

 

The premise is great, and with a common thread of things being revealed as not as they first seem, I was surprised and delighted many times throughout this novel. The only predictable aspect to this book was the love story – everything else came at me from left-field.

 

The narration is bang-on, not too old or young in relation to the main character, with just the right amount of naivety and swagger. Emmerson brings a delicate strength as the protagonist amongst a plethora of sporty, balls-to-the-wall types littering YA of recent times.

 

One aspect of Hourglass that did annoy me somewhat, was the typical brooding and angsty love interest of Michael – not that I don’t like these types of male leads (because I love them) – it was the motivation behind his behaviour felt a little weak (upon the reveal… but don’t worry, no spoilers here).

 

Pacing was great. At first I was concerned that there would be many long descriptions of Emmerson’s visions from the first two encounters, but thankfully, they remained brief as the story just kept getting better and better.

 

A sucker for science fiction novels grounded in real theoretical science and physics, Hourglass played with concepts in a way that didn’t feel tired or overdone. But it’s not heavy on the sci-fi part, it’s more like a love story / mystery with science fiction elements.

 

Although not really comparable to titles like The of Unbecoming Mara Dyer by Michele Hodkin and The Host by Stephenie Meyer, the storytelling elements are similar, so if you enjoyed those, I recommend picking up Hourglass.

 

The first in a series, I’m definitely aching to begin the sequel Timepiece!

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