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Friday, August 10, 2012

Hourglass by Myra McEntire -- Review contains spoilers!

Hourglass
(Hourglass, #1)
by Myra McEntire
Released |June 14th 2011 by EgmontUSA|
|review written by Jalyn|
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 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 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 help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

 I really enjoyed this book. I felt a good connection to the characters and the story line was different from the usual YA paranormal. I really liked that I didn't see the time traveling story coming. I just thought I was going to be reading a book about a girl that sees the dead.

Emerson was an enjoyable character and I liked her relationship with Michael. I know it bothers a lot of readers when characters fall in love fast, but when the writing is good, I don't mind it at all. Em and Michael tried to stay apart romantically through most of the book. They weren't spewing "I Love You" all the time [that actually doesn't even happen until the end of the book and Em wasn't annoying with her inner thoughts about him. 

I had very few issues with this book. Really the only thing that bothered me was that Lily was introduced and talked about like she was going to have a bigger part in the book, but we don't see much of Em's "best friend." I'm hoping that Lily will have a bigger role in the next book.

I will definitely be reading book two, Timepiece, as soon as I can get a copy :)

Monday, August 6, 2012

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Hourglass
(Hourglass, #1)
by Myra McEntire
Released |June 14th 2011 by EgmontUSA|
|review written by Rachael|
Rachael's blog: http://www.moosubi.blogspot.com/
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 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 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 help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

If you want to see more of my reviews, check out my blog @ Moosubi Reviews!

After I heard so much hype about Hourglass, I finally decided to give it a try! I definitely enjoyed it, although my experience didn't reflect the jaw-dropping-amazingness that a lot of my friends showed. But I still definitely enjoyed the book!

I liked the idea of "rips", or time ripples. It's an idea that I sometimes think about when reading about time travel, or just when I'm daydreaming. It was also pretty unique, so I liked the instances when Emerson or Michael explored the idea or experimented with it. An intriguing concept, it also kept Emerson pretty busy trying to figure it out, and I liked seeing her trying to figure it out. Along the way, I was also guessing a bit, too! However, I found that this idea wasn't as flushed out as I would have liked it to be. A lot of this book was focused on Emerson and her relationships with Michael and Kaleb, and although I'm a fan of romance, I would have liked to see the idea more flushed out. Nonetheless, I still liked the author's time travel ideas, and it kept me reading!

The plot definitely moved quickly and didn't bore me for the most part. I especially liked the action at the end when Emerson & Michael finally time travel! During that part, there was a lot of suspense and some guessing on my part. However, as I said before, this idea of time traveling didn't occur as often as I would have liked, since there was mostly relationship building in this book. Don't get me wrong - the romance will appeal to a lot of PNR fans (Steamy kissing? Check. Hot and Mysterious Guy? Check. Classic Heroic and Kind Acts? Check. Arrogant, yet Kind & Smart Attitude? Check.), and I admit that I didindulge in some of the romance - it's just that it seemed like the romance took a lot of potential away from the idea of time travel.

As for the characters, I would say that they were this novel's strongest points :/ They weren't bad per se - however, they weren't extraordinary either. Emerson was a little bland to me, although she did have instances of brilliance that I applauded her for. Her family was definitely supportive, and that's great, although I found some of their actions predictable and again, bland. However, I did like Kaleb - he's definitely a complex character. I know Timepiece has some of his POV, so I'm probably going to read the sequel!

One thing that I should mention though is the ending. I don't want to give too much away, and I did suspect a little, but I was surprised by what happened. Kudos to the author for that!

Overall, I would say that Hourglass is worth your time if you're a romance or PNR fan. If you're looking for more of a time travel, sci-fi filled novel, this book definitely wouldn't be for you. However, if you're looking for a bit of both, I suggest that you borrow a copy of this book and see if you like it by reading a few chapters. I'm hoping there's a little more time travel in the sequel (and I have a slight feeling there is - hopefully there is!) as well as development of Kaleb's POV, so I'll probably be reading Timepiece (:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium
(Delirium, #1)
by Lauren Oliver
Released |February 1st 2011 by HarperTeen|
|review written by Janina|
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

I don't know how to feel about this book. I liked it, but I didn't. I liked the whole concept with the way the book twisted everything we believe in about love into something so evil and infectious and wrong. But then there was something about it that I don't like, and I just can't quite put my finger on it. 

I don't really know how I feel about the characters. But I did like Hana and Alex, but I didn't really just fall in love with the characters like I usually do. Lena got on my nerves throughout most the book, except towards the end when she started actually doing things and standing up for herself. Other than that she was pretty much a bore. To me she didn't really have a backbone to say how she really felt and do what she felt was right. I know she had her inner struggle going on and all, but it took her damn near the whole book to finally do something about it. I also didn't like how just, boom, I am now all of sudden in love with Alex?! But anyways, enough with the boring about her, she did have some positives.

Like I said before, I didn't start liking Lena unless I about 3/4 of the way through the book. She finally started standing up for herself and when she figured out the truth about her mom, I thought she reacted just the way she should of. It showed she had true emotions instead of the ones she thought she should feel. The government had the people's mind so screwed up, it was sad to see. I thought Hana was awesome and I hope to see her in Pandemonium.

This book did keep me entertained. It wasn't all that suspenseful but it did have its moments and I really enjoyed the romance between Alex and Lena! I did like the book and enjoyed it. But it took me a while to truly get into it and I felt it could of been better. But that last chapter of the book just pissed me off! lol I really hope that Alex isn't what my mind wants to believe because I thought he was awesome and he was such a sweet heart and always looked out for Lena's best interest.

I'm glad I already Pandemonium so I can continue the series :) and to see what happens next! Hopefully it doesn't have an ending like this one.