Hourglass (Hourglass #1) by Myra McEntire- Advanced Copy

The Gist

Hourglass
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Emerson sees things that aren't there. Not ghosts, exactly. Projections of people from the past. Or so it seems. But no one would believe her if she said they were images from the past. And they wouldn't believe her if she said the images were ghosts. She's just crazy. They label her, medicate her, and avoid her. Easy. Her brother, Thomas, and his wife Dru try their hardest to make her feel normal and completely accepted, but Emerson can't help but feel like she's too much of a burden - her and her visions. Too many people have tried to cure her - to no avail - for her to real believe in cures anymore. But when Emerson has to transfer to a new school - due to her old school scholarship being cut - Thomas tries one last time to find the perfect person with the right cure. He discovers the Hourglass. An Hourglass consultant - only a little older than Emerson and undeniably good-looking - comes immediately to their small southern town. Michael Weaver is handsome and mysterious, calm and collected. And the best thing is, he treats Emerson like a person. Not a crazy. He listens to her, believes what she says, and  - ridiculously - admits he can see what she sees. And neither of them are crazy; just special. But what is Emerson supposed to do? Believe this complete stranger? That would be crazy after all she's been through and every "cure" she's had to endure. But regardless of what is the smart thing, or the right thing, or the normal thing Emerson goes for it. She trusts him. But his reasons for helping her may not be what they appear, and Emerson may be more "special" than she could ever have imagined.

What We Think
Reviewed by Dream Catcher
Number of Pages: 397
I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. So when we received an ARC I got to read it first. Yay. Sad thing was, I read the first line, wasn't impressed, and put off reading it for awhile. My excuse? Too many other ARCs to read. Huh. Yeah, not like that was exactly a lie. But time went by (as it does) and I procrastinated (as I do) and here we are. I'm ashamed. But to be fair, I've been continuously working on project after project for various classes in preparation for the end of the year, AND there's finals to worry about...mer. Excuses, excuses, eh? But anyways, the point of all that was to say that the beginning could maybe use a little work. First line: "My small southern hometown is beautiful in the haunting way an aging debutante is beautiful." An interesting way to begin, right? Sure. Interesting, but it doesn't really make you think hey, this book is going to be the most epic thing I'll ever read. It sounds unique, certainly, but...I dunno I guess it's just not my type of thing. Maybe a little too formal sounding. I dunno. All personal opinion for beginnings. I thought it could have been better. 
Might as well say something about the ending, while I'm sort of on the topic. Kind of. Beginnings and endings are related. Yeah. I like the ending.  Good, good. What else is there to say about it really? It ends well in a way that isn't really a cliff-hanger but makes you want to read the second in the series. I'm not sure when that comes out, but it's probably not for a while considering I just read the ARC. Anyway, I thought the ending was good and made me want to keep reading into the next book.
PLOT. I actually really liked it. The whole crazy thing has appeal to me and my twisted mind. I'm joking. Kind of. But I really did love that aspect of it. I could totally see it coming without even reading past the back flap that she wouldn't actually have any mental illness. But as much as predictability annoys me...what she turned out to be kind of canceled out the predictability. That part of it was really cool and pretty unique. But I can't say anything because that would give the big secret away and ruin everything. Let's just say that the plot was good, but the characters made everything a little too easy to predict for my taste. I like not really knowing what's coming. And I was able to see most of the things coming from a mile away. But other than that I thought the plot was unique enough to  be good. So. Hooray.
Okay, characters now. And I'll start with Emerson, or Em. She was sarcastic and witty, which I appreciated, but what she described herself as didn't really match with what she did. Example? She said she was tough and frozen over and guarded. And she kind of was...but not particularly. Not more than the regular person, I think. So that was kind of weird. Also, there was this whole I'm-too-attracted-to-Michael thing. Which was annoying. She was always thinking about his lips or touching him or something weird. I hated that. I'm just thinking the whole time, SERIOUSLY YOU DON'T NEED TO TOUCH HIM, JEEZ. But that might just be me. Other than that I actually thought her character was really good. She was funny with her sarcasm and wit. Michael was an interesting character. He was polite...a little too polite at first. Awkwardly polite. But by the end he had completely grown out of that, and was NOT afraid to tell Emerson exactly what he was thinking. I'm not sure if that was a welcome change. I think it was. Yeah...yeah I think I liked him better in the end. He was a little corny for a chapter or two, but that was okay. If he had ended the book as a corny creeper then I would have welcomed the awkwardly-polite Michael back with open arms. But he didn't. So he is forgiven. He was pretty good, if a little aggravating (because he overreacted a little at stupid things). Thomas and his wife Drew were similar because they both had to take care of Emerson, to some extent. Thomas was sometimes not brotherly enough - a little too fatherly, which wasn't very realistic. Drew was motherly, but in a more natural way. I liked her character a lot, actually. She was spunky. Stern when she needed to be and a friend to Emerson when she needed to be. Emerson's bestie was a generic drop-dead gorgeous friend character. I liked her, but at the same time I realized that she wasn't very unique. General friend character. Kaleb comes in later and is a complete creeper. But I honestly loved his character. He was funny and witty, and I laughed aloud at some of his quotes. There were a few other characters, but I don't think they're important enough to mention. So overall I think the characters were really good.
I'll finish with the title and cover. LOVE LOVE LOVE that. The cover is amazing I think. Seriously great.  The optical illusion of it is amazing. It was what grabbed my attention in the first place. What made me want to get the ARC before I even read the synopsis. It is one of my favorite covers. Praise for Egmont USA publishing for that. Seriously. Title was great, too. Maybe not as great as the cover, but still cool. Hourglass. It sounds mysterious and intriguing. Love it. Cover and title get an A+ from me.
Overall I thought it was a good book. The plot was unique and the characters were funny and sarcastic. As I just ranted, the cover and title really grab your attention before you even know anything about the book, which is extremely good for a book and an author. The only thing I have to say is the beginning could have been executed better. All in all, though, I think it's a book worth reading. Maybe not immediately, but sometime you should definitely get around to reading it. I think the second in the series will be even better.

Real Teen Rating~ B+ : Wait for vacation.