Review: Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Hourglass (Hourglass #1)

by Myra McEntire

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 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 can’t tell you how excited I was to finally get my hands on this book. I had been reading so many wonderful reviews, chatting with Myra on twitter about the writing and getting her updates and hearing from my friends who had read it. Disappointment was nowhere near me when I finished…. Unless you want to count the disappointment I had that the next book wasn’t waiting on me to read!

Emerson just wants to be a normal teenager… whatever that is. The only problem is she sees dead people. Not in the Sixth Sense idea though. Her parents were killed in an accident right after she started seeing these strange beings and it all went downhill from there. Her brother has tried everything that he can to help her, but it is only when the mysterious Michael shows up that Emerson starts to feel that maybe she isn’t as crazy as she has thought that she was.

Myra McEntire has created a universe where we can travel back in time or to the future, see rips (those “dead people”) and create matter with our bare hands… if we have the right genes. The creativity behind this amazing debut novel kept me glued to the pages the entire read. I loved Emersons quirks and how she had to figure out who she was while falling in love with Michael. Of course… nothing comes easy!

Make sure (before or after you read it) you visit Myra’s blog HERE and follow her on Twitter for fun facts and updates (@MyraMcEntire). Also, make sure to check out the Ash to Nash tour that Myra McEntire, Victoria Schwab (author of The Near Witch) and Beth Revis (author of Across the Universe) will all be going from Ashville to Nashville. Check it all out HERE. I will be visiting them in Spartanburg, SC next Friday night!

Happy reading everyone!!

Winner of Notebook Giveaway

Thanks to Kathleen for a great post and writing challenge! If you missed it, check it out here. Now for the winner...

Sarah H.

Thank you to everyone who entered, commented and took the challenge. I hope that you are all continuing to write and challenge yourself!

Review: Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley

Crush Control

by Jennifer Jabaley

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Pages: Paperback, 318

Publisher: RazorBill

Willow has spent most of her life as her mother's sidekick in a popular Las Vegas hypnotism show. So when she and her mom move back to their sleepy southern hometown to start over, she thinks she's in for a life of quiet normalcy. Except that her new life turns out to be anything but, when she kinda sorta hypnotizes Quinton, the hottest guy on the football team, to fall madly, deeply, head over heels in love with her. But what started out as an innocent way to make her best friend, Max, jealous soon gets way out of hand, and Willow begins to wonder if the mind - and more importantly, the heart - is something you can really control.

Crush Control was a delightfully funny book with such a good message. Willow moves back to Georgia in hopes of creating a more balanced life. Moving back will put her close to her close to her grandparents but more importantly, closer to her best friend Max. When she and her mom move back she finds her life turned more upside down than it has ever been to date. I love the honesty in Willow’s character. I could completely relate to her being in love with her best friend all the while trying to figure out what to do to get his attention. Her friendships with Georgia and Mia completely balanced her life (even though she didn’t know it at the time) and were so integral to her finding out who she really is.

Love makes you do crazy things. Willow found that out the hard way and had to eventually rely on her friend Georgia to help her out. I laughed so hard at their antics as they tried to find a solution to the problem and the extensive measures they took. My best friend and I have done some crazy things in my time, but I assure you that she and I have never bought a voodoo doll! I couldn’t put this one down because I wanted to see how Willow was going to get out of the mess she was in then! In the end, Willow learned that trying to be something you are not created to be gets you nowhere but deeper in the holes we dig daily!

A little about the author…

Born in New York and raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey, Jennifer Jabaley is a graduate of James Madison University and Southern College of Optometry. She began writing in 2006 and tries to manage optometry, writing and motherhood. She lives in Blue Ridge, Georgia with her husband and two children.

Visit Jennifer HERE, follow her on Twitter (@JenniferJabaley) and see her Facebook page HERE.

Happy reading everyone :)

Review: Sidekicks by Dan Santat

Sidekicks

by Dan Santat

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: Paperback, 224

Publisher: Arthur A Levine Books (Scholastic)

Look up in the sky! It's a BOLD new graphic novel about SUPERHERO PETS!

Captain Amazing, superhero and savior of Metro City, is getting old. He's out all hours battling arch-villains, catching thieves, and helping little old ladies cross the street. He doesn't even have time for his house full of pets. He needs - a SIDEKICK!

Captain Amazing's four pets agree. But each one of them thinks HE should get the sidekick spot - and a chance for one-on-one time with the Captain. Get ready for sibling rivalry royale as pets with superpowers duke it out for the one thing they all want - a super family.

Who doesn’t love a good superhero? In this fun loving, action packed graphic novel Dan Santat (creator of the Disney animated series “The Replacements”) gives us an insider’s view of a superhero and the search for a sidekick that is going on. Captain Amazing feels that he is getting too old for this superhero bit and is in search for what he doesn’t know is right in front of him. Meanwhile his beloved pets (Roscoe, Fluffy and Shifty… and later Manny) are trying to find their own superpowers and rid Metro City of the evil. I have to say my favorite character was Shifty the chameleon! His antics and side-kickiness were what made the book for me. Never under estimate the power of the little guys!! Sidekicks is a quick read which will keep you on the edge of your seat as Captain Amazing’s pets fight crime and make you wonder what your pets do on the weekends!!