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Book Review: ‘Timepiece: An Hourglass Novel’ by Myra McEntire

Gabrielle Bondi

As usual, I generally choose what books to read by the buzz surrounding them. Last year, I saw many blogs talking about Myra McEntire’s Hourglass. I kept it in mind for a long while and recently finally got a chance to read it. I liked it. I don’t read much about time travel in YA lit; so the plot was refreshing, and I really enjoyed Emerson as the lead.  Therefore, I was quick to pick up Timepiece right after finishing Hourglass and couldn’t help but be surprised. I didn’t take the time to read the summary, so I didn’t know that Timepiece is written in Kaleb’s perspective. Hence, I was completely surprised by the book’s very first sentence:

“Maybe getting drunk and dressing up like a pirate for the masquerade was a bad idea.”

Yeah… that doesn’t exactly sound like Emerson. I quickly caught on that the story was continuing in Kaleb’s voice though. At the beginning, I wasn’t so keen on it. I mean, I liked Kaleb in Hourglass, but I guess I was just hooked on Emerson’s voice. Yet, as the story continued, I liked, loved and finally adored Kaleb and this book. Timepiece is a great, or even better, follow-up to Hourglass. The story becomes more complex and the stakes get higher, leaving you with a thrilling page-turner.

Timepiece takes place a little while after Hourglass ends. Obviously, from the quote above, it begins at a masquerade party at the Phone Company. It is there that the party is crashed by Poe, a lackey for the people who “control” the timeline. After threatening Emerson’s life, Kaleb and company must find Jack Landers and his research by Halloween. As they try to work on their mission, they start noticing big changes in the timeline. Rips are getting bigger and starting to blend with the present.

Although I didn’t agree with it at first, switching to Kaleb’s perspective for the next installment of this story was a brilliant move. Not only did it give it a refreshing approach, but many of the events do revolve around Kaleb. Plus, he is a great character. Finally all fleshed-out, I couldn’t help but care about the dude. He’s surprisingly complex as well, mostly because of his ability to detect and absorb emotions.

As far as romance goes, Timepiece has a much more entertaining romance. While I do like Emerson and Michael, I thought that their chemistry fell a little flat in some moments in Hourglass. With Kaleb (and another character I shall not mention because spoilers aren’t fun), the chemistry was sizzling. Plus, their banter was a ton of fun to read.

After the big journey Timepiece takes you on, I found the ending to be a little lackluster. It’s a cliffhanger, but not one of those “OMG THE AUTHOR IS EVIL FOR ENDING IT THERE” types. I mean, you know there’s more to this story, so the ending isn’t very revelatory. Since I love the story, I am curious to see how it will end and what perspective McEntire will use for the final book. My impression is that she won’t continue with Kaleb’s perspective, but with another character, who I really really like and seriously hope the author chooses him or her.

It goes without saying that you should totally check out Myra McEntire’s Hourglass series. If you have read Hourglass and aren’t sure about continuing on with Timepiece, I hope my review convinces you to do so.

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Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Timepiece hits bookstores June 12, 2012. You can pre-order it at our TYF Store, powered by Amazon.

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