Infinityglass by Myra McEntire

What I liked:

• It kept my interest. I finished it in two days.
• The split point of view between Dune and Hallie. The back-and-forth works great, and sparks flew in the romance. The two POVs didn’t differ a whole lot in voice, but I found the male voice adequately masculine and believable as a boy.
• The New Orleans setting is vivid. I got the feeling like I was vacationing there.
• The ending is adorable.

What I didn’t like:

• Dune’s powers rarely show themselves, but his powerful backstory makes up for this.
• The romance might have overshadowed the sci-fi/fantasy elements of the plot at points, but I didn’t mind.

All in all: 5 stars.

Timepiece by Myra McEntire

I got to hear Myra McEntire speak at UtopiaCon and it was awesome!! I wasn't sure how to go up to someone and say, "Hi, I'm pretty sure we're kindred spirits, but I don't have any weapons on me, so I'm not a total creep."

Anyway, now I have signed copies of all three books!!

What I liked: 

• It kept my interest. I finished it in two days.
• Timepiece is told from the head of a boy who can read emotions, and this is done brilliantly. It was adequately masculine.
• The time travel element sticks around despite the main characters being non-time-travelers.
• One of the most interesting aspects of this book is Lily’s background. Lately, I’ve been advised not to write about other ethnic backgrounds, and I think many authors suffer from similar advice. Not Myra. Lily is an immigrant who fled Cuba with her grandmother when she was little. Her parents were left behind, and she had to change her name when she came to the states. RTFO more.

What I didn’t like: 

• I wish the cover had a boy on it, because a blond girl with gravity issues has nothing to do with this story.
• I think someone told Myra “Your villain has to be actively present throughout your story” and so she threw Jack into scenes where he had no logical reason for being.
• I’m not sure I actively disliked this, but the romance was a little slow and not nearly as sparky as the romance in Hourglass. I think it has to do with the male POV. This might be the POV is split between two characters in Infinityglass.

All in all: 3 stars.

Read my review of Hourglass here. An Infinityglass review is coming soon!

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

I decided to read Hourglass because Myra McEntire will be one of the keynote speakers at UtopiaCon this summer.  Warning: This review contains spoilers.

Things I liked:

• Protagonist Emerson Cole ventures into a world where supernatural powers seem to revolve around the manipulation of time. It’s fascinating, especially toward the end. The romance is sparky and tumultuous, with Freudian rosebuds and supernatural complications. The guy manages to be flawed without being a total asshole, and the writer doesn’t glorify his jerk moments—Emerson responds with appropriate ass-kicking.
• As a mental health activist, I have to comment on the book’s treatment of depression and psychosis. During the first few chapters of the book, Emerson confuses her gift—seeing people from the past—with psychosis related to her depression. It’s convincing; it’s not overdone for dramatic effect. The description of disabling depression is realistic, from what I can tell. In one insightful moment, Emerson’s best friend Lily says, “The thing is, Em, you don’t know if you struggled with the depression because of your circumstances or if it’s a chemical thing. You might have to deal with it again.”

Things I didn’t like:

• This book embraces some tropes I’m rather tired of. Why does every character in a book have to be gorgeous? Somebody throw me a realistic Jane Eyre once in a while. I get enough of gorgeous people from TV shows, I don’t need them in my books. This is a matter of personal taste, but compound it with dubiously necessary love triangulation, and I’m in “I’ve read this before” territory. Then you’ve got all the tropes that go along with that—MC’s best friend pervs over love interest, MC pervs over love interest’s best friend
• There are no consequences to any action that the MC takes. Well, okay, she gets grounded. But her crimes include multiple counts of breaking and entering, messing with two guys who are best friends, and jeopardizing the space-time continuum. She gets off really easy.
• Emerson doesn’t struggle enough with fear. I like it when characters do courageous things in the face of their fear. Emerson is conveniently fearless.
• There’s also a very unnecessary gun.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, though, so I award it: 4/5 stars.