Timepiece (Hourglass #2) by Myra McEntire

Release date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Format: Egalley
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher provided through Netgalley
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

A threat from the past could destroy the future. And the clock is ticking...


Kaleb Ballard's relentless flirting is interrupted when Jack Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, timeslips in and attacks before disappearing just as quickly. But Kaleb has never before been able to see time travelers, unlike many of his friends associated with the mysterious Hourglass organization. Are Kaleb's powers expanding, or is something very wrong?


Then the Hourglass is issued an ultimatum. Either they find Jack and the research he's stolen on the time gene, or time will be altered with devastating results. 


Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their unusual powers to find Jack. But where do they even start? And when? And even if they succeed, it may not be enough...

I adored Hourglass. I loved the fascinating take on time travel, and I loved Emerson and everyone in her world. I was so very excited to read Timepiece and it really didn't disappoint. I don't think I could say I loved it quite as much as Hourglass, but it is very much a worthy sequel and I absolutely can't wait for the third book!

At first I was hesitant with Kaleb narrating, since Emerson had been such a fantastic narrator. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that I actually liked Kaleb narrating more than Emerson. In Hourglass he was a bit of a mystery, but we really get under his skin and get to know him here. We see past his tough exterior, through his joking, to the deeper, sensitive, and hurting side of him and I really grew to love him as a character.

Timepiece picks up the action right where Hourglass left off and pretty much never stops. The situation becomes a higher risk and more complicated, making my head spin while dragging me deeper into the story. Time travel is a fascinating subject by itself, but Myra McEntire takes it into it's own league of interesting.

Timpiece has completely avoided any fear of a sophomore slump with it's higher stakes and non-stop action. All of your favorite characters are back and doing what they do best. Everything I loved about Hourglass is there, just with a new, even more engaging narrator and a story that will keep you riveted.

Risk a paper cut? Fans of Hourglass will absolutely not be disappointed and will be left dying for more. :)

Winners!

Hey everybody!

Thank you all so much for the fabulous response to the giveaway. I had such a great time reading everyone's comments and definitely have quite a few new books I'm looking forward to as well! Anyways, without further ado, I am here to announce the winners!

Andrea won Shadow & Bone

Emily won Of Poseidon

Rebecca won Struck

Lisseth won Monument 14

So congratulations to them! All of the winners have been contacted and have 48 hours to respond. Thanks again y'all! :)

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Would you like to win a signed copy of this book? Enter here to win!

Release date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Format: Hardcover
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

Six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

When I was preparing myself to go to the Fierce Reads signing, I read each book written by the authors so I would be as informed as possible. (I ALWAYS do my homework!) Honestly, the book I had the lowest hopes for was Monument 14. I thought the idea was interesting enough, but it didn't spark my imagination. I read it because I felt I had to. Much to my surprise, I ended up enjoying it deeply.

The book starts right off into the action, with a huge hailstorm striking right as Dean and his little brother are riding on the bus to school. The bus driver takes the students to safety in a local superstore, a la Walmart or Target, and then leaves to find help. The fourteen children and teenagers are then left to fend for themselves, locked in a store with everything they could possibly need. Sounds like cake, right? But living through an apocalypse in a Greenway isn't all it's cracked up to be. With who knows what going on outside the store, the kids have to grow up in a short time, learning what is important to hold on to and what they have to let go.

I loved reading from Dean's point of view, partially because in YA you don't get a lot of male narrators, and I find it so refreshing, but also because he was just an interesting character to follow. He's very much a teenage boy, with fixations on girls and being cool to the popular kids, but also trying to find his way in an incredibly difficult situation. He screws up--multiple times--but his heart is in the right place and ultimately it drives him to the right decisions.

While there is only action here and there in Monument 14, I found the plot driving along quite quickly and was absorbed, wondering what was going to happen. I lived for the glances of the outside world, just as curious as the kids to find out just what was happening out there. And the ending just about made up for the lack of action in a lot of the book, with just everything happening so quickly and so unexpectedly. It made me unbelievably excited to read the sequel. I fell in love with many of the characters, especially those crazy adorable little kids, and just have to know how they fare.

Risk a paper cut? Monument 14 isn't the most action-packed of apocalyptic themed books, but it is character driven and exciting to read. I heartily recommend keeping a Band-Aid, and maybe a tissue, handy.

Feature & Follow Friday #22

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read each week and is a joint effort between all of us bloggers to find new blogs to read, love, and obsess over. Plus each week a different question is answered, so we can all learn a little bit more about the bloggers whose opinions matter to us. :) Tally ho! 

I haven't done this in forever, but I've found myself missing it recently! I also feel like making some new friends this week. :)

Q. What drove you to start book blogging in the first place?
ME. Mmmm, I had several reasons. First, a year ago, when I began blogging, I was still a Pre-Pharmacy student without much of an outlet for my book obsession. I still read all of the time and talked about books incessantly to anyone who listened, but they were few and far between. I NEEDED people who loved books as much as I did. (Of course, as an English major now I won't have that problem anymore!) I knew I was pretty opinionated, so writing reviews was just something that came easily. I've also always been fascinated with the publishing industry, so I wanted a way to get a little more insight into it. Once I got started, I fell in love with the community, the passion, and just how much fun it is, so I kept on! 


Yay! That's it! Please be sure to check out my giveaway going on right now for signed copies of the books featured on the Fierce Reads tour this summer: Of Poseidon, Shadow & Bone, Struck, and Monument 14!! Nothing is required to enter, and there will be an international winner! :)

GIVEAWAY: I've Got Some Signed Books. Do You Want to Win Them?

I know I've been MIA recently, which seems to be a trend for this year so far. I work full time and when I get off I just don't have energy to get on the computer and use my brain in the least, so I just don't. But, I will be heading to school next month and I always have time to kill not trying to study.

In the meantime, I will be posting when I can, but I also have some books to give away! As you may have seen, I went to a Fierce Reads tour stop last month and Macmillan gave me a set of the books to give away to my lovely readers! So at the signing, I got all of them signed and each of four winners will receive one.

 You must be 13 years old to enter. I will reserve ONE book for an international winner, all others will be US. Giveaway will end at 12:01 EST on July 24. Winners will be chosen at random through Rafflecopter and notified through email, after which the winners have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.


a Rafflecopter giveaway