Timepiece - Myra McEntire

Timepiece (Hourglass #2) - Myra McEntire
Grade: YA
Rating: 5/5 stars

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...

The follow-up to Hourglass, Timepiece blends the paranormal, science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres into a nonstop thrill ride where every second counts. (Description from Goodreads) 

~ * ~ * ~

After the amazing 'Hourglass' I was desperate to find out what happens next to the time-gene crew, especially when I heard 'Timepiece' focused heavily on troubled bad-boy, Kaleb. This would be one of those moments when reading the blurb of the book might have come in handy, because it's not just that the story involves Kaleb more than the previous book. 'Timepiece' IS Kaleb's book.

Told in first-person, Kaleb's narration picks up shortly after 'Hourglass' ends and details his struggle to accept his mother's failing health and the issues he has to face now that the travel rules have been broken to restore his family. If you thought he had a hard time dealing with family issues before, it's nothing compared to what he and the other Hourglass students face now. I really enjoyed Kaleb's voice and the switch in perspective. While I missed Emerson's story a bit, it was cool to see the world through new eyes - and from someone who has a different power and who has known about the crazy time-related world his whole life - even if he wasn't always kept in the loop.

We're introduced to two enemies early on in the book - one we've come across before, Jack Landers, who is on the loose and must be found before he ruins more timelines and causes serious damage to the present timeshift. And a new enemy, The Powers That Be, a mysterious 'governing' body who threaten to reverse the new timeline created at the end of 'Hourglass' unless the Hourglass can find a way to fix the consequences of changing the past - which includes stopping Jack from finding a hidden time device that could change the world. I was worried about their task; it seemed almost impossible to tell a bunch of teenagers to fix the world or else! But at the same time I love the danger and adventure that came with this storyline. 'Timepiece' was darker because of the constant threat of failure. I'll admit that I was sometimes shocked at how they solved problems, it seemed too easy. In a book where new trouble popped up at every corner - the solutions came out of no-where; but they usually brought more trouble, so it kept the excitement going.

I think my biggest issue with the book came from the romance. Because Kaleb showed a fair bit of interested in Emerson during the previous book, I had latched onto those emotions and part of me was really hoping they could have a chance together - despite knowing Michael and Emerson have a crazy, electric connection. In an attempt to move on from his Emerson obsession, Kaleb throws himself at the first girl he sees, who happens to be Emerson's best friend, Lily; she's also not interested in him, which makes Kaleb try harder to get her attention. I wasn't so quick to let go of my Emerson hopes and I was convinced Lily was horrible for Kaleb. But Lily's presence proved to be the best thing for Kaleb; her emotions were hard to ignore and the fact that she didn't throw herself at him meant there was more learning about each other and less insta-love. It was exactly the stort of tension filled romance-drama that I want to see in YA books more often. It wiped out the possibility of love triangles and worked around non-relationship issues to bring them together.

Desperate to find out what happens next. The wait is going to be so hard.

5/5 stars


Kim
(Originally posted on Goodreads)