Review: Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren

Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren
My rating: 5 of 5 genies
Genre: YA, Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel, Historical, Adventure, Romance, Inspirational
Published: February 1, 2011
Pages: 369
Publisher: David C. Cook
Source: Library Loan
Format: Paperback
Purchase At: TheBookDepository.com or Amazon.com

Goodreads Summary

What do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?

Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives among the romantic hills with their archaelogist parents. Stuck among the rubble of the medieval castles in rural Tuscany, on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds...until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.

Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting.

My Thoughts

This is an excellent first book in the River of Time series, so much so that even before I finished reading - 2/4 of the way through - I knew that I needed to request my library for the last two.

Gabby is intelligent, I can't possibly count how many times this was stressed, the girl is smart. She speaks Latin and knows how to sword fight. A little too convenient for the whole transported back to Medieval times aspect of the story? Yes, but at least it was made clear that she knew these skills prior to time travel. Gabi did not miraculously pick up said abilities in Marcello's time period, becoming boss-awesome at everything, nstead she always knew how and the skill happened to come in handy. I want to leave it at that. Because I appreciate a little convenience sometimes a little not a lot and I enjoy a writer giving me the benefit of, well, having a brain. Thanks for that, Bergren!

I've actually read another book by her, Captain's Bride and didn't like that one much at all. The characters were all so back-biting there and seemed so selfish. So when I realized this and that book were by the same author, there was a little hesitance. Previous experience made me wary - I only got as far as 1/3 of the way with Captain's Bride - but my preconceptions were proved incorrect as this work is unique and, thankfully, much better!

I'm not going to criticize overly this literature because honestly I enjoyed it, I really did. The characters are heavily realistic and the setting seems very true to Medieval century. Save a few inconsistencies. I liked the details added and that made the story more authentic, like the no indoor plumbing bit - gross but necessary! - the tub-bathing (literally) and the basic grossness of men back then. Needless to say, some were without manners? Nasty!

Marcello and Luca (love that name!) were gems among men. Actually, I never thought either was perfect per se. I believed they were well-mannered, sensitive very attractive but not perfect. These are the kind of guys I would not mind having around!

Another thing I would like to draw attention to is the romance; I felt it was very believable, there was the whole insta-attraction thing, but with Marcello who can really blame Gabs? She was attracted to him, that was certain It was satisfying that at the end Gabi was still kinda figuring out her feelings for him and it's the kind of love I see lasting.

All in all I am very eager to see what happens in Cascade, how they explain the time travel to their mother and how Gabi/Lia get back! I couldn't put this book down for anything, the politics were interesting and enlightening. I recommend this to anyone in need of a good Historical Romance. This is it!

----------------------------------- 5/5 genies! ---------------------------

Some things that annoyed me: Possible SPOILERS ahead!!!!!

- I understood Lia's need to get back, I mean that period in time was as unpredictable as buck! What with people being beheaded at every what-instance and the Bubonic Plague, killing people off as well as Bloody Mary could, I sympathized being anywhere near a place like that would freak anyone out. BUT. I hated how whiny she was about getting back!

Lia: "Ah, let's go home, Gabs, mom's probably worried blah blah blah blah and we need to get back before we blah blah with the space-time continuum."

Judith: *Duck tapes Lia to dungeon* "Shut it, Lia! She's staying."

Like really, all the girl cared about was getting home to a barely-there mother. What with her obsession with finding the tombs secrets, she would hardly feel their absence, this is what I was led to believe.

*Sigh* She even wanted Gabriella going to the tombs after knowing about her conflicted emotions with Marcello! Ugh, it just made her come off as blessedly human and selfish. So many emotions for this book! Trust me when I say, you need to pick yourself a copy, STAT!

Review: Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Hourglass by Myra McEntire
My rating: .5 of 5 genies
Published: June 14, 2011
Publisher: Egmont USA
Pages: 387
Source: Library Loan
Format: Hardcover
Purchase At: The BookDepository.com or Amazon.com

Goodreads Summary  

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?

WARNING: This review will not be coherent and most definitely a rage as I am pissed. That is all.

Emerson: A short poem I have composed and to be sung to the tune of ‘Georie Peorgie,’ the first half and at the second half, to ‘Humpty Dumpty’ lies below. The rest of the verse is purely improvised. Mostly.

“Emerson, Emerson, barely foot five
Tried to be spunky and made the kids cry
She terrorized the readers and made them beg, “Emerson, be gone, fowl beast! Stay away!”
Until one day she fell was pushed off the Great Wall of China
And all the King’s horses and all the King’s men…Wait, who was Emerson again?
I can’t hear you over the party.”


Meaning the party for my completion of this novel. Who wouldda thunk I'd finish?

Rating: .5 genies

As you might have gathered, Emerson is a very special person. Throughout the novel this is all I got: 'OOOH… Emerson is so athletic, Emerson is so gorgeous, Emerson is so thoughtful...' Emerson is so freaking perfect. Get me a hand gun, I wanna hunt her down. How I hate Emerson! I never did understand when people raged about Bella, nor had issues with her because at the time I read Twilight I hadn’t yet found a problem with the essentially 'perfect' heroine who gets love, money and everything she wants in the end.

Until I met the pygmy ninja that is Emerson Cole.

Someone please explain to me exactly how that is even possible? Or how the girl can be everything McEntire intends for her to be? She is snarky, but not too snarky, gorgeous, but obliviously unaware of it even when others persist in gushing over her like she’s some prized turkey. The girl is 'damaged' because the death of her parents provides that opening for empathysympathy my footand Emerson is somehow thoughtful as welleven though she does as she wishes regardless of people's warnings or opinions a good 99% of the time. I don't know about you lot, but I demand some credibility!

Characters are not genetic engineered people you can put together, McEntire, they aren’t dollies to be assembled into perfect Bella Swan or Nora Grey wannabes. It never works out well when authors attempt to make their characters essentially perfect, this book being a very apt example of how quickly things can go wrong.

Stuff hits the roof when by halfway into the book, a reader despises most of your characters. There is something very wrong with the animosity I feel for this girl, possibly because I was made to suffer through days in her life for approximately 390 pages.

This is a brief summary of my journey with the book. Notice how quickly my patience diminishes:

Page 1: AW YEAH, new book! New book!
Page 50: Is it just me…or is Emerson annoying as that creepy Fellow Orange down on YouTube land? No, maybe more.
Page 130: Am I done yet?
Page 250: *Rolls eyes at everything*
Page 300: Fires flamethrower, about to aim…
Page 390: Very tempted to gag on book, wondering if I can use the pages as kindling. Must ask library. Winter is coming early this year…

This girl grated on my nerves worse than a freaking Woodpecker on an oak tree. It was all about her and by the end I stopped caring about Emerson and Michael, they could both go jump off a cliff together for all I cared. They were excrutiatingly annoying; the fact that they only ended up together because of attractiveness, and some very big problem in the way neurons in their bodies perceived contact, played a massive role in why I do not give a buck what they do!

Because it was so obvious from the beginning that they would end up together.

It practically screamed at me in the face that Michael and Emerson would be a couple. Even when they had no real chemistry past lightning touch and she was running after him dressed like a hooker. By the way, what was that? It was as if a sudden breach in character happened - the change I'd been praying for since chapters occurring - but not for the good. So what? Emerson has the balls to chase after a guy dressed promiscuously. I do not care! Most of the book was useless information for mescratch that, maybe all of it and the sole reason this novel even got a half genie is Dru.

Dru who selflessly cared for her sister-in-law, Dru who had so much potential as a character. Dru who was so terribly out-staged by Emerson, and mind you, I do not care that she is the protagonist! The romance sucked, the characters so cliched I hardly knew what to do with myself. It was as if McEntire held a sharpie to Twilight and the first half of Breaking Dawn, slashed out all the original character's names and substituted her own with a twist.

Was the scientific aspect interesting? Barely. Before it could ever get in-depth or explained, Emerson would be there to somehow spotlight the attention back to her Michael woes. It is safe to also say that as a collective they were all selfish. After Michael's sacrifice, Kaleb and his dad do not have even the respect to feel bad - they continue on with their life as if he owed them the act. I mean, What the Eff, Man! Not that the two (Kaleb and Michael) ever related as friends in my opinion.

Behind Kaleb's back, Michael would bad-mouth him to Emerson and behind Michael's back, Kaleb made moves on that same girl! Three words gentlemen: Bros before Hoes. That there is grade school knowledge. All their shared history took an enormous backseat to this girl and they forgot all they had been through together! How is that right??

This is precisely why some women should never pen fiction. A real guy and his B.F. would not sacrifice their relationship for some chick! I positively hated the pedestal everyone gave little Miss Emerson, as if she was some Deity! So frustrating. Especially since I never respected her as a character, I could never relate or sympathize, and at first I did feel bad, but then I stopped caring altogether.

Everything irritated me. How she found a connection to Kaleb after knowing him for no more than 5 minutes irritated me. How the world revolves around her far-fetched infatuation with Michael killed me. She tried so hard to make it seem sexy. So very, very hard! And failed.

Failed so hard.

Did I forget to mention?[That the pathetic attempt at making their 'love' seem star-crossed, forbidden and even impossible was so lame.? Yeah, it was. (hide spoiler)]

And you know what? Screw it all! This book deserves a review almost as much as Emerson warranted my time. I'm out!

But before I leave...

IMMA FIRIN' MAH GUN!



And one for the Little Emerson as well? Certainly.

.5/5 genies: I wouldn't recommend this book, to ANYONE. Unless you liked Twilight, then go for it.