Reading Between Classes

This and other reviews can be found on Reading Between ClassesCover Impressions: I really do like this cover. It is simple, clean and effective.The Gist: In this sequel to Hourglass we switch to Kaleb's point of view and learn more about his emphatic powers. Jack Landers is still on the lose and time rips are becoming more frequent, and real, than ever. Against this backdrop, The Hourglass is issued an ultimatum, find and deliver Jack, or face an alternate timeline that could destroy its members.Review: This book was not easy to get into. I read Hourglass quite a long time ago and, despite re-reading my review and checking this site I still found it very difficult to remember exactly what had happened and what we had previously learned about Rips and Time Traveling. I was pretty confused for at least the first 50 pages or so.I was also unimpressed with the we-hate-each-other-so-much-you-just-know-we-are-going-to-end-up-together romance that I have seen over and over again. And, of course, Kaleb becomes a one woman gal practically over night. Because, as we all know, bad boys are only bad boys until the right girl comes along!I did eventually come to like Kaleb and I got sucked into the story once it got going. The ending was a little unsatisfying but, that is par for the course for middle book in a trilogy (this is a trilogy right? Someone correct me if I am wrong). I do feel kinda like. in the end, nothing was accomplished in this book that couldn't have been achieved in a short story or novella. I am beginning to think that time travel books are just not for me. It seems like cheating to be able to benefit from the shock value of killing off characters only to cheapen it by changing time/bringing them back to life. There also tend to be long-winded explanations of how time travel works and complicated materials and/or circumstances required. Timpiece had both of these.Overall, I was underwhelmed by Timepiece. There wasn't really anything wrong with the writing. The characters were enjoyable enough. The plot moved at a decent pace. I guess there just wasn't anything that stood out as GREAT and this (coupled with my Time Traveling issues) left me lukewarm at bestTeaching/Parental Notes:Age: 13 and upGender: FemaleSex: Mentioned but not describedViolence: knifeplay, gunplayInappropriate Language: NoneSubstance Abuse: Underage drinking