The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum Review

The Hourglass Door
Lisa Mangum
May 13th, 2009
Source - Publisher
My Summary:

Abby's life has always gone according to plan, nothing ever changes. Except now that it's her senior year, she's thinking about different options...like instead of going to State with everyone else, she might really want to go to Emery back east. And maybe perfect, always-has-an-answer Jason just might not be the guy for her. Everything starts unraveling at the seams when she meets Dante Alexander, the new foreign exchange student. He's unlike anyone else in town, and shrouded in mystery. Time doesn't seem to pass the same way whenever she's around him. The more Abby gets to know him, the more she can't deny that there is something unusual about him. In the end, Abby's life could change because of one guy, and his secrets...

Surprising and intriguing, The Hourglass Door is addictive from the very first page to the last. 

Abby's got her life all pulled together in a neat little bow, but it all falls apart when Dante comes around. I found Abby to be very easy to relate to, especially since she's a stagehand for her school's play productions (a job I used to hold when I was in high school). At first, she came across as a bit bland, and very average (but I felt like she changed throughout the novel). Dante himself is intriguing, but what I love about him most is that he isn't the "bad boy" that YA books seem to love throwing into stories. He's actually a really good guy, and his relationship with time travel is very different than I expected. 

The characters that make up the band Zero Hour were interesting as well, and their roles have me curious about what will happen in the second novel. The plot surprised me at a few points, and the end shocked me again. By the time I finished the last sentence of The Hourglass Door, I was scrambling to start The Golden Spiral in order to find out what happens next in such a captivating trilogy. This is a very fun novel to read if you're in the mood for a bit of mystery, romance and an ending that will leave you wanting to dive into the sequel. 

Highlights: I've never read a time travel book quite like this one. The Hourglass Door grabbed me when it should, and made it very difficult to stop reading. 

Lowlights: It did seem like there was something missing, although I can't really say for sure what. It got a bit confusing at a couple points too, so I had to reread a few sections. Much like Meyer's Twilight series, Mangum is a great storyteller, and I can easily see people enjoying this one. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Image from Goodreads