Book Review: The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

Abby (never Abigail) lives a normal and well . . . boring life. She is ready for her next step in life to be anything, but what’s expected. Little does she realize that the moment Dante enters her life things will never be normal again. Time may very well stop.

I picked this book up last year while in Indianapolis, near midnight in a Barnes and Noble. Tired and ready for a good book to jump off the shelf, this book, The Hourglass Door, caught my eye. Ever the book cover judge, I was ultimately intrigued by its award status, ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Award Winner. I’m never one to pay close attention to awards, in a sense it doesn’t make or break whether I read it. However, this impressed me as The Hourglass Door is Lisa Mangum’s first book.

At times the book is very evidently a first book; what with character’s banter back and forth and predictability. I am, though, somewhat of a dialogue junky and can be quite picky. Lisa Mangum has a great gift for writing poetic like analogies. She won me over with her descriptions of feelings and settings. I would have liked a better balance between the maturity of the mental musings of Abby and the overall story. She seemed misplaced for the world around her. I don’t believe that was intentional, but I could be wrong.

It is very refreshing to read a YA novel that is not drowning in sexual overdrive. There is romance, but it fits with the story, as well as the characters themselves. To make a sort of intentional nonsense comment “It is nice to read a ‘nice’ book.”

I will be reading her other books. I look forward to following her career in the writing world.

For more information about Lisa and her books checkout her website: http://www.leosdungeon.com/