The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum is definitely a book to check out if you're ever in the mood for something captivating and different, without becoming too confusing along the way. The love story between Abby and Dante pulls the reader in, making it hard to put the book down, and best of all, there are no sparkly vampires! It's so hard nowadays to find a good book geared toward young adults that has nothing to do with blood-suckers, so The Hourglass Door is a refreshing break from that kind of thing.
The story focuses on Abby, and her reaction to the new Italian hottie at school, Dante. She feels an attraction to him from the moment he steps into the auditorium where she's working on the school play, and from then on, Abby's life is a whirlwind of love, heartbreak, and mystery. It's a story filled with time-travel, puzzles, and even a villain disquised as the lead singer of a punk band.
While I found some similarities to certain books distracting, and the plot was a little predictable at times, this was, overall, a good read, and kept me busy for a couple of days. I'm not usually into science fiction, but I felt that this book had a good balance of weirdness and reality, making it almost believable. Good work, Lisa Mangum, and I look forward to reading the sequel, The Golden Spiral.
