Review: The Hourglass Door - Lisa Mangum

Where I got it: From publisher for review

Rating: 3.5 stars

Cover Rating: 3 stars (It's okay, it is certainly pretty, but not pretty enough for me to choose it on a shelf. The title is quite catching though.)

Genre: Young Adult

Publication Date: May 10, 2010

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Page Count: 398 p.

Abby's life is all planned out. She has a boyfriend who is always one step ahead and a best friend that she plans to room with in college. Then an exchange student shows up from Italy. Dante completely turns Abby's life upside down. She has decided to abandoned, her boring sturdy life, and instead live without limits. She wants surprises and adventures, and Dante seems like he holds a lot of surprises. The only question is, can she handle the truth?

I'm such a sap for loving these bad boy romances! Abby is one of those main characters who should not be set up with the love interest in the book. She's sort of shallow-ish and weak at times and what not. I don't know, these girls just seem sort of lost and it doesn't make since that these guys who have been through so much and are so worldly would choose to settle for a plain girl. I guess it gives hope to the readers? Anyways on to the book itself. There was a key plot element that I wish I hadn't known about prior to reading, since it sort of spoiled some of the build up for the first half of the novel. I loved the premise though and Dante certainly kept me reading. It's always interesting when a character is hard to read, brooding and mysterious and such. I wish the other characters were more memorable, but most of them weren't. Some characters cropped up randomly in the novel, and no explanation was given as to who they are and what their part was in the story.  Like Lily...who is she and where did she come from? Did I miss her somewhere in the beginning? This is another book that is sort of hard to talk about without spoiling anything, because like I said, there's a major plot point that sort of messes with the flow of the book if you know about it before you start reading. All the places were described quite well, and made me feel like I was there, even in the places I wouldn't want to be. Sometimes Lisa Mangum used the same description twice within the same page though, so that was a little annoying and distracting, and in general made the sentence less powerful as it could have been if it was only used once. This novel ended well, but still left you with a mystery that will be delved into in the next novel. I am very eager to read The Golden Spiral and am super glad that The Forgotten Locket comes out soon. If you enjoyed Hush, Hush I think you should pick this one up, you will love it.

First Line:
"It is the counting that saves him."


Favorite Line:
"His mouth moved on mine and electricity shot through my veins."