The Hourglass Door
by Lisa Mangum
My daughter, Alisa, my almost 16-year old granddaughter Amanda, and I decided to have our own little book club this summer. We read some book reviews in the Deseret News and decided to read the Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum. According to the newspaper article, this is the first novel by Mangum and “it won the 2009 Book of the Year for Young Adult Fiction, presented by ForeWord Reviews — a print magazine and online review service for readers, booksellers, book buyers, publishing insiders and librarians. Mangum’s second book, The Golden Spiral, won the same award in 2011.”
My granddaughter read it first. She gobbles up books like chocolate chip cookies and finished it in only a day or two. That’s when we found out it is a trilogy! Heck, you can’t just read the first book and 3 books are almost more than I care to commit to, but committed we were now! Amanda started on #2 in the series, quickly finished that and then read the third book. I started on #1.
I was intrigued by the beginning pages and so anxious to figure out what was going on. I almost never read sci-fi novels but have ended up reading two this summer. I thought this one was well-done in many ways. The characters are interesting, pretty believable and the ideas are unique. I am impressed with the many details woven into the story that keep the pace lively and brisk.
I had a hard time believing the characters were 17-18 year old kids. Abby, the main character seems to have lots of freedom….and seems to possess wisdom beyond her years, as she is supposedly the key to everything. Dante was an interesting guy. Who wouldn’t fall for a mysterious, darkly handsome Italian with a sexy accent? And yet, what bothered me was the improbability of this handsome hunk showing up at school and falling for Abby….with no apparent reason, much like the plot of Twilight. Is anyone else bothered by this premise?
By the time I had read all three books I had had it with some of the sappy descriptions. And I got tired of the river stuff. However, I have to admit that I ploughed through these books very, very quickly so it all got pretty redundant for me.
I know I haven’t revealed much about the plot. If you read these books you will want to discover that for yourselves. I don’t want to spoil it for you. My granddaughter enjoyed the books and I would say that junior high through high school is the target audience. We decided my daughter Alisa doesn’t have time for a trilogy. Amanda and I read “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio. (Review coming.) We’ll have Alisa read that instead. It’s a quick read with a good message.
I give this trilogy 3 out of 5 stars.
