Read FBC's Review of The HourGlass Door Here

Read FBC's Review of The Golden Spiral Here

Visit Lisa Mangum's Website Here 

OVERVIEW: Abby walked through the black door at the end of the Golden Spiral (book 2 of the Hourglass Door Trilogy). The decision to walk through the door meant that she had to leave Dante, Abby's one true love, behind. However, it is the only one that can help her save her family and stop the river of time from being destroyed by Zo. If the river of time is destroyed the past, present and future will be thrown into pure chaos and everyone's future will be uncertain.

FORMAT: The Forgotten Locket is the third book in the Hourglass Door Trilogy. It is a YA novel that contains a mixture of time traveling, romance, magic and action. Events within The Forgotten Locket pick up right where The Golden Spiral left off and it is imperative to read the previous novels before starting this final book. The Forgotten Locket stands at 416 pages and was published May 30, 2011 by Shadow Mountain Publishing.

ANALYSIS: The Hourglass Door Trilogy has slowly become one of those series I couldn't wait to read the next book in. When I read the first novel, The Hourglass Door, I was a little taken aback. I loved the characters and the plot but there were some elements, mainly the time traveling and river, that left me a little confused.

Jump ahead to the second book, The Golden Spiral, and things really picked up. There was action, adventure, and the characters continued to grow and develop right before my eyes. The one downside? It ended in a cliffhanger and like every fantasy reader cliffhangers just make me want to read the next book immediately.

So now, we've come to the end of the Hourglass Door Trilogy and I have to say that The Forgotten Locket is the perfect ending to a wonderful and amazing series.

Lisa Mangum absolutely knows how to take a story, develop it right before your eyes and wrap it up with no loose ends. Everything that I loved about the previous two books, mainly the characterizations and plot line, continued throughout The Forgotten Locket. Abby, Dante, Zo and Valerie continued to become fleshed out characters that are multi-dimensional. So many authors get wrapped up in ending the series that they forget to let the characters continue to grow. Luckily for readers, Lisa Mangum seized the opportunity to let her characters grow while finishing the series.

The Forgotten Locket is just as much a page turner as the previous books in the series. However, I did start to feel the novel drag a little towards the end but this could be because things were wrapping up and the plot was starting to come full circle.

One of the elements that I was still a little confused about, the river of time, really did come together in the end. After reading all three books it makes sense. It still might be a little confusing if you just take it at face value in the first or second book, but when you put all three together it just fits.

While I really enjoyed the characters and plot development, what I absolutely loved about The Forgotten Locket was the way that Lisa Mangum tied everything together. Little clues that were dropped in previous novels are brought back and explained in further detail. I thought this was a nice touch and a great way to acknowledge the previous novels without rehashing everything for the readers.

Overall, I thought this was a perfect way to end the series. In fact, I couldn't think of a better way to end it if I had written it. There was just the right blend of sweet romance between Abby and Dante, and heart pounding action between Dante, Zo and Abby.

I really believe that because this series bares the stigma of "YA romance/fantasy" it is overlooked by many people who would enjoy it. Lisa Mangum is an amazingly gifted author who really hit the fantasy scene with an outstanding debut. While the door for this series comes to a close, I really can't wait to see what new door opens for Lisa Mangum as I am almost certain that this will not be the last we hear from her.