ARC Review--Awaken by Meg Cabot

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, the dark reimagining of the Persephone myth comes to a thrilling conclusion.

Death has her in his clutches. She doesn’t want him to let go.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she’d be forced to live forever in the one place she’s always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves.

But now her happiness — and safety — are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul.

If the balance between life and death isn’t fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce’s home back on earth will be wiped away. But there’s only one way to restore order. Someone has to die.

I received this e-ARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.


So when I saw Meg Cabot's Awaken on Netgalley, I pounced on it! Since I read Underworld as an ARC, I NEEDED to read this one as soon as capably possible! And luckily, after a few weeks I was approved! Yay!

The story picks up pretty much where we left off, granted my memory of Underworld wasn't the best, but I got the general idea of what went down. Pierce, Kayla and Alex are all in the Underworld with John and his ghostly pals. Kayla and Alex are there for protection against the Furies who continue to make Pierce's life above ground miserable. 

But when things go awry, such as the Fates disappearing and the ships that take the souls to their afterlife--whether it be good or bad--collide, things in the Underworld start to get hairy. Especially when John is in a state of near deadness. By that I mean, he isn't breathing or responding or anything. Just lying there, totally unresponsive. But since he is in a sense dead being the ruler of the Underworld, Pierce isn't going totally ballistic. She knows there's a way to save John, she just has to find the right person to help her, such as the God of the dead, Thantos.

Soon Pierce and her friends are back above ground and trying to figure out which human Thantos might be possessing in order to survive and it doesn't take too long for Pierce to get a hunch and act upon it. But even after that's resolved, there is still the issue of all the Furies creating chaos above ground for Pierce and her friends and family. Her grandmother is still a psychotic b with an itch and it's very likely people might die, like for good and Pierce still does have friends and family who aren't spirits living in the Underworld who can die and not come back to life. And of course there's still chaos in the Underworld without the ships to deliver people to their afterlife.

Awaken was quite the fun filled read! And a one-day read! Yay! Having a poor memory of the last book, I wasn't sure what to expect, although some resolution with Pierce's grandmother who was out to kill John, because she was possessed by a Fury. There was a good deal of action in this one. Battles here and there, some big, some small.

There's also a good deal of resolution, which is expected since this concludes the trilogy! I was quite pleased with how things ended too. It's one of those endings that leave you thinking that more could possibly happen, and yet still knowing that this might be The End. The characters deserve the endings they got because of their actions, whether brave or not. 

The romance in this one wasn't much this time around. I can't recall how it was in the previous books, but I felt like there wasn't much there. Just the fact that Pierce and John love one another. True, there are some moments that are swoon worthy, but they were few and far between. The rest just read as plain simple love between the characters. Which in a way, makes sense. Not that I am happy about it, but there was a lot to deal with so it's not like Pierce and John could take some time-outs and have a romantic evening. Although there was the one night...but I won't say more!

The Abandon Trilogy was a delightful read with the Greek mythology twist to it. It's definitely a far cry different than Aimee Carter's Goddess Trilogy that dealt with the same myth, but I enjoyed both trilogies. They were each unique in their own way of retelling a beloved myth, a myth that I remember reading and didn't really feel the "love" but perhaps I read it too young--like in the seventh grade. I might need to refresh my memory on the Greek myths in bulk and see if there are aspects that I might have missed by reading them at a young age. Regardless, this trilogy was definitely worth the read and the ending was what I expected it to be.


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars


Awaken releases July 2, 2013