Review--Abandon by Meg Cabot

New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

PIERCE KNOWS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DIE,

BECAUSE SHE'S DONE IT BEFORE.

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

THE MYTH OF PERSEPHONE...DARKLY REIMAGINED.

Before reading Meg Cabot's Abandon, I had read mixed reviews, but overall I rather enjoyed it! First off I adored Meg Cabot's Mediator series! Read it so long ago, that my first 4 books were written under her pen-name Jenny Carroll! Loved that story and while the ending was just a tad cheesy, still love the series! And when I heard her say fans of her Mediator series would like this one, because it had a paranormal element going on, I knew I had to have it! So I bought it at Bookperk--technically I bought Francesca Lia Block's Roses and Bones and this one was free, but whatever!

Onto the review! I'll admit that in the beginning I was totally thrown through several loops. I was slightly disoriented because there were some flashbacks to say what had happened and who John is. He keeps popping up around Pierce and we get that they have some connection, just not what. So we have flashback to their first meeting, and then later jump to another flashback. So there were a few of those and then references to other past events, it was a little like LOST at times, really confusing and disorienting, although LOST was worse--in the confusing me part! The confusion here wasn't as horrendous, if all that makes sense!

As you might know by now I adore Greek mythology, mostly because the myths are like early fairy tales and I love the original fairy tales--and Disney too! I'm just plain weird! ;) So when I heard that Cabot's new series would be paranormal like and involving Greek mythology I had to have the book even more! And the myth with Persephone and Hades--along with the creation of the seasons so to speak, is well known to me and I've seen it in a few of the other books I've been reading lately.

Pierce is a very interesting character. I liked her. She was changed after her NDE (near death experience), and she wasn't overtly annoying about it either. She did seem rather normal and she seemed like someone I could truly relate to. There was and is still quite a bit of mystery going on in the book as well. It's not completely solved either since this is a trilogy. But enough questions get answered so you're not thoroughly P.Oed. At least I wasn't.

There were also quite a few shocking revelations at the end. And I was starting to wonder if I should have pieced the puzzle together sooner. When I look back now, the clues were totally obvious, I just couldn't quite put 2 and 2 together.

The romance wasn't really romance either. It was more of a building to. That the characters have some sort of connection that one has yet to really comprehend (trying to be vague so I don't lead to spoilers). But what I am trying to get through is the relationship/romance takes time to build and I like that. I like seeing a relationship grow vs seeing it already in action. I like that gradual buildup of the romance. I guess I'm a romantic in that way--which would make my close friends laugh insanely hard if they knew I said that!

Needless to say though, I am officially hooked to the series! I loved Abandon through and through! And soooo cannot wait to second in the series Underworld!

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars