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Oh, and she has taken the written portion of the driver's test 42 times. And failed each time. If you had any lingering doubts about how stupid she is, do you feel them fading away right about now? When I first read the synopsis for the book, I nearly fainted from excitement. The premise seemed so enticing; and I was sure it was going to be as amazing as The Mediator series. The reality? The synopsis is actually hundred times more exciting than the book. I feel really deceived! Nothing actually happens throughout the book. Most of the book is about how Pierce landed in the Underworld and how she escaped from it; and her previous meetings with John. I kept waiting for something even remotely exciting to happen, but the book finished and nothing happened. Let's start with the characters. The protagonist, Pierce, is a bit skittish, but likable nonetheless. I could easily relate to her and understand her emotions. The secondary characters weren't especially developed but due to the advancement of the story, I imagine we will get to know them more in the following books. This one was primarily about Pierce and her relationship with John - which is very love/hate. John is… I haven't quite figured him out really. He's like a charming jerk - but that may simply be perception since his motives weren't all disclosed. So we'll see where it goes. The writing was good. We're told Pierce's story with the past and present interwoven. So we get snippets of what happened in the past that helps keep the story intriguing and mysterious. It does take a while to get all the pieces into place, but I liked the slow pace. The author took time to build up the intensity and details in the story; It was never boring. The ending though seemed a bit abrupt; just when things started to get real interesting, it ends. But I will forgive this since it's the first in a trilogy, so it's obviously not really over. The ending warped-up a bit to fast in my opinion, just when it was starting to get really interesting, so again, I have high hopes for the second book. Cabot really knows how to make her readers curious.
It saddens me to say so about a Meg Cabot book, but it has every element that annoys me in a YA PNR novel:
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Garbage collectors in Ankara have recently opened to the public their library of 6000 abandoned books. Brilliant. The book also makes light of statutory rape and suicide, using them as plot points to further Pierce's agenda rather than treating them with the respect and gravity that sensitive subjects like that deserve. Annoying main protagonist who makes me want to inflict some kind of violence on her (and believe me I am not a violent person!)
This book loved the words "cemetery sexton" WAAAAAYYYYY too much. There is a cemetery sexton in the book, but there was no reason for the author to refer to him as "cemetery sexton Richard Smith" every. single. time. he came up in the story, sometimes multiple times within a paragraph. COME ON.
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Once again… Greek Mythology. In case you can’t tell—we love the Greeks here at YA Sisterhood! When I heard that this book was a re-telling of the Persephone myth, I was a bit reluctant to dive right into it honestly. I’d just read the Goddess Test (See our previous review) and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to read two books with the same plot within a two-week period. But they couldn’t be more different! I would say Abandon is only loosely inspired by the Persephone myth. This story is entirely it’s own.
Pierce starts school and tries to be a normal person, although she keeps reminding us how difficult that is because she'd DIED once. Well, color me unimpressed. Buffy died twice. The story had so, so very little to do with the myth of Persephone. It was disappointing. Is it too late for Shannon Hale to try her hand at Greek mythology?Yeah, so if you're wondering why I'm being so "mysterious" it's because this book was pretty much a foreshadowing of a warning of a portent.
They meet again... in a graveyard, where this poor, unfortunate soul seems to hang out. Of course, that doesn't stop our heroine from asking the all important, universal question: "Why me?" Are you kidding me? But I have to remember, the problem with Pierce is that she's so stupid, she doesn't realize how stupid she is. Instead of running away from the crazed stalker, she apologizes to him for throwing the tea in his face. You know, when she was busy escaping. Pop quiz: What do you get when you mix not-so-bright heroine with a gallon of selfless? Mary-Sue.Lee and Juniper were really great characters, and I loved their banter and chemistry. Juniper, despite what she was going through, was such a strong character, and she was a great match for Lee and all of his grumpiness. Lee, having felt what it’s like to be abandoned and unloved, was very stoic and kept himself at a distance from others. I loved seeing Juniper slowly break down those walls to make him realise that he is worthy of being loved. And both of their relationships with Lincoln were just adorable, especially the ending, I mean that was seriously sweet. Also, just like in The Goddess Test (which is also a retelling of the Persephone/Hades myth), the narrator keeps talking about " that"". Apparently, spelling out the word sex is a capital offense. He stumbles on to my biggest secret and reveals a few of his own. He can't seem to stay away from me. He says he's too old for me, but I couldn't care less when he makes me feel cherished.
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