Abandon Book 3: Awaken

This book did not disappoint! It was always going to have tough shoes to fill and it filled them well. Do I want even more? Yes! However I do have two tiny not-so amazing details.
1. It tied up way too nicely. Bad guys in jail, Furies gone, Grammy gone....
2. The blurb describing the book is completely different then what happens in the book!
But all-in-all this book was amazing!

I liked this book because of the romance and drama! I liked the story line but thought it was be a bit repetitive. I thought their should have been more action and a little less romance. I like romance but this was a bit over wellming. Over all I liked it. The take on the Persephone myth was really good. I recommend this book for girls ages 13-17! I really liked it and can't wait for the third book!

This book was filled with twists and turns, catastrophes, and love. There were many flashbacks, but Meg Cabot did a great job of keeping everything in order and the plot was very easy to follow. People who like Greek Mythology will appreciate this new take on it as well as people who don't know what mythology is will love it. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. 5 stars!

I loved the first book but there's something about this one that just feels like a filler than a good book by its self. I love Meg Cabot though. I do NOT like the ending and hope the next book will make up for this one.

Wonderful book! Wonderful Author! Meg Cabot was the first author I started reading for me in middle school. I am now 23 years old and continue to read her books because I like them even now. Her teen books are good for everyone! This book was a great ending to the series but I wish she would add one more.

It was an ambitious project (maybe an over-reach): explore near death experience; base it in Key West, Florida; use Greek mythology as a model for modern characters. This third book in the trilogy is in full wrap-up mode. There are so many characters to manage and so many ends to tie up -- both above and below ground -- the reader works diligently along with the author, sorting the details, like a laundry basket full of socks. It's almost as entertaining.

If you love Meg Cabot and Greek mythology, you'll love this series. In this second book, we get more perspective on John and the Underworld. But, more questions are raised which I hope are answered in the final installment of the series.

I really did like this book. The beginging and end were great. The middle was a little slow though. I think it could of made its point earlier in the book and also introduce the charachters histories more. Overall I did enjoy this book. I am excited for the second one to come out

Writing this review actually make me sad and guilty because I hate writing anything negative about a Meg Cabot book. I first discovered Princess Diaries when I was 11 years old and fell instantly in love with Meg Cabot's books. I loved the Princess Diaries series and the Mediator series even more! I haven't a read a Meg Cabot book since I was around 16, but I have happy memories of her books. Now I just wish I had not read Abandon, just so I could preserve those memories.

Abandon is a new take on the Hades-Persephone myth. Pierce, the main protagonist, finds herself in the "Underworld" similar to that of Hades', after she nearly drowns. There she meets John, whom she had previously met at her grandfather's funeral when she was a little kid. She somehow manages to escape the Underworld, but John seems to appear everywhere she goes, especially when she's in trouble. She can't seem to escape from him. After an incident, she moves to an island where her mother's family lives. However, trouble seems to follow her there too..

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.

I would not have minded the lack of a plot, if the character development was well done. However, every character is one-dimensional. I cannot remember liking a single character. As for Pierce, I hated her! There is not one likable quality about her.The only words I can use for her is - Spoilt brat! She's selfish, shallow, hypocritical and appears to be lacking a brain. She is portrayed as being someone who is not materialistic, yet she does and say stuff which makes her exactly so. When she gets into trouble, she says things like "You want money? Fine! My father will give it to you" . (Please keep in mind that's not an actual quote from the book). Her father ends up with a seven figure lawsuit due to Pierce's actions, but her reaction to it is as if it's an amusing thing. As in - "Haha How funny that I caused my father to be sued for seven million!" Seriously! Througout the book, it's been repeated again and again how "caring" she is. I just don't see it! None of her actions make her look "caring".

I don't know what to say about John because I know nothing about him. He's just another one of those generic dark, "bad boy" love interests with a tragic past. I do not understand how Pierce falls for him, considering that she seems to hate him for the most part. John gets angry often, sometimes violently angry and aggressive. He even tries to keep Pierce in the underworld against her wishes. He creeped me out and frightened me, but didn't make me go weak at the knees (as I suppose I was expected to?)

I missed sweet, awkward Mia from Princess Diaries and snarky, kick-ass Susannah from The Mediator; I missed the humor that sets Meg Cabot's books apart; I missed Jesse (from The Mediator) and Michael (from Princess Diaries) who were truly swoon-worthy.

Overall:
It saddens me to say so about a Meg Cabot book, but it has every element that annoys me in a YA PNR novel:
- Annoying main protagonist who makes me want to inflict some kind of violence on her (and believe me I am not a violent person!)
- Dark dangerous love interest (I suppose he was supposed to make me swoon, but he only made me yawn - he was that boring!)
- Actual Plot = Nil

I wanted to give this book one star. The extra star is because of how much I used to love the author's books.

WARNING: This review contains mentions of wanting to throttle, strangle and maim book characters, and includes potentially traumatizing pictures.

Just look at this summary. Go ahead, read it.
It's amazing, isn't it? And the cover. It's gorgeous. The premise is mysterious, intriguing and lovely. I was SO excited for this book, you don't even know. I think my entire twitter feed knew the instant it was out.

This is why I'm going to be a little hard on it. Because my expectations were high, and there weren't met. At. All.

About the narrator:

I wanted to violently shake her/strangle her for half the book (I'm usually a non-violent person). UGH. What a vapid, idiotic, insensitive, shallow, boring person. She's everything I hate in a character. No backbone, changing loyalties, and just this carelessness that I HATE.

"Sure, I'd been kicked out of school. I couldn't seem to go more than an hour without craving a caffeinated beverage. And a guy I'd met while I was dead had popped by unexpectedly and caused me to be slapped with a seven-figure civil suit.
But I was feeling positive about the future."

... Excuse me???
LOL my daddy has to pay more than a million dollars to a guy but I don't care!

throttlesnarrator.jpg

About the writing:

It draaaaaaaagged. She spent ages telling us about how she had been in the Underworld, and some bad "incident" had happened after she came back, but that the incident was different from the accident, and blablablablabla. My god, just get ON with it! The book is just so full of plot holes (like when Pierce loses her necklace, but somehow still has it around her neck?) and stilted, stretched out mock-obstacles.
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.

Oh, and by the way, Pierce hates Greek mythology, because it's "complicated and weird and had nothing to do with reality." How the hell do you want me to empathize with her? Seriously? SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HOMER IS.

About the romance:

It was ridiculous. And the love interest? His name is John. I don't even know what to say to that. He's a one-dimensional, pseudo swoon worthy "dark" guy that we didn't get to know at all. He behaved all aloof-like and jerky and moody and suddenly bam! His lips came came down over mine etc etc. Of course, the rest of the world ~vanished instantly. Eye roll.

One thing I learned from this book: tassels?
BAD. EVIL. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.

Needless to say, I would recommend this book to no one. I know it looks so good and you want to like it sooo bad, but... Yeah. No.

*Genre* YA Paranormal
*Rating* 3.0-3.5

*Thoughts*

Awaken closes out the Abandon Trilogy in a nice tidy little bow without too many questions left to be answered. In fairness, however, there is (1) important question that I really would like answers to and I'm hoping that Ms Cabot finds a way to answer mine and Pierce's question: Why does Pierce's necklace turn purple whenever she's around Kayla?

I'm pretty sure others haven't mentioned this little tidbit, but, this happens when I take copious notes and actually pay attention while reading and not just charge ahead like a rhino in a grocery story. Will we see another novella in the future that will explain this? Guess we shall have to wait and find out. In the meantime....

If you plan on reading the Abandon Trilogy in the future, my suggestion is that you start with Abandon, slide directly into Underworld, and then top it off with Awaken since the entire Trilogy is one huge continuous plot line without any sort of major interruptions. Yes, there are a few additional new characters added to Awaken, and they each play important roles in the continued smooth flow of the Underworld as well as add another layer to the story itself.

The opening of Awaken puts the Kibosh on Pierce's and John's mini skirmish that ended Underworld. In Awaken, Pierce is busy trying to save John from a permanent death, save the Underworld from the Furies who are causing major chaos, save her cousin Alex who was brought back from the dead by John, and her friend Kayla who got dragged into the Underworld to save her life, while trying to right a balance in the Underworld that was set adrift at sea by John's actions in saving Alex. On top of all this, she finally realizes that her angst ridden fight with John was a whole lot of nothing that could have been fixed by talking things over and saying three little words.

You are asking yourself, yes, but what about Pierce as a character and what about her growth? Pierce has definitely come a long way from the first book when it seems that the whole world was out to get her which wasn't far from the truth. She understands now that if she wants a commitment with John that she has to give up certain things while remaining in the Underworld as its Queen. She is definitely more of a take charge character than the previous books and makes some interesting choices and decisions along the way. She learns how to use a whip and her necklace against the Furies, including her Grandmother, who are relentless in their pursuit of what they call abominations.

There are some abstract story-lines added as well as an expected, I think, ending to the trilogy itself. There is the arrival, briefly, of Thanatos the death deity who I thought would have made a brilliant member of Pierce's team against the Furies or at least an antagonist that she would have to deal with more than just once. There's the fact that Pierce's parents are actually together in this story which I found pleasantly surprising as well as a sort of comic relief. Then there is the relationship between Pierce and John and what readers can guess will happen to them in the future.

In all, Awaken was pretty much what I expected from a Cabot written book. The story was fast pace. The plot lines were wrapped up quite nicely, and above all, there was no freaking 3 way love triangles which I want to send a personal note of congratulations to Ms Cabot herself!

*Recvd via Netgalley 05/06/2013* Expected publication: July 2nd 2013 by Point/Scholastic

Plot: Very meandering. The author tried to do an in media res thing, but it just meant the plot came to a screeching halt every few pages to explain the backstory. It didn't really feel like the plot really kicked in until the 200 page mark. Of a 300 page book. Fail. And the whole retelling-the-myth-of-Persephone plot kept getting bogged down in high school drama that, based on the end of the book, was entirely pointless.

Characters:

Pierce was just kind of there. She didn't really have much in the way of characterization. She would also talk about how annoyed with John, but then he starts kissing her and she totally likes him now, just because he gets her hot and bothered, apparently. The two barely spend any time together, and what little time they do interact, they're usually fighting. Romantic!

John: He's the Hades stand-in. When Pierce initially dies, he takes her back to his room and acts like now she has to stay there forever without actually explaining to Pierce what the Hell is going on. He's also really violent, to the point where Pierce is kind of afraid of him. Unfortunately, the narrative kind of treats all that like its a problem Pierce has to fix, instead of John getting his act together. At one point, he throws a lizard into Pierce's pool because he wants to talk to her and he knows she'll come rescue the lizard from drowning. Isn't that romantic? He'll put animals in mortal peril just so he can talk to Pierce.

Maybe the problems I have with this series will get fixed in later books, but I hate this plot and these characters so much that I don't have any interest in continuing the series and finding out.

This was a fun paranormal romance that was a little bit teeny, a little bit suspense, and quite fun.

I loved how Pierce kept a lot of details very ambiguous at the start. She continuously referred to the accident and various incidents that had occurred without explicitly detailing them, and this was an effective metaphor for her relationship and trust with John, the concept of the Furies, and her acceptance of what was happening.

I didn't understand the attraction between Pierce and John--in fact, when I started thinking about it, it became quite creepy as it mainly relied on one interaction from when Pierce had been rather young. I would have liked more characterization between them, and also between Pierce and some other people at her high school.

Additionally, there was a family dynamic that added to the entire plot line, and this put everything a little bit over the top--it wasn't quite necessary to make things as complicated as they were.

There was a mystery and some intrigue that kept me guessing and was fun, though ultimately quite sad, to figure out.

The Inferno theme was a little overdone. Though I'm usually a sucker for mythology, I don't feel that its presence here added much to the book.

Overall though, this was a great book to lose myself in. I really enjoyed reading it and recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and fluffy book.

I picked up this book on my daughter's recommendation. I'd never read anything by Ms. Cabot, but her YA credentials appeared impeccable. I loved the idea of a story based on the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be a rather soppy romance novel, probably the one genre that I never read (for good reason). Our heroine and modern day Persephone, Pierce, lacks dimension and spends the bulk of the book either running from or running to John, a cross between Hades and a rather dull and violent rock star. The author keeps us in suspense (yawn) for most of the book as to a traumatic experience in Pierce's life, and I for one didn't understand at all how John became the Lord of the Underworld.

Pierce is the poor little rich girl we all love to hate. Young, attractive and fabulously wealthy, she is a loner who has trouble making friends. After a NDE (near death experience, as the author notes repeatedly throughout the book), she finds herself in the Underworld and meets John, a man of few words but plenty of physical attributes. Always a bit slow, Pierce doesn't seem to realize where she is or what's happened to her. She bats her eyes at the hunky man in charge and is immediately whisked to his bedroom, where he tells her she will be his consort and can never leave. So much for courting, or even dating. She does what anyone would do; she swoons at his touch, then runs away.

Back in the real world, no one will believe her story of dying (yes, Pierce finally catches on to that detail) and escaping death's grip, literally. A battery of expensive psychiatrists are paid to convince her that it was all in her mind. Except for the fact that the dark man keeps appearing in times of need to save her from many fates worse than death, as Pierce seems to have a knack for getting herself into dangerous situations involving men (hmmm, I sense a pattern here).

After her parents divorce, in no small part due to Pierce's "accident" and apparent mental illness, she moves with her mother to mom's home town in Florida. Coincidentally, the town and the island it's located on happen to be directly over the portal to the Underworld that John uses to visit the land of the living via his cemetery vault. Pierce, who loves nothing better than to go for bike rides in the local cemetery (hey, who wouldn't) naturally runs into John. An awkward scene ensues where no one says what they really mean, they both become confused as to what the other party wants, and Pierce manages to irritate John (doesn't take much, but she is an annoying ditz) to the point where he throws her out of the cemetery. Of course, later that night he strews flower petals all over her yard.

Enough said: the book continues with Pierce lying to everyone to conceal what's going on and John appearing to clock anyone who tries to touch her. Of course at the end of the story we discover they are madly in love with one another. The book was a quick read, which probably explains how I got to the end without realizing I'd actually slogged through the whole thing.

Considering I had a pile of questions after finishing the first book in this series, I decided it would be a good idea to read the second. Now my questions is, why would I put myself through this again?

When last we saw them, Pierce and John were young and in love. Well, Pierce was young and John has been 19-years old for about 250 years. After spending a total of about 1 hour together over several years, they've decided they can't live without each other (talk about whirlwind romances). Not that this could be dubbed a classic romance as John is intent on controlling every aspect of Pierces life and has no problem withholding vitally important information to keep her with him. Pierce is a self-proclaimed healer of broken things; she met John when she begged him to bring a dead bird back to life when she was 7 (he did), then ran in to him again in the Underworld after she had drowned trying to save an injured bird (she's a slow learner). He's her latest pet project, pun intended.

John and Pierce are the reigning royalty of the Underworld and are under attack by the Furies, angry spirits of the dead who want to harm Pierce and, through her, John. Unfortunately, the Furies aren't the only ones who are angry with the couple. In her hurry to get into John's bed, Pierce has forgotten that her family has no idea where she's disappeared to and assumes she was kidnapped by the tall, dark and violent stranger she was last seen with (yes, that would be John). When the couple travels to the land of the living to check up on her cousin Alex, another hot-headed young fool, they find that the police are looking for them and that Pierce's father has posted a $1 million dollar reward (she's filthy rich, but has thrown all that away to spend eternity in the land of the dead -- who says kids don't know how to have fun anymore?).

One thing did make me happy in this book: we are finally filled in on who John is and how he became Lord of the Underworld at the ripe age of 19. We also gain a bit of insight into his anti-social personality and I was able to feel some empathy for him as a character. Not so for Pierce, who is still an empty-headed little twit who is guaranteed to say and do exactly what it takes to cause everyone pain and trouble. A typical 17-year old girl then.

I feel now the same way I felt at the end of book two of the Twilight saga: I despise Pierce/Bella for the worthless waste of skin she is and I feel for John/Edward for loving someone so self-centered and stupid. On to book three.

From Dante’s Inferno…

Abandon hope, all ye who fearingly shook
when finding each cliche in this book
And do not think you’ll find a quality grain
of writing not targeting the adolescent brain
Persephone screams from the heavens, “when will this be done?”
and wishes she heeded the titular rule, this book deserved to be abandoned.

If you think this is a normal book review, you are wrong. Dead wrong. If you want to move forward in your life as a ‘normal’ person and read a ‘normal’ book, no matter what your friends and parents say, stop now.

Now that I have covered how every chapter begins and ends, my review.

I was suggested this imaginative book, and I really love the *idea* of the story and the great extent to which Cabot has worked toward melding a YA high interest novel with great literature. What Cabot manages to do is create a unique story that uses some classic literature and mythology as a backbone to a story that takes place in modern times. The pacing is exciting and pop-level work, and her attention to detail and structure is most evident in the final couple of chapters.

Now, my problems with the text is twofold - first, I was not entirely aware that I was not the intended audience for this book until I read the first two pages and reacted with a “are you serious?” My other problem is that it is not written very well… Well, it is, but it is written for an audience that seemingly knows what they are picking up. After my recommendation and learning what else she writes, well, I maybe should have known better. But why should YA fiction be specific to an age bracket? There can be an intended audience, but shouldn’t it still be a well-written book with the only modification being for the attention and prose level of that intended audience?

Which brings me to my other - and perhaps main problem with the book. In my opinion, there is a certain level of literature that we are all allowed to read for fun - and this is a fun book that is exciting and manages to retell a story from mythology at the same time - but I feel like there is no need to really dim the quality and feed into the cliche-ridden interest levels of teens at the expense of quality. In other words, I wonder if this cliche-drenched prose that whispers the ‘i’m different than everyone else, and don’t tell anyone, tee hee hee’ needed to be as targeting for the outsider-teen-girl specifically. One can enjoy a story regardless of character and plot - to become a part of that world while the world is playing out - and yet the biggest disappointment was that at least a couple times a page I felt like I was reading cliches and sentences that are what Hollywood thinks a teenage girl wants to hear in a trailer for a movie. This deflated any sense of mastery of the text for me whatsoever - and almost lines the series up for the silver screen in a terrible, boring way.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Valerie

Abandon tries to recreate the tale of Persephone in the modern day. Meg Cabot attempts to craft this story with graveyards, the Island of Bones, a convict of an uncle, a diamond necklace and more. She doesn’t meet my expectations. Sure, Abandon is definitely a solid read, but solid is just okay.

The main problem I had with this book is the “detached” feel Pierce tries to give off. I can definitely tell Meg Cabot is shooting for the unfeeling character who happens to be nice at the same time. Pierce is a selfless person in John’s opinion. Me? I think Pierce is a confused girl who could not possibly exist as a real person.

As for John, I’m so done with him. We all get John is a poor, depressed soul. We all understand that John is so taken with Pierce after about five minutes that he wants to marry her and dress her up. That does not make John crushworthy in my opinion. It just makes him a bit creepy.

Meg Cabot’s writing in the Princess Diaries is enviable and readable. Her writing style in Abandon falls short of my expectations for the writer of this series. Meg, I feel like your writing just gets a little worse with time. Can you please write like Mia and not like Pierce?

I usually love far-fetched novels, but in this case, it just doesn’t work out.