Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Abandon

Overview –

Abandon

Product Details

  • Pub. Date: April 2011
  • Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
  • Format: Hardcover , 320pp
  • Sales Rank: 474
  • Age Range: Young Adult

Synopsis

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

My Thoughts

I have said this before and I will say it again, I love Greek Mythology so the premise of this book made it instantly something that I wanted to read.  Also, I have never read anything by Meg Cabot but have heard a lot of wonderful things so I thought that I could take care of two birds with one stone so to speak.
 
Pierce is a someone what typical teenager if you take away her extremely successful father.  The book starts as she is moved to a new home after her parents divorce after her “accident”.  Pierce feel into the family pool and died – some how she was given a second chance but all kids of off things happen and she always feels like there is someone there with her.  The story walks through Pierce’s new school and the odd things that have happened between her accident and the move and some history prior to even that.  
 
I really enjoyed the story and Meg Cabot has a wonderful way with words.  The world and characters she has created as wonderful rich in history and feeling.  The depth of each person was done very well and it did take too long to get to each one.  There seemed to be a lot of secrets about each character to discover which I enjoyed a lot.  It was also something was very frustrating for me about the book as well.  I really felt like the book moved along at a really slow pace.  I am used to a fast pace I guess and enjoy it more.  At about 250 pages into the book, I finally felt like the story was coming together.  In a 320 page book, this felt very late.   
 
I think that my favorite part of the book was the references to Mythology and the manner in which Cabot made it work for her.  Like any mythology it can be stretched to make it what it to be.  I was happy to see that the relationships between the different God and Goddess stood strong.  It would have bothered me for too many liberties had been taken.  
 
This is a great YA book.  When reading books in the YA genre, it always seems like there are vast differences in the type of language and plots are used.   I would recommend this for those aged 14+.  That being said, I know that there are a lot of mature kids out there so it may be acceptable for younger readers as well.
 
 

My Rating

4 of 5 stars.  This mostly due to the fact that I felt this book moved a long pretty slowly.  That being said, it was a good story.
*I was provided this book for review by Scholastic Books.  I received no compensation for my review.  All opinions are my own.