REVIEW: ABANDON

Abandon

Author: Meg Cabot
Series: Yes, #1
UK Publisher: MacMillan Children’s Books
UK Release date: September 2011
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Kindly sent by the publisher for an honest review

Pierce’s life is turned upside down after a near-death-experience and an unexpected visit into the Underworld. The realisation that she won’t be going home hits her, and she escapes from John and the clutches of death. Returning to life with a necklace, the only proof that her visit to the Underworld was real, she finds that danger now follows her and her only protection is the man that she scorned back in the Underworld.

Review: When I first started reading Abandon it took me a few chapters to get into the story and Meg Cabot’s style of writing. I couldn’t quite get Pierce’s background story straight in my mind because her narrative flits regularly and rather haphazardly from the present into flashbacks of past events. With all this flitting back and forth, the plot feels like little happens in it, as events are a bit jumbled up. When I realised that Pierce suffers from ADHD, I figured the first person narrative would probably represent this and might go some way to explaining the jumpy writing style.

I love the concept of the Underworld and Furies, and I like John’s role in it. Based very loosely on the Hades and Persephone myth, John is now keeper of the Underworld and wants Pierce to stay there with him. John has bad-boy written all over his black jeans and scarred skin, but there are other qualities to him that make him likeable and attractive. I really want to know more about his background as well as that of the Furies, and hopefully these aspects will be explored in greater detail in the next book.

I feel sad for Pierce, because even after a near-death-experience her parents still care more about her not being able to get into a good college and pass her driving license. Despite the fact that her dad would willingly throw money at her and any problem in her way (his way of parenting), you can’t quite say that Pierce is a spoilt brat or materialistic. She rides around on a bike and constantly forgets her phone. The best quality about Pierce and the one that makes me like her and ultimately makes John like her, is her kindness and caring nature. She is always putting others first although sometimes her logic of why and how isn’t always the best!

Whilst the characters, particularly the secondary characters, aren’t that well rounded and well developed, the story and concept has a lot of merit to it, and I will certainly be following Pierce’s journey in Underworld, the next in the series.

Rating: 4*