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.

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.

I got Abandon as a surprise review copy from Nikole at Scholastic Canada and was immediately intrigued. It has many of the elements I find enjoyable in a story: light YA reading, mythology, and a pretty cover. I delved in right away.

The book starts off with mention of the Persephone legend, then we are introduced to Pierce. From the similarity in names, I could feel where the tale was headed. But Pierce is a modern day girl, with a large chip on her shoulder as a result of her near death experience. It was this chip that made reading the story a bit difficult for me; it became quite repetitive. Putting myself in Pierce's shoes though, I could understand dwelling on something like that, so I didn't hold it against the book overall.

Nearing the conclusion, I became totally invested in the story, only to realize that it is the first in a series! The end is fairly shocking and I'm anxious to see how Pierce reacts to her new situation. Despite my initial feelings about the repetition in the book, Abandon held some mysteries that were slowly unveiled, with still others to be dealt with in further books. An interesting inerpretation of an age old story, to say the least.

You can purchase Abandon at Amazon, Book Depository, and Book Depository UK