Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Title: Abandon

Series: Abandon #1

Author: Meg Cabot

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Publication  Date: 2 Sep 2011

Synopsis: From Amazon

Last year, Pierce died - just for a moment. And when she was in the space between life and death, she met John: tall dark and terrifying, it’s his job to usher souls from one realm to the next.

There’s a fierce attraction between them, but Pierce knows that if she allows herself to fall for John she will be doomed to a life of shadows and loneliness in the underworld. But now things are getting dangerous for her, and her only hope is to do exactly what John says . . .

REVIEW:

Although I was aware that this book is based upon the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, it only know the basics of that story so it didn't affect my judgement or preconception of this story at all. The use of the Persephone and Dante's Inferno quotes added a sense of depth to the narrative, reinforcing the main plot while adding a sense of realism.

Powerfully descriptive writing style brings the words to techni-colour life within my imagination.

Written in first person narrative from Pierce's point of view, at 17 she had a near death experience at 15 which resulted in the breakdown of her parents marriage and relocating back to the island her mother grew up on. Pierce is one of those genuinely nice people, you can see this in the selfless way she puts other people first and rescues injured animals. Her privileged background and self absorbed parents make this fact quite surprising, I would have expected her to be a pampered princess.  I do think that it is her 'inner' beauty that really draws John to her even though the way she looks on the outside obviously helps, from her description I had images of Snow White flying around in my imagination.

The waiting in what can only be thought of as Purgatory by the River Styx is wonderfully portrayed in the narrative; the notion of the different lines and boats leading to different places was ingenious. The difference in the length of the lines really brought home how little people worry about the consequence of their actions. The desperation of the people in the longer line drifted from the pages.

The way in which Pierce escapes the Underworld had me giggling like a maniac into my book. However, there are repercussions. Following her visit to the Underworld Pierce does retreat into herself a bit and this is where you can see the way in which her childhood could have really shaped her personality. The irony of the history of the island they move to made a wonderful addition to the plot.

The chemistry between Pierce and John crackles from between the pages. Wow, I really admire Pierce's self control and adored the portrayal of John torn between his emotions and his 'job'. He is very protective of Pierce and for good reason [ ; D ]

Bringing me nicely onto John, *swoon*, well you pretty much can't get more bad boy than John. From his black clothes to his imposing height and threatening demeanour, right down to the way he first charges into the book on his horse - I am so there [ : D ] Pierce shows so much restraint especially when confronted with that dreamy white bed [ ; D ] which provides such a visual contrast to John himself. I am really, really, really desperate to know his background story and how he ended up having a 'job' in the Underworld. Obviously the theme song would have to be Don't Pay the Ferryman with the images of the River Styx. I have the feeling that this is just so much more to John and I NEED to know it.

All of the characters are very well written, providing extremes of personalities and quirkiness. Not only am I following the plot for the development of John and Pierce, I am genuinely interested in the other characters development  the high school cliques, the family dynamics and so much more - I NEED ANSWERS!!!!!

The only aspect of the story that I had a problem with is the portrayal of The Fury's. these have always been tormentors but their abilities in this story really took them to another level and it took me a while to get used to picturing them as such.

That's all I can say is thank goodness this is a trilogy as I really want more and I need those questions answered. *Goes to look on Amazon to see the publication date of the next book - eeepppp it only says 2012 - how will I cope*.