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I will keep this brief.
I LOVE Greek mythology and the myth of Persephone in particular.
I LOVED the concept of this idea.
I did not love the execution.
I rarely, rarely, rarely comment on a book's time line. But since that was my biggest issue, I have to.
A lot of plots go from A - Z.
This book started around L? And then went back in uncoordinated pieces so the puzzle was revealed to you. It might have worked, it had the potential to, but didn't. It fell apart and fell flat. I didn't get much of a sense of her character at all and it was only through late pieces did you understand some of her motives.
All around meh. If you're going to read Meg Cabot, stick to Princess Diaries. Cute, simple and NOT paranormal.
I LOVE Greek mythology and the myth of Persephone in particular.
I LOVED the concept of this idea.
I did not love the execution.
I rarely, rarely, rarely comment on a book's time line. But since that was my biggest issue, I have to.
A lot of plots go from A - Z.
This book started around L? And then went back in uncoordinated pieces so the puzzle was revealed to you. It might have worked, it had the potential to, but didn't. It fell apart and fell flat. I didn't get much of a sense of her character at all and it was only through late pieces did you understand some of her motives.
All around meh. If you're going to read Meg Cabot, stick to Princess Diaries. Cute, simple and NOT paranormal.
Cabot wrote this book in a voice similar to the Mediator series, but I had a lot of trouble following Pierce's logic. Her feelings get a bit confusing, particularly in regards to her family and the people around her. This may, of course, stem from the fact that Pierce, as a character, is "disengaged".
The plot twist threw me for a loop, something which I enjoy. I am, however, a tad off-put by Pierce's relationship with John. It's a tad too Stolkholm Syndrome for me.
The plot twist threw me for a loop, something which I enjoy. I am, however, a tad off-put by Pierce's relationship with John. It's a tad too Stolkholm Syndrome for me.
So it's about 6am. I woke up sick at 4 and decided to finish reading "Abandon" before school. I had hit a point in the story when last I picked it up, where I knew something was going to happen...mostly because I had read more than half of the book and not much had happened in progression of plot. That sounded harsh, but, up to that point the story was mostly flashbacks, which packed a punch, and were mysterious and lovely...but the actual here-and-now plot was trudging along. I knew it has to break though, soon...soon the backstory and the present would come together in some wonderful Meg Cabot way.
I'm sort of still waiting.
I very much liked the book, the concept was really REALLY cool. I even liked the main characters...mostly because John seemed like he was always 3 seconds from taking a hissy fit, and at times I thought maybe he should be on bi-polar meds...but it made him interesting at least, damaged. Not just your usual YA Paranormal Romance bad boy thing, but endearing almost...and slightly wacked. Pierce was very low-key of a character. She lacked some of the spunk that is usually present in Meg's leading ladies, but overall likeable.
The concept, as I mentioned, was great, but that's also the part that left me underwhelmed. I think perhaps it was due to the disjointed writing style. Flashbacks, while really good for estasblishing backstory (and in this case very well written) do have their drawbacks. They did cause the plot to feel slow-moving (and not in that wonderful gothic impending doom way.) Muddled. That's how it felt. When we finally get into the details of the story. Who John is, what he is, how he is what it is, who is the bad guy if it's not the emotionally unstable dead boy in the cementary, where do people go when they die....all the goodies...well, they are answered, but not really in detail, and mostly one character just matter of factly explains it all, neat little plot bow and all. The actual idea behind what happens when people die seemed scattered to me as well...not what happens to Pierce, but the vague oh you know this is ONE UNDERWORLD, but there are many others, so some people get lights, others get boats...is it based on your belief system...because Pierce, pretty sure, would be Christian, with her talk of Angels so why does she get sucked up into Greek Diety world? Is it just based on prominity? I'm so confused. Mostly I wanted more details...or more commitment on that side of the story.
John and Pierce...well they have potential...I am not sitting here thinking about how wonderful, or even drama-filled their realtionship is....only one moment really stood out for me especially. It wasn't a hissy fit, or a kiss by a moonlight pool...but strangely enough it was when Pierce was kidnapped the second time, and John sat down and completely ignored her and read a book while she ran about kicking doors down. Is it strange that THAT is what stood out for me as relationship moments? But it gave me hope that the interactions between these grow to be classic Meg Cabot as the series continues.
I hate rating this a 3, it was more like a 3.5...often it's hard for a first book in a series to pack it's full punch. Authors sometimes take the "all mysterious, where is what is happening now but I can't explain WHY until the next book" approach, or the "I am going to spend 500 pages explaining every little detail about the backstory and have no time to further the plot" approach. I must give Meg credit for actually doing something DIFFERENT...she didn't go one way or another with this story. She allowed equal amounts backstory and plot progression (it's just the backstory was more interesting for me, so the here-and-now felt flatter.)
I enjoyed this book, and I think the things I whined about above will fall away as the series progresses and it will redeem it'self as a overall wonderful Meg Cabot read. I have complete faith in this, as part of the whole storyline...but right now I'm just really liking this one, but I'll probably love the whole story arch when it's complete.
I'm sort of still waiting.
I very much liked the book, the concept was really REALLY cool. I even liked the main characters...mostly because John seemed like he was always 3 seconds from taking a hissy fit, and at times I thought maybe he should be on bi-polar meds...but it made him interesting at least, damaged. Not just your usual YA Paranormal Romance bad boy thing, but endearing almost...and slightly wacked. Pierce was very low-key of a character. She lacked some of the spunk that is usually present in Meg's leading ladies, but overall likeable.
The concept, as I mentioned, was great, but that's also the part that left me underwhelmed. I think perhaps it was due to the disjointed writing style. Flashbacks, while really good for estasblishing backstory (and in this case very well written) do have their drawbacks. They did cause the plot to feel slow-moving (and not in that wonderful gothic impending doom way.) Muddled. That's how it felt. When we finally get into the details of the story. Who John is, what he is, how he is what it is, who is the bad guy if it's not the emotionally unstable dead boy in the cementary, where do people go when they die....all the goodies...well, they are answered, but not really in detail, and mostly one character just matter of factly explains it all, neat little plot bow and all. The actual idea behind what happens when people die seemed scattered to me as well...not what happens to Pierce, but the vague oh you know this is ONE UNDERWORLD, but there are many others, so some people get lights, others get boats...is it based on your belief system...because Pierce, pretty sure, would be Christian, with her talk of Angels so why does she get sucked up into Greek Diety world? Is it just based on prominity? I'm so confused. Mostly I wanted more details...or more commitment on that side of the story.
John and Pierce...well they have potential...I am not sitting here thinking about how wonderful, or even drama-filled their realtionship is....only one moment really stood out for me especially. It wasn't a hissy fit, or a kiss by a moonlight pool...but strangely enough it was when Pierce was kidnapped the second time, and John sat down and completely ignored her and read a book while she ran about kicking doors down. Is it strange that THAT is what stood out for me as relationship moments? But it gave me hope that the interactions between these grow to be classic Meg Cabot as the series continues.
I hate rating this a 3, it was more like a 3.5...often it's hard for a first book in a series to pack it's full punch. Authors sometimes take the "all mysterious, where is what is happening now but I can't explain WHY until the next book" approach, or the "I am going to spend 500 pages explaining every little detail about the backstory and have no time to further the plot" approach. I must give Meg credit for actually doing something DIFFERENT...she didn't go one way or another with this story. She allowed equal amounts backstory and plot progression (it's just the backstory was more interesting for me, so the here-and-now felt flatter.)
I enjoyed this book, and I think the things I whined about above will fall away as the series progresses and it will redeem it'self as a overall wonderful Meg Cabot read. I have complete faith in this, as part of the whole storyline...but right now I'm just really liking this one, but I'll probably love the whole story arch when it's complete.
There were quite a few elements of this book that I liked, but I feel the character development was definitely lacking. The characters felt bland and I didn't care about their story.
I only picked this up because 1. the cover looked good and 2. because I really love re-telling's of the Hades and Persephone myth. But this... this was crap. Ugh I can't believe there will be another one.
I've never read anything by Meg Cabot before because frankly nothing she has written seems that good. But after reading this, I definitely will not read any of her work ever. Yikes.
I've never read anything by Meg Cabot before because frankly nothing she has written seems that good. But after reading this, I definitely will not read any of her work ever. Yikes.
I really liked the premise of this book and I usually like Cabot's supernatural stuff. This one was a little disappointing. I didn't really care for the main character. it is definitely a set-up for a sequel , which I will read because I can't seem to resist the whiny girls in supernatural books.
I liked it. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
"I already knew what it was like to sink.
I decided I might as well swim."
(Pierce Oliviera)
Grade Eight me is hating the present day me right now! When I read Abandon in Grade Eight, I loved it. Loved it so much that I re-read it that same year. Loved it so much that I borrowed it to all my friends. Loved it so much that I would have rated it five stars without thinking about it. 6 years later... Not so much!
After reading the Everneath series, I was looking for another paranormal romance series that is influenced by Mythology. It was then that I remembered Abandon, which is a retelling of the Greek Myth of Hades and Persephone.
Pierce, the main character of Abandon is the type of character that I rarely like. I expect Meg Cabot's main characters to be dramatic, hilarious and relatable, but Pierce is such a Mary Sue. She's beautiful, caring towards people and animals and has a need to fix everything and everyone. She is also naive and dense. She thinks money can solve every problem and does stupid things without thinking. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Pierce lives in a little bubble and is oblivious to everything that's going on around her.
Pierce's stupidity is shown mostly through her interactions with her love interest, John. When Pierce meets John in the cemetery she's scared of him and she has good reasons to be fearful. The guy almost forced her to spend eternity with him in the Underworld, follows Pierce everywhere and kills people. Instead of running away from John, she starts a conversation with him, continually describes the colour of his eyes and is physically attracted to him.
Yes, Pierce falls for a moody stalker and murderer with anger issues and violent tendencies. The fact that he's an attractive member of the Underworld and probably has a tragic backstory doesn't excuse his behaviour. There's also INSTA-LOVE! YAY! Out of all the books with insta-love that I've read, there's only one book where it works and that book is not Abandon.
Spoiler
Before Pierce moves to Isla Huesos, she has four interactions with John and those interactions are brief and antagonistic. And then a day after another antagonistic conversation at the cemetery, Pierce and John are smooching and proclaiming their love for each other.I love Meg Cabot. Most of her series are easy to read and they make me laugh. But aside from The Mediator series and the Vanished series, I haven't really enjoyed her paranormal books.
"It's only in fairytales that princesses can afford to wait for the handsome prince to save them. In real life, they have to bust out of their own coffins and do the saving themselves." (Pierce Oliviera)
Epá 2 estrelas por 6 razões:
1. O livro literalmente acontece em 2 dias.
2. Os protagonistas estão juntos no total umas DUAS HORAS (repartidas em para aí 10 encontros de 12 minutos casa) e já estão muito apaixonados?
3. A intriga no geral é só encher chouriças.
4. Adoro flashback mas não quando num livro de 200 páginas, ocupam 170.
5. NÃO ENTENDO a treta toda do John ser exatamente o Hades, sem ser o Hades.
6. 0 desenvolvimento das poucas personagens secundárias que gostei - Alex, Kayla e Chris principalmente.
Overall, vou ler o segundo por finalmente retratar o mito do sequestro em si, so espero que melhore a narrativa porque a história, no geral, é boa.
1. O livro literalmente acontece em 2 dias.
2. Os protagonistas estão juntos no total umas DUAS HORAS (repartidas em para aí 10 encontros de 12 minutos casa) e já estão muito apaixonados?
3. A intriga no geral é só encher chouriças.
4. Adoro flashback mas não quando num livro de 200 páginas, ocupam 170.
5. NÃO ENTENDO a treta toda do John ser exatamente o Hades, sem ser o Hades.
6. 0 desenvolvimento das poucas personagens secundárias que gostei - Alex, Kayla e Chris principalmente.
Overall, vou ler o segundo por finalmente retratar o mito do sequestro em si, so espero que melhore a narrativa porque a história, no geral, é boa.