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A review by booksfitforadreamer
Abandon by Meg Cabot
3.0
Meg Cabot's books have long been a staple in the YA genre. I mostly still read a few of her books out of my past love for her Mediator (or Haunted or whatever it's called now) series. Because although the writing is simplistic and often has the same type of narration and dialogue, Cabot is a reliably good storyteller. When reading the summary for this book, I was definitely intrigued. I love the Hades/Persephone mythology, and Greek mythology in general, so I wondered how it would be pulled off when brought into the modern world.
Did this book ultimately pull it off? I have to say...not quite. It was interesting, definitely, but a lot of it felt jumbled and predictable at points. And I understand that this is the first of a *trilogy*, but I think too many ends were left hanging to even be considered loose. Too many characters were flat, without having a real reason for the twists that they had, or reason for us to care about them.
Not to say that all of the characters fell short. Some of them definitely have potential for future development, and I'll be interested to see where the rest of the trilogy takes them. (Spoiler: I especially want to know more about the Furies. Why are they so vengeful, and why do they choose to go after the death deity rather than the reasons for which they died? Maybe I'm missing a key bit of mythology here, but I thought the relationship between John and the Furies was an interesting one, and could have been expanded upon.) Also, the name John? It felt odd. Maybe it's because I'm so used to fancy names in books, especially with elements of fantasy.
Maybe it's just me, but the timing felt like it dragged the story down. We're introduced to an "accident" and an "incident" in the beginning, and references for them are thrown around many, many times without divulging details. And then, at seemingly random intervals, we get thrown into the past to find out what happened. It jumbled the story, for me, and I would have rather had the flashback in the beginning--when they were first mentioned--rather than have the present story convoluted by references to these events that I know nothing about.
I think I tended to focus more on the negatives in this review. The fact it, the story kept me interested, despite its flaws, and I think I will check out the next in the series. Some things I'm looking forward to: more between Pierce and her parents. Her mom especially. (Spoiler: What Pierce will do now that she's trapped in the Underworld. Again. Except not dead this time, strangely?) And mostly, the Furies. I want to know much more about them. (Spoiler: And her grandmother--what's up with that? Definitely predictable from the small clues tossed around, but what happened with her real grandmother?) I don't know if I am really interested in finding out what's going on with Alex and the "A-wingers". It all seems a bit flat and cliché, but then, maybe there have just been one too many stories about high school. I'd rather skip out on it altogether. Oh, I like the cemetery sexton (am I the only one who didn't know that was a word?) as well, so I hope he makes a few appearances. Even if he does seem like the typical Giles of this universe. I think it was the hat. And the cover--it's gorgeous. I'm not ashamed to admit I am drawn to books with elaborate cover art. I'll be picking up Underworld when I see it on the shelves.
Did this book ultimately pull it off? I have to say...not quite. It was interesting, definitely, but a lot of it felt jumbled and predictable at points. And I understand that this is the first of a *trilogy*, but I think too many ends were left hanging to even be considered loose. Too many characters were flat, without having a real reason for the twists that they had, or reason for us to care about them.
Not to say that all of the characters fell short. Some of them definitely have potential for future development, and I'll be interested to see where the rest of the trilogy takes them. (Spoiler: I especially want to know more about the Furies. Why are they so vengeful, and why do they choose to go after the death deity rather than the reasons for which they died? Maybe I'm missing a key bit of mythology here, but I thought the relationship between John and the Furies was an interesting one, and could have been expanded upon.) Also, the name John? It felt odd. Maybe it's because I'm so used to fancy names in books, especially with elements of fantasy.
Maybe it's just me, but the timing felt like it dragged the story down. We're introduced to an "accident" and an "incident" in the beginning, and references for them are thrown around many, many times without divulging details. And then, at seemingly random intervals, we get thrown into the past to find out what happened. It jumbled the story, for me, and I would have rather had the flashback in the beginning--when they were first mentioned--rather than have the present story convoluted by references to these events that I know nothing about.
I think I tended to focus more on the negatives in this review. The fact it, the story kept me interested, despite its flaws, and I think I will check out the next in the series. Some things I'm looking forward to: more between Pierce and her parents. Her mom especially. (Spoiler: What Pierce will do now that she's trapped in the Underworld. Again. Except not dead this time, strangely?) And mostly, the Furies. I want to know much more about them. (Spoiler: And her grandmother--what's up with that? Definitely predictable from the small clues tossed around, but what happened with her real grandmother?) I don't know if I am really interested in finding out what's going on with Alex and the "A-wingers". It all seems a bit flat and cliché, but then, maybe there have just been one too many stories about high school. I'd rather skip out on it altogether. Oh, I like the cemetery sexton (am I the only one who didn't know that was a word?) as well, so I hope he makes a few appearances. Even if he does seem like the typical Giles of this universe. I think it was the hat. And the cover--it's gorgeous. I'm not ashamed to admit I am drawn to books with elaborate cover art. I'll be picking up Underworld when I see it on the shelves.