Abandon by Meg Cabot

Seventeen-year-old Pierce knows what happens to us when we die.

That's how she met John Hayden, the mysterious stranger who's made returning to normal life—or at least life as Pierce knew it before the accident—next to impossible.

Though she thought she escaped him—starting a new school in a whole new place—it turns out she was wrong. He finds her.

What does John want from her? Pierce thinks she knows... just like she knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven. But she can't stay away from him, either, especially since he's always there when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears the most.

And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that’s exactly where John sweeps her:

The Underworld.

Expected Publication: April 26th, 2011 by Scholastic Inc.

Review:

The first thing that you need to know is that I absolutely love Meg Cabot. She's definitely one of my favorite authors (if not my all time favorite) and I have never before read a book written by her that I didn't like. Abandon is no exception.

It was very different, coming from Meg Cabot, although she has written other series involving death or paranormal-like themes (the Mediator and the 1- 800- WHERE- R- YOU series) and I didn't quite know what to expect.

The aspect of mythology was very intriguing to me, being a major fan of Rick Riordan's novels, and gave the book a darker feel than Meg's other novels; even in The Mediator series, which deals with death constantly (the main character sees and talks to ghosts), I always felt that it had a more concentrated focus on humor, which isn't as apparent in Abandon.

My favorite part of Abandon would have to be the strength of the voice of the main character. While it doesn't have many funny events or occurrences, Pierce's way of explaining things was constantly making me smile, as well has just the general feel of her. I found her to be a very thorough and complicated character, which always makes a book feel stronger and more memorable.

Abandon is also definitely not lacking suspense, or the shock factor. My jaw dropped--literally--more than once, and I swear some of my teachers gave me the stink eye for a) reading in class, b) bursting into laughter, and c) well . . . reading in class. But I just couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days. And I cried when I finished--not literally, but almost. Plus, there are quite a few moments were I was caught completely off guard, which isn't something that happens often.

I really would have liked further development in the relationship between Pierce and John, and maybe some more development on John himself. Because of the narrative distance in the novel (it takes place two years after Pierce "died"), it was somewhat hard to get a clear sense of John and their relationship, and I'm hoping that's something that will come through a bit more in the upcoming novels in this new series.

In spite of this, I'd definitely recommend Abandon to other long-time Meg Cabot lovers, fans of Greek Mythology, and pretty much everyone else. I love Meg Cabot, and I love this book. It's something new for the YA genre of Paranormal, and I get the feeling that Meg will soon be acquiring many new fans.

I just have one question for Meg: Will you please write my life?

Grade: A+

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