Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot
A retelling of the Persephone Myth
Abandon is a modern day spin on the story of Persephone, concentrating more on Persephone and Hades. There were two incidences in Pierce’s life that brought her to Isla Huesos, one being her death (and subsequent return to life). While Pierce doesn’t believe she had a near-death experience, no one seems to believe that she actually died and went to the Otherside, and while she has proof it seems crazy and just a little dangerous. This proof leads to the second incident, which was referred to numerous times and revealed later in the story, however, by this time I found the reveal to be a bit anti-climactic.
Pierce’s near-death experience is quite unique, and Meg Cabot does a great job at capturing her adventure on the Otherside. She has a whimsical writing style that flows easily and allows for a quick read, but I found this story a bit of a struggle to read and I think it was due to the fact that the more I read about Pierce the harder it was for me to care about what happened to her. She seemed very melodramatic and a bit two-dimensional; I wasn’t a fan of her as a character.
The other characters in the book were a bit more likeable - her cousin Alex, friend Kayla, even John - but they didn’t get a lot of face time. While I liked John as a character, I found that it took me the entire book to change my inital opinion of him (the typical YA bad-boy) and to see him as a more complex character.
The beginning was a little slow, however, I loved the ending, it sets up the next novel and I think that has potential to be a good story.
Publisher: Point || Details →
Get the book on → Amazon
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