Abandon by Meg Cabot

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Title: Abandon [Goodreads][Amazon]
Publisher: Point
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Grade: D
Final Thought: Repetitive and drawn out.

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can’t help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she’s never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she’s moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can’t. Because even here, he finds her. That’s how desperately he wants her back. She knows he’s no guardian angel, and his dark world isn’t exactly heaven, yet she can’t stay away… especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

Knowing that Meg Cabot is a NYT Best Selling author and a favorite of many readers out there, including my sister, I kept kicking myself for not reading any of her books to date. Then I heard about her latest release Abandon and how it related to Greek mythology/paranormal romance, I thought this would be a great opener to her world. Well, I was sadly mistaken.

I’ve heard the Hades/Persephone retelling a bunch of times as it seems to be a favorite of many authors nowadays, so there’s an increasing level with which to compare all of them with. But, even without that, I find Meg’s retelling to be laborious and drawn out to the point that I was getting so annoyed with the book I shouted “Get to the point already!”.

Te lead character, Pierce, goes on and on and on about her death, her interactions with John, and the imminent “evil” that seems to follow her everywhere she goes. Yes, you want to dry intrigue, but when you repeat the same scenes over and over again, slightly changing words here and there, it becomes too repetitive and boring. Hoonestly, the only thing that kept me going and made me finish the book (besides my being OCD and having to finish a book once I start it, whether good or bad) was the “big mystery” of who is after her and what exactly will her relationship with John be like.

I think Meg belittled her readers here, basically drilling the events of Pierce’s past into our heads by constantly repeating them like we couldn’t get it the first time. I vented to my sister, who has read several of her books, and asked if this is how she write all the time. Thankfully, she said “No” and suggested since Meg’s usual genre is Chicklit of the short, witty kind, maybe the paranormal genre is a bit of a stretch for her, which I wholeheartedly agree.

I guess I’ll have to read one of her older books to see if I like her writing, but based on this book I was a not a fan at all and won’t be getting the sequel.