Meg Cabot
Point
Release Date: April 26, 2011
List Price: $17.99 (320p)
ISBN: 978-0545284103
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Review - "Abandon"
Reviewer: Cori Vella
Rating:
My love for Meg Cabot borders on inappropriate. I'm a newcomer to her writing, having just been introduced a few months back, but the Mediator and 1-800-WHERE-R-U? series sit proudly and well-read on my shelf. Needless to say, I practically peed my pants when given the opportunity to read her latest novel, Abandon.
Drawing inspiration from Greek mythology (the story of Hades and Persephone, to be exact), Abandon is told through a series of flashbacks from the point of view of a teenager who had a near-death experience. For the brief time in which she was "dead", Pierce drew the fancy of John Hayden, a keeper of the underworld. Now Pierce is struggling to adjust to a new school and the death of her best friend, and who should show up but her otherworldly admirer?
I'll admit, I was disappointed. One thing I like so much about Meg Cabot's writing is the immediacy of the events; she doesn't normally get bogged down in backstory. But Abandon was nothing but backstory — it was all setup for the next book. Nothing happened until the last 50 or so pages, it was just explanation so we can jump into the next book without being confused.
I don't know about you, but I'm not eager to jump into the next book without being interested and hooked by the first one. While backstory is all fine and dandy when properly woven into the action, there has to be action in the first place. Abandon sure had a lot of navel-gazing and mental rumination on things that happened in the past that would have been better served as a side dish to an entree of plot. The story of Pierce's death and subsequent wooing of John in the Underworld as it was happening would have been a better starting place — in medias res instead of, "Oh yeah, this happened to me a couple years ago, let me take 200 pages to explain . . . " That is the book I would have rather read.
Which makes me wonder why Meg Cabot started in the place she did. If she was more interested in the backstory, why didn't she write that as the primary story instead?
Abandon: Interesting premise, but dull execution.
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