"I already knew what it was like to sink.
I decided I might as well swim."
(Pierce Oliviera)
Grade Eight me is hating the present day me right now! When I read Abandon in Grade Eight, I loved it. Loved it so much that I re-read it that same year. Loved it so much that I borrowed it to all my friends. Loved it so much that I would have rated it five stars without thinking about it. 6 years later... Not so much!
After reading the Everneath series, I was looking for another paranormal romance series that is influenced by Mythology. It was then that I remembered Abandon, which is a retelling of the Greek Myth of Hades and Persephone.
Pierce, the main character of Abandon is the type of character that I rarely like. I expect Meg Cabot's main characters to be dramatic, hilarious and relatable, but Pierce is such a Mary Sue. She's beautiful, caring towards people and animals and has a need to fix everything and everyone. She is also naive and dense. She thinks money can solve every problem and does stupid things without thinking. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Pierce lives in a little bubble and is oblivious to everything that's going on around her.
Pierce's stupidity is shown mostly through her interactions with her love interest, John. When Pierce meets John in the cemetery she's scared of him and she has good reasons to be fearful. The guy almost forced her to spend eternity with him in the Underworld, follows Pierce everywhere and kills people. Instead of running away from John, she starts a conversation with him, continually describes the colour of his eyes and is physically attracted to him.
Yes, Pierce falls for a moody stalker and murderer with anger issues and violent tendencies. The fact that he's an attractive member of the Underworld and probably has a tragic backstory doesn't excuse his behaviour. There's also INSTA-LOVE! YAY! Out of all the books with insta-love that I've read, there's only one book where it works and that book is not Abandon. Before Pierce moves to Isla Huesos, she has four interactions with John and those interactions are brief and antagonistic. And then a day after another antagonistic conversation at the cemetery, Pierce and John are smooching and proclaiming their love for each other.
I love Meg Cabot. Most of her series are easy to read and they make me laugh. But aside from The Mediator series and the Vanished series, I haven't really enjoyed her paranormal books.
"It's only in fairytales that princesses can afford to wait for the handsome prince to save them. In real life, they have to bust out of their own coffins and do the saving themselves." (Pierce Oliviera)