Review: Underworld (Abandon series #2) by Meg Cabot
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Summary
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, the dark reimagining of the Persephone myth begun in ABANDON continues ... into the Underworld.Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn't dead.
Not this time.
But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.
Her captor, John Hayden, claims it's for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they've come back as Furies, intent on vengeance . . . on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.
But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there . . . and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.
Review
There are some beliefs in life that many people claim they would only believe if they saw it with their own two eyes. The only problem with this logic is that some things are never seen by the live person, some things are only seen after death. Death and religion are two entangled beliefs that do not have one set truth, but rather a mixture of beliefs told and retold again by any loyal and desperate person to have a sense of hope for the afterlife.
As a population, we never consider the consequences of a person coming back to life after receiving the kiss of death. This is an obvious situation as our world has never seen the miracle of a person coming back to life after experiencing death. Death is a permanent fixture of mother nature that we do not have any control over. The only question is, but what if one sixteen-year-old did?
Pierce Olivieria is a sixteen-year-old girl, resident of the island home that covers the truth of the dark world beneath the surface of the Earth. Pierce is John Hayden's girlfriend an infuriating, but impossibly compassionate ruler of the underworld. She makes her decisions just as any young teenage girl would be expected to, by following her heart. Finding the balance between what she desires and what she believes is the right thing to do for herself, for John, and for her family.
The only problem is, Pierce did not expect the sacrifices of living in the Underworld to be so overbearing. She is torn between returning to her home to help the ones she cares about most, and staying with the man she loves for eternity, in his own kingdom. The tragic climax where the young, naive, and selfish girl is to make decisions that not only change her life, but change her life for eternity.
As Pierce decides to give the underworld and John a fair chance, complications arise when mysterious dark forces work to continually cause John pain as 'consequences' for bringing an outsider to the underworld for personal reasons. As the book reached a crossroads between the romantic circling of John and Pierce, vs the inevitable heartbreak Pierce will face is she does not help her family, it seems as though you honestly do not know which way the main character will lean. There is always a constant sense of unpredictability and suspense as the situations Pierce and John fight through together there is no sense of plausible conclusion or realistic measures that as the reader make you think Pierce should work towards. The bond between John and Pierce is electric and Cabot's influence over the chemistry and word play between John and Pierce's intimate moments is riveting.
I enjoyed the sequel to the Abandon series for multiple reasons, but in the end it was the concept of love meeting death. It shows that there is no simple dramatic word play or rebellious behavior that was going to solve this battle. Sacrifices have to be made that are more than just personal, they are permanent. I recommend this book to anyone who is familiar with Meg Cabot's thrilling writing style and sense of morbid, yet dramatic adventure.
Reviewed by Nicole Williams
Book Information
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date: 4/1/2013
Pages: 336
