YA Friday: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Title: Abandon

Author: Meg Cabot

Genre: YA, Paranormal

Publisher: Point, 2011

Source: Library (Audio book)

Pierce Oliveira's life is a little dysfunctional right now. She was legally dead for a few minutes after drowning. During those few minutes, she met a dark and mysterious stranger that now won't leave her alone and has gotten her into serious trouble. Pierce and her mother have moved to her mother's childhood hometown, Isla Huesos, in an attempt to make "a new start" (a phrase you will see about 389 times in the book), but what they don't realize is that they've walked right into a new danger.

Let me preface this by saying that I love Meg Cabot. Princess Diaries? Yes, please. I am working my way through the last half of the series after discovering that there are ten books (plus several novellas). I devoured her historical fiction romance, Victoria and the Rogue. One of my roommates gave me a much loved copy of Avalon High for Christmas. I was gushing over Teen Idol for weeks. So it's not as if I don't like her style.

But.

It didn't work for me in Abandon. I'm not sure why. My favorite Meg Cabot heroine, Princess Mia, is whiny, neurotic, and overly-obsessed with caring for animals just like Pierce. With Mia, it is endearing. With Pierce, it wasn't. I think this may partly be a result of the overall tone of the story. All the other Meg Cabot books I've read have been light-hearted, humorous, and fluffily romantic. This is a loose retelling of the Persephone myth, so it's going to be dark. But Pierce continually referred to her self-imposed social isolation as a coffin and referenced death images. I know, I know, she is dating Hades (okay, not exactly - if you read the book you will understand what I mean), but must she reference the blackness and evil and death she sees so very often?

I also wasn't exceptionally impressed with the supporting characters. Pierce's grandmother is creepy and her actions are too out there to be considered realistic, even when you take into account some of the little secrets that come out at the end of the book. Pierce's new friend Kayla calls her "Chickie" instead of by her name (need I say more?). The cemetery sexton goes back and forth between being a benevolent gentleman with some strange hobbies to a nasty control freak. John, the love interest, is controlling and self-absorbed.

With that said, I was interested in the story, enough that I might read the rest of the books just to find out what happens next. The mythology component was interesting and kept the book from falling too flat on its face - instead it just tripped and dropped its books in the hall, bruising its knees but not inflicting any lasting damage. The book was still entertaining and interested me enough to keep me invested, but my expectations for the remaining books aren't too high.

2 stars