When John dragged her to the Underworld, it was to protect her from the Furies. After her grandmother, or rather a Fury wearing a grandmother suit, tried to kill Pierce, they barely escaped. But the Underworld isn't a place Pierce can imagine herself living. In fact, nothing lives in the Underworld, as a matter of speaking. Certainly not a real live girl. But she must make the best of it if she wants to be with John, even if that means abandoning everything she left behind on the island. When John offers her a meal, she distinctly remembers the story of Persephone who was trapped in the Underworld for 6 months a year as a result of eating 6 pomegranate seeds, so she avoids them like the plague. But what John didn't tell her was that any food consumed in the Underworld ties the eater to its realm for eternity. Essentially, John just ensured Pierce has no choice but to stay with him.
Pierce is stunned by his treachery, but staying with John seems to be more important, until she sees a video on her phone. In the video, her cousin Alex is locked in a coffin, dying. Convinced she needs to save him, she begs John to go find Alex, and John agrees to take her with him. What she didn't expect to discover, however, was the dark past John has been hiding from her, and the lies he doesn't want to reveal to her. With the Furies after her, her cousin in trouble, and the pain of leaving her mother to think she was dead, Pierce just keeps remembering John and his hunky biceps.
OK. You may have gathered a hint of sarcasm right there, and you would be correct. It has been a while since I read the first book, but I don't remember Pierce being so easily manipulated or so swayed by a few well-toned muscles. I also don't remember her to be one to pretty much abandon her family for a guy. So when I read this book, I was shocked to see John had become a manipulative, lying twerp who woud do anything to make sure he got what he wanted: Pierce. There were about 5 different instances where he openly LIED to Pierce to keep her from thinking there was any hope of her leaving the Underworld. He also got irrationally angry if she touched anything of his (despite insisting they cohabitate), and then she apologized profusely for being so out of line as to look through her own backpack that was taken from her and hidden when she was kidnapped and dragged to hell. Yep. Seriously. This guy wasn't a leading man, he was pathetic. He could only get his girl by lying to her, tricking her, and keeping her trapped. And the worst part? She couldn't stop thinking about how much she wanted to stroke his abs. Blech.
I don't really know what happened to this series. I remember liking the first book, so I was interested in the second book, but now I am pretty turned off. Add to that the fact that the whole plot revolves around a stupid kid getting stuffed in a coffin (here is a tip, young man: stay away from coffins and graveyards, moron!), and even that was pretty anticlimactic. Sometimes I am a glutton for punishment, so I might read the last book in the trilogy just to see what happens, but I will likely let the book sit and gather dust for a while until I forget my distaste for this story. What happened, Meg Cabot? Why did you take your characters down this road?
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