Trapped in Hell, Me- not the Characters!

Falling for a death deity can't be easy, but for Pierce, Meg Cabot's character in the Abandon Trilogy, it has made her already complicated life just that much more complicated. In Underworld, Pierce is faced with the reality that she might belong in the Underworld if she wants to be with John.

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? 

Fated to Walk Between Worlds

Alyson Noel's Fated, the first book in the Soul Seekers series delves into the three worlds: Lowerworld, Middleworld, and Upperworld. We know all three worlds exist, but only the Soul Seekers can walk amongst all three. But for a girl who has never even had a home, how can you imagine the weight of generations worth of traditions resting on your shoulders?

Daire has always lived on the road with her Hollywood make-up artist mother. She travels the globe, but has never truly known what it is like to have a home. When she finds herself on the wrong side of the paparazzi with an insincere, sexy movie star, her mother seeks out the last resort. She ships Daire off to her paternal grandmother, the grandmother Daire has never met. But there is more to Paloma's life than just the small, Native American world around the town of Enchanted. She carries a secret Daire has to know.

Daire's family are all Soul Seekers, ones who can walk between the worlds. When her father died suddenly, the chain of succession was broken and now Paloma must teach Daire about her heritage. Unfortunately, time is running out and the Richter family is getting closer to success with their evil misdeeds that involve an unnatural resurrection of their ancestors. Paloma isn't strong enough to stop them, so Daire is the only one who can. But she has only just learned about her heritage. She can't possibly stop such a plot, could she?

The first 150 pages of this bok were pretty slow, I am afraid. They travel with Daire through her time with her mother to her learning of the Soul Seekers through her vision quest. I think if that whole part had been condensed, the story would have moved faster and held my attention better. I assume now that that is all out of the way, though, it means the subsequent books will also be faster paced. But still, it made it difficult to slog through the beginning of this book. I actually had to put it down for a while and pick it up a week or so later when I had the concentration to force myself through it. By the time I did so, I had barreled through the slow parts and got to where Daire fights Cade Richter, but even that action wasn't nailbiting. Interesting, but nothing stupendous. 

I am going to keep going with this series because I think it has potential, and now it also has the benefit of an upward swing, but I sincerely hope it goes with that forward motion. I think it is tough for a series when the first book is so slow and bogged down by back story, especially for a struggling reader. Not only are they not going to finish it, they also aren't going to get to the next story to where all the good stuff is. However, I love the Southwestern Native American aspects of this story. It is nice to see different cultures represented in YA books!

Angelini is a Goddess

When we read Starcrossed, we knew Josephine Angelini was a Goddess. Everyone I have convinced to read that first book of this trilogy was a) totally in love with the story and characters and b) totally devastated they needed to wait a whole year for the next book! Now that the second book, Dreamless, is here, you are going to feel the same way. Dreamless will leave you breathless, leave your heart pounding and leave you wanting MORE!


Helen is the Descender. She can go into the Underworld and is the only hope for the Scions to find a way to defeat the Furies. The Furies' curse leaves all Scions with an uncontrollable rage to murder anyone with a blood debt, even if their blood debt was protecting the very family member who is now overcome by the Furies and wants to kill them. It is a never-ending cycle that keeps the houses divided and families torn apart. Helen is the only hope, but every night as she descends, she loses a little bit of herself in the Underworld.


As Helen wanders around aimlessly, she feels her mission is hopeless, but when she encounters Orion, everything changes. Orion is another Scion, one she should be trying to kill, thanks to the Furies, but in the Underworld, all Scion curses and powers are suspended. Orion is undoubtedly an attractive young Scion, but Helen still can't get Lucas out of her mind. After she found out she and Lucas were cousins, she has tried to move on, but she just can't stop the feeling of happiness and joy when she is with him. But with her mission at hand, Helen puts aside her own desires to stop the Furies, with Orion at her side. Night after night, they descend and get a little bit closer to the solution, but their time is running out. Helen is dying as a result of her descending and she is caught between two impossible and beautiful loves: one who is a cousin and is forbidden to her despite her love for him, and one who she can only be with in the Underworld without wanting to kill. Can she stop the Furies AND sort out the terror in her heart?


Oh this was SUCH a good follow up to SUCH a good first novel that Josephine Angelini is my new favorite author. There are a lot of authors I love and follow, but Angelini will now be one of the select few I use to define my favorite reading experiences (and that is a limited crowd!). She has a way of spinning a masterful web of a story and leaving you to crave more and more and more. Her characters are amazing and so real and complicated you will find yourself wanting to know them for real (despite fully acknowledging that they are fictional and that would of course make you a crazy person). Sometimes I think it is easier to write an amazing break out novel than it is to write a follow up novel that lives up to the greatness of the first. But Angelini has accomplished that goal in spades. She will leave you remembering the greatness of Starcrossed while loving Dreamless even more!


The best part of this series is there is one more book to go (but maybe if we beg and plead there will be more than just one more to go!). This is an amazing series for anyone, adult or young adult, who loves Greek mythology or just needs some epic storytelling in their lives. It is one of the best trilogies I have found in a LONG time and I am so glad I found this author and this trilogy. If you need some summer reading to keep you going out on that beach or anywhere, for that matter, pick up this series. You will be thanking me later!

You Won't Abandon This Book!

I know a lot of people discount Meg Cabot as writing girlie books like the Princess Diaries series, but she's got a lot more going for her (and there was nothing wrong with the Princess Diaries!). While she still has a plucky sense of humor, she can tackle a more serious story with style and flair. I picked up Abandon after a cousin and fellow YA enthusiast recommended it, and I am glad I listened to her! I read it in one day and didn't want to do anything until I finally finished.

When Pierce's grandfather died, she found a bird that was hurt, and in trying to save it, she scared it and it flew into a crypt and died. A strange man appeared in the cemetery and brought the bird back to life. She was seven. At the age of 15, she tried to save another bird in her pool, but instead she tripped over her own scarf, bonked her head, and fell into the pool int he middle of winter. Tangled in the pool cover, she sunk to the bottom of the pool and drowned. Next thing she knew, she was being shuffled into one of two lines, waiting for a boat. She didn't understand what was happening to her, and neither did the other people around her. When a man rode in on a terrifying horse, she instantly recognized him as the man from the cemetery who brought the bird back to life. Comforted by the sight of him, she got his attention. When he asked if she wanted to escape the terrifying place and dry off, she eagerly agreed. What she didn't realize was she had just agreed to spend eternity with a Death Deity.

While John wasn't quite Hades, he served the same purpose. He was like a captain to Hades, ushering people to their final resting (or not so resting) place at one of the many Gates to the Underworld. When Pierce realizes he means for her to be trapped there (as his Persephone), she throws her tea in his face and takes off. She manages to escape the underworld, but not without the incredible necklace John gave her. She is revived and wakes up from her "Near Death Experience"(NDE), but Pierce will never be the same.

After the NDE, Pierce's parents divorced, she continued to draw away from everyone, and after almost killing her teacher (well in all fairness he was a creeper and it was John who tried to kill him), her mother decides to leave Connecticut and take her to the Florida Keys where she grew up. Life on the island is no easier, because now Pierce sees John everywhere. She also suspects something strange is going on about the island. Pierce is determined to protect the people she loves, but the problem is, she may be wrong in her assumptions about who is really after her.

I love, love, love stories about or connected to mythology. I loved Rick Riordan's series' about Greek, Roman, and Egyptian Gods, and I loved this story. I think the thing that makes me love it even more than the interesting Hades and Persephone connection might be the main character, Pierce. She is totally my kind of girl. She doesn't always get things right, is fiercely loyal without really thinking things through, and has kind of a big mouth (she actually yells at a Death Deity!). I love a girl who ends up in the Underworld but is only concerned with how the other people around her feel.

The writing is simple with very mild content and language. Besides creepy Furies, this book is very tame. I think it would be a great book for any middle school through low-skilled or short-attention span high school student. It's brevity will help a student get through the story in a decent time period, but still feel like they just finished a fun book. There is a second to Pierce and John's story heading out soon, so don't forget about the Underworld too quickly!