Abandon

ABANDON
Meg Cabot
246 pages of 292 pages
Fantasy

Quote from the book: “Denial. That was the way to go.” I chose this quote, because denial is a main thing in the life of seventeen year old Pierce Oliviera, who “flatlined” (referring to her heart) after she drowned in a pool, but came back from the dead. She was in the Underworld while she was dead, and escaped by pouring hot tea into John Hayden’s face, the guy who “runs” this underworld. Denial plays a big part in Pierce’s life, because she can’t tell anyone about John or the Underworld, which is especially hard because John keeps on popping up whenever there is someone who might hurt Pierce. Once he broke her teacher’s hand, another time he gave a jeweler a heart attack. Pierce has to keep coming up with excuses for herself, and for things John did. And she often has to lie to people. If someone asks questions that are actually true, but Pierce can’t admit that, she has to deny, deny, deny.

The Story: Pierce has to deal with John, who keeps on coming back from the Underworld and making her life hard; with her parents who got divorced after her accident, with the kids at her new school on Isla Huesos, with her cousin, who is a bit difficult, her grandma who asks a lot of questions, and her uncle, who spent the last seventeen years in prison. When the cemetery sexton of Isla Huesos calls her into her office, she finds many new things about John, the Underworld and why John is so grumpy and says he hates Pierce.

This book is very interesting and exciting. There are apparently two other books about the same people, and I would love to read them, too. The book is very mystical, including some Greek myths and facts about the past, because it talks a lot about how and why people died and how the Underworlds formed. Thumps Up!