Awaken by Meg Cabot

Series: Abandon (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: Greek mythology, underworld, death, supernatural, magic, Florida

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 343 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Scholastic: Point

Summary/ product description: “From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, the dark reimagining of the Persephone myth comes to a thrilling conclusion.
Death has her in his clutches. She doesn’t want him to let go.
Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she’d be forced to live forever in the one place she’s always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves.
But now her happiness — and safety — are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul.
If the balance between life and death isn’t fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce’s home back on earth will be wiped away. But there’s only one way to restore order. Someone has to die.”

My Review: This final book was definitely the best book in the whole series. Pierce was less of a ditzy, air-head and was more kick-ass. She’s definitely grown as a character. I didn’t like her in the 1^st book at all really, and in this one I do. And there was more action and romance, and twists. This book was just so much more enjoyable, that I’m sad I didn’t like Abandon and Underworld that much. This was truly an epic finale.

I really cared about the characters this time. John is dark, sexy and old-fashion. He had something happen to him in the 1^st half of the book that wasn’t so great, but things turned out well. Kayla is such a cool, awesome friend to Pierce. She takes to the underworld and Frank pretty well. She’s so funny and tough. Alex really stepped it up in this book, after what happened to him at the end of Underworld. Mr. Smith was helpful to Pierce as always. There were some new characters in the underworld, too. And Hope, the dove. She still reminds me of my parakeets.

I love the setting, too. This is the only series I’ve read set in the Florida Keys. It’s not even a mermaid book, but mythology it is. I have never been to Florida or even the ocean, so it was kind of a virtual island vacation. Even though much of the book was during a hurricane, and then after it.

Also the underworld setting is interesting. A cave with a castle? Awesome. I’m picturing stalagmite towers. The first 100 pages of the book are in the underworld, which is now hot for some Fury-related reason.

Out of all these book, the most happened in this one. The plot was well done and I was never confused or bored. Maybe the previous books were actually this good and I was just not in the right mood for them. I am a bit of a mood reader, and don’t enjoy certain things when I’m in the wrong mood, so maybe that’s what happened. I liked this book a lot, and mostly because the plot. And the added mythology of Thanatos made it interesting. And fighting/banishing furies with the Persephone diamond Pierce has.

I recommend this series to fans of mythology, and paranormal romance. Also if you liked Die For Me (Revenants trilogy) by Amy Plum, Falling Under by Gwen Hayes, or Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini.

Cover Art Review: I love the cover so much. It’s purple! Such a pretty shade of lavender and violet. Pierce looks like she’s holding a dead John or maybe Alex. And the pink-purple of the cover under the duct jacket cover is beautiful. I live the type treatment on the A, and the vector flower designs. And it’s metallic, like the previous books.

 

 

Underworld by Meg Cabot

Release Date: May 8th

Publisher: Point (Scholastic)

Series: The Abandon Trilogy (bk. 2)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Death, Underworld, Greek Mythology, Hades, Florida Keys

Length: 320 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.
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.
And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape.”

My Rating: êêê1/2

My Review: This sequel was somewhat better than the first book. I don’t really like Pierce as a character, she seems kind of weak and air-headed, but not so much in this one. What I really did like was the pet that John gave her: A mourning dove, which she called Hope. I thought that was pretty cute. The bird did a lot of funny things that reminded me of my parakeet. I like John, but at times he seems possessive. Their relationship isn’t abusive or anything, but it’s still not normal. He’s a death deity after all. The story itself was pretty good, though. Pierce wanted to save her cousin from some future bad event she saw on her cell phone (which does that in the Underworld apparently), so she convinces John to take her back to Isla Huesos. And since everyone thinks she was either kidnapped or murdered, she has to be careful about being seen with John. We also get to find out about John’s past and what we he did to end up in his position. And we meet new characters in the Underworld, crew members from John’s ship. There’s some mystery and action. And Furies (Killer Grandma!). Happy reading.

Cover Art Review: Metallic like the first book, but the deep blue is definitely better than the black and brown on the first one. The photo’s more interesting too. And the designs and U in the title are awesome.

~Haley G

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Release Date: 1/24/2012

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Series: Everneath trilogy (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Underworld, immortality, supernatural, love, mythology

Length: 370

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned - to her old life, her family, her friends - before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back - this time as his queen.”

My Rating: ê ê ê 1/3

My Review: This book started out slow…so very slow that I was pretty bored through the first half of it. It eventually picked up and got kind of interesting. The main problem was that there weren’t many funny quotes or descriptive/illustrative parts of the setting (It’s Utah…I want to imagine it, not skip through it). The book kept on switching for Now to Last Year, and I find flashbacks to be confusing. I did get confused a lot.

As for characters, I didn’t care much for Nikki. She seemed too depressing. I like strong female heroines who kick but, or act like a smart alec. They’re the best voices. The males characters were good. Cole was humorous at time. The bad boy musician who’s also some kind of energy vampire. Jack was the friend/boy friend who really cared a lot about Nikki. Her dad was the mayor, which was cool. Mayor’s daughter getting into trouble?

I did like the mythology element to it. That is related Greek to Egyptian mythology, but I kind of wish that more supernatural stuff happened. I want to see what this underworld looks like. This book was mostly romantic and love triangle stuff. I can’t wait to read the next book! It will probably be better that this one which seemed like an introduction.

If you like myths or romantic books about immortals, then you might want to read this. This book has so much in common with Abandon by Meg Cabot and Falling Under by Gwen Hayes.

Cover Art Review: I don’t know what special effects will be used on this cover. Metallic? Matte? But the image is beautiful even in plain gloss. The dress really blends well with the smoke whisps and clouds. And the red is so bright and pretty. It looks dark and romantic. If I didn’t have the ARC, I world have bought this because of this amazing cover.

~Haley G

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Publisher: Point

Series: The Abandon Trilogy (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Death, Underworld, Greek Mythology, Hades

Length: 304 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “She knows what it's like to die. Now Death wants her back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce knows what happens to us when we die.

That's how she met John Hayden, the mysterious stranger who's made returning to normal life—or at least life as Pierce knew it before the accident—next to impossible.

Though she thought she escaped him—starting a new school in a whole new place—it turns out she was wrong. He finds her.

What does John want from her? Pierce thinks she knows... just like she knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven. But she can't stay away from him, either, especially since he's always there when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears the most.

And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that’s exactly where John sweeps her:

The Underworld.”

My Rating: ê ê ê 1/2

My Review: Based off the cover and the author, I thought this book would be awesome, and in some parts it was, but a lot of it was pretty confusing and not as interesting as it could have been. Meg Cabot did have humor, as usual, but she’s not as great at telling dark tales. And Pierce was just odd and confusing. John was cool when he showed up, but Pierce was a bit of a weak character. She was caring, sarcastic, and a bit weird. I’m not sure if all of those go together. Plus, her dad’s really rich, and she’s a bit of an air-head (or so it appeared). Maybe in the next book it’ll be better.

I like the stuff about the diamond, and the retelling of the Hades-Persephone myth stuff. John may not be Hades, but he does seem like the type. I just kept thinking about the stuff in the Percy Jackson series where they go to the Underworld.

I’m sure some of you will enjoy this book more than I did. It’s easy enough to read in one day, but I had a hard time soaking it in. There’s great potential for the series to get way better. Can’t wait to see how the next one turns out. I am really loving these covers.

Cover Art Review:

This metallic cover is beautiful, and the main reason I bought it. I love that letter “A” with the little pendant dropping down. I like the gold flower designs, with the sleeping/dead girl photo. It’s a very good cover.

~Haley G