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** spoiler alert ** Abandon is an alluring, marvelous, modern take on the age old tale of Persephone and Hades. From the first page to the last, I was addicted and invested in Pierce's tale and journey. I lived, breathed and inhaled Abandon. Really, it's that good. If you know the tale of Persophone and Hades, you already have an idea of what the story is about. When Piece was 15, she died, but instead of her soul moving on to the next life, she reunites with John, someone she remembers from her childhood. Luckily, Piere escapes and finds herself back in the world of the living. Now, 2 years later, wanting to put her past in the past, Pierce finds herself living with her mother in her mother's childhood home/island of Isla Huesos. But John has been with her the whole time, and as Pierce begins to realize, John has more secrets than she ever thought possible. First, I wanted to mention how beautiful and perfect the cover is for Abandon. I'm seriously suffering from a case of cover lust. From the intricate floral designs to the girl laying on the dirt, the cover not only gives me goosebumps, but also gives me an idea of what the story will be like. I wish so badly that you could see the back cover. It's basically her legs and the rest of the white dress, but it's still pretty amazing. From the very first line, the story had my attention. "Anything can happen in the blink of an eye." Indeed it can, and in Pierce's case, it can be the most terrifying thing ever. I loved how well the story unfolds. It's told from Pierce's point of view and every so often, jumps from the past back to the present. I'll admit, my favorite scenes involved her retelling past events, especially her experience in the Underworld and with Had- I mean, John himself. The present day situations were a bit of a bore to me, but I guess they would be compared to stories of the Underworld and Furies. Pierce, as a character, was strong and brave, but I'll admit, agitating at times. There were scenes where I just wanted to shake her and scream "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Though her intentions and instincts were normally right, she still does some pretty idiotic things. I won't go into details because I'd hate to ruin the story for anyone, but I'm sure you'll see what I mean. And then, there's John. I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for the brooding bad boys. I'm not kidding, if he kidnapped me, I wouldn't protest. Not for one minute. I was kind of sad that there wasn't more to John's story in this book, but I guess that's what the sequel is for. And wow, the ending? I didn't expect that! As far as endings goes, Abandon leaves you with a bit of a cliffhanger, but still somewhat satisfying too. At least for now. I can't wait for the sequel (The Underworld) to release. Isn't that the most tragic thing about trilogies, waiting for the next book to release? Especially when this one hasn't even hit shelves yet. I have yet to read any other of Meg Cabot's books, but after this, I have to check them out. If they're anything like Abandon, than they must be good! Oh, and word of advice? Do not read this while getting ready to go to work. I ended up late several days in a row because I just couldn't put it down!

Not finished with it yet, but this is a really fun book. The vocabulary alone is worth it, translated in early 20th century British English. How often do you read the word "enire" [no spelling error, this is the word] or "usufruct"? Holy crap. If you own a dictionary (or simply a decent sense of context) the verbiage isn't so difficult to get through, and it's really necessary: the narrator is a cat, describing his master, a turn-of-the-century Japanese teacher, and the follies of being a human being. From the perspective of an arrogant, self-righteous, if not altogether pitiless feline. There is enough acerbic wit in the book to make the most cynical bastard feel like a saint, but there is enough heart and self-effacing commentary to make one realize that the cat, for all his spite, truly loves his master's family. It is exactly what I imagine a cat would be like - aloof but not monstrous. I give it a three: it's not exactly epic, nor is the plot spectacular - it was written as a serialized novel, and collected in four parts later - but it is a book I can pick up and pay as much attention to as I like. It doesn't offer the total absorption of, say, "Brothers Karamazov," but it's a humorous enough account. And I can only brood for so long. The ending is really pretty good. I'd almost bump it up one star, except that the whole ending sequence feels a little forced, like Soseki's serialization contract ran out and he had a certain amount of pages to fill. It all ties together well, since the stories are essentially vignettes, but the last few pages is great; a firestorm of death fantasy and philosophy, it is like two pages of everything good about life and death. Nothing new, but well done, nonetheless.