Off the Bookshelf: ABANDON

Don't you hate it when you pick up a book to read, and you realize it's the middle or last book in a series? Ever have that moment when you're torn between reading it anyway, putting it aside until you can find the first book/s, or immediately giving up and putting it on the stack to go to the used bookstore to trade in for credit, because you told yourself you were NOT buying any more new books for the rest of the year -- or at least until you reduced the to-be-read stack by a few feet?

This happened to me last year, when I got UNDERWORLD, the second book in the Abandon Trilogy, by Meg Cabot, as a freebie at RT in Chicago. But see, I like Meg Cabot, even if she does write YA and I'm ... well ... not in that category. But hey, it's a state of mind, right? Besides, I write YA once in a while, so I should see what other authors are doing. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!)

Anyway .... I read UNDERWORLD, so when I saw ABANDON in a raffle basket at the recent NEORWA conference and realized it was the first book in the series, I had to have it. Just to see what happened before.

What's it about? Honey, this ain't the Princess Diaries! Thumbnail sketch: Pierce is a rich girl. Wouldn't say she's spoiled, but she has problems. Like, when she was 15, she hit her head, fell into a pool in the winter, and drowned herself dead. And came back. Of course. This isn't a zombie or vampire book. The thing is, she went somewhere between dying and reviving. And it changed her. People think she's nuts sometimes. "Disturbed." Now she's in a "special" program at her new school. Someone (yes, hunkalicious, but dangerous!) is following her around. And he's in love with her. And he has some really nasty, Greek-mythology-type enemies who want to use her to destroy him.

Ever read the Persephone myth? That should give you a clue what Pierce is up against.

I love Meg Cabot's voice. I think I'd be willing to read almost anything she wrote. I found some of her older books -- The Mediator series and the 1-800-Where-R-You? books. Keepers. Try her. You'll find something you'll like.