Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: YA, Supernatural, Romance, first in a series
Perfect for: readers who follow Cabot and those who don't mindy timey-whimy plot jumps
Star Rating: 3/5 stars

Taken from Goodreads,"Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away... especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld."


I've read my fair share of Meg Cabot books. I whipped through 'The Mediator' and '1-800-Where-R-You' series and count 'Avalon High' (the first book, not the manga) as one of my favorites. 'Abandon', Cabot's most recent YA foray, is the first in a trilogy about Piece, a girl who's had too many near death experiences for 17 years and John, the handsome, slightly off balance death deity who she always bumps into at the best and worst of times.


I'd be lying if I said that this book lived up to the hype. It didn't.  However, it is a promising beginning to what could be a fun, unique trilogy.


Cabot takes on a different sort of timeline in 'Abandon' than her normal, straight forward approach. 'Abandon' has a very jumpy timeline. The Doctor (the most entertaining time traveler on the BBC) would best describe it at 'timey whimy'. Cabot starts the story in the middle and goes back and forth between past and present. It's a very different style from other Cabot books. In all honesty, I would have preferred a little less time jumping in this novel, but as this is the first in a trilogy, I can forgive this a bit. Not unlike Cabot, her trademark wit is still infused in the writing of 'Abandon'.


Because 'Abandon' is part of a series, most of this novel is focused on setting up the town, characters, and relationships. We don't get to see as much of many of the characters as I would have liked, including main male John, but main female lead Pierce is fleshed out well. She's a strange character with an interesting way of thinking that I like. John, death deity, is still a bit of a mystery to me.  We see him in and out of the novel, but I am hoping we learn more about him in the sequels. He has a few 'hot male lead' moments that are done well and more to come, I'm sure!


For romance readers, 'Abandon' has some romance, but it doesn't overtake from the main plot of learning more about who and what Pierce is. I expect we'll be seeing more in the sequels, though.


Even though I'm not a huge fan of the back and forth storytelling, 'Abandon' is a promising beginning to what could be an entertaining YA supernatural romance. 'Abandon' gets 3 out of 5 stars.

Review: Avalon High-- The Movie (With Spoilers)

(This has spoilers, mainly on the changes made to the story.  You've been warned.)

Published in 2005 by Meg Cabot, 'Avalon High' is one of my favorite books.  Originally when Disney picked up the rights, I was excited.  Now that I've seen it, I think Disney missed the mark a bit.  'Avalon High' was a decent Disney special, best watched by those who haven't read the book.
 
The Synopsis (From Disney Movie Guide)--

Avalon High at first appears to be a typical American high school to Allie Pennington, a transfer student, but soon the perception changes. Allie begins noticing unmistakable similarities between her new school and the legendary Camelot, and as the story progresses, Allie becomes obsessed to the point that she is convinced it's up to her to solve the mystery lest history repeat itself."

The cast-- All in all, I liked the cast.  They were all believable in their roles, even down to main character Allie's quirky parents. The two leads Brittany Robertson and Gregg Sulkin  (as Allie and Will respectfully) played off each other well and were pretty similar to what I pictured while reading the book.  


My only real qualm was Gregg's accent.  He slipped into his native London accent a few times.  I almost would have preferred if he had just used his actual accent.  (Yes, he's supposed to be an all american footballer, but no one said an all american footballer couldn't have spent his preschool years overseas and never lost the accent.)

The story--  All adaptations have changes.  I understand that.  And 'Avalon High'?  Well, in the beginning, I was okay with the changes.  The addition of Miles, the Merlin of the story, was fine with me.  The foreshadowing in the dreams about what was to come?  I was okay with that, too.  And with those minor changes, they also hit on some key factors of the book.  Running through the woods, seeing Will in his 'spot'-- loved it.  (I would have loved to see scene where Will unexpectedly arrives at Allie's house and surprises her on 'Spider Rock' and the confession scene in the woods, but alas, we weren't treated to those!)

The part that hurt this adaptation?  The last 15 minutes.  That is when the story went from a decent adaptation into 'what the heck were they thinking' territory.  I should have seen it coming and half of it I did.  I knew that Marco wasn't going to play the same role as he did in the book and I had the teacher pegged from the beginning, but when it comes to who the true reincarnation of Arthur turned out to be?  Shocked.  (See more below on my opinion on that...)


My Final Verdict-- It was turning out so decently until the end.  If you haven't read the books, I think you might enjoy this movie.  It wasn't up to par with the greats-- Halloweentown, High School Musical, or Brink-- but was watchable.  If you've read the book series, be prepared for major changes.  My rating: 3/5 stars


*MAJOR SPOILERS ON ENDING*
I'm all for girl power, but the story had a good amount of girl power as originally written. There was no need to make Allie the reincarnation of Arthur and Will no more than a knight.  If we are meant to believe Allie is playing Arthur's role, than the famous love triangle of Lance, Gwen, and Arthur plays no real role in this.  Changing the Arthur reincarnate character down grades the story-- a lot!
*MAJOR SPOILER OVER*


What did you think of the movie?