Underworld by Meg Cabot: Review

***May contain spoilers to Abandon***

Title: Underworld
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: YA, Fantasy/Mythology
Release date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Point
Series: #2 in Abondon Trilogy
Source: Gifted
318 pages

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 Review:


WHY I PICKED UP THIS BOOK: After finishing the first book in the trilogy, Abandon, I was pretty excited to read the sequel. After a friend of mine helped be get this book (Thank you, Megan), I was jumping out of my seat to start it. I've always loved Meg Cabot's writing so I was hoping this was going to be another book written by her that went above my expectation. It wasn't.

THE MAIN CHARACTERS: At first, I was okay with Pierce. In the end of Abandon, she experienced a lot of things that are a bit traumatizing. But, as the book went on, everything she did screamed naive and ignorant. I'm not a fan of books that have naive girls in it who can barely tell their left from right. She tries to do things on her own and often does things that she knows will put John in danger, but barely acknowledges that fact. She asks so much of John, and I find it a bit ridiculous. I figured that she would become a stronger female protagonist that matures and learns to take care of things on her own instead of relying on other people, but that definitely did not happen. I was a bit disappointed.

John, on the other hand, I fell even more in love with. He's so broken, but he does everything he can to make sure Pierce is happy. Not only is he extremely hot, dark, and protective, he truly loves Pierce and would do anything for her, which is an admirable thing. Also, he didn't change very much from Abandon, which I like. Characters that change in between books drive me crazy.


THE ROMANCE: Things really kick up between Pierce and John in this sequel. As I said in the characters section, you can tell how much John and Pierce love each other and would do anything to protect each other. John is head over heels for Pierce and Meg Cabot has a good way of having the characters express their feelings. John is very protective, which is a good thing considering Pierce's situation. Things really get to the next level in their relationship, which is one aspect of the book that I really enjoyed.

THE PLOT: The plot in Underworld was not exactly what I expected. A lot of new characters were brought in that were a great addition to the story. The whole book takes place over the time period of a day and a half, which, in my opinion, hurt the plot. A lot of things happened in one day and it seemed quite... crazy. Their were many minor things that led up to the event at the end of the book. The best way I can describe the plot is a filler.

THE ENDING: The ending of the book was probably the best part. It had suspense, it wrapped things up (which any good book does) and there was a bit of a cliffhanger. Like in Abandon, the whole book in general wasn't a 5 star, but the ending made me want to read the next book.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS: I was honestly a little disappointed by this book because I really do love Meg Cabot's writing, but overall it was a decent book. Not one of my favorites, but I'm still looking forward to the third book of the Abandon trilogy.

RATING: