Awaken (Abandon #3)

Nice action, honestly.

Funny, the only thing I really liked was one small quote Pierce's mama said.
"'Oh no,' Mom said with a semi-hysterical laugh. 'That was just Pierce's boyfriend. He set the carpet on fire with his brain.'"

Just FYI Meg, you should never mix Mythology and Christianity. Major mistake there. It never ends well when you do so.

I really wanted to love this book from the beginning, but I didn’t. It was very slow to start and really got going around the last 100 pages. Those pages were really good though, but it took me forever to get through the first half of the book. The ending was rushed and predictable.

On a positive note, I do love a strong female lead character and this book has that. I thought the romance between Pierce and John was a little strange and forced at times. It seemed like it moved too quickly and wasn't easy to follow.

It’s worth a read to anybody who likes paranormal romance YA novels, although it is the third novel in the series. The previous two books are better.

Pierce is now the Queen of the Underworld and as such, helps out in the daily duties such a job entails. In the start of the book, we meet Pierce managing the ‘good people’ line – a tough gig considering most of the souls don’t take her seriously. That of course, was the least of her problems as an imbalance in the Underworld has caused the Furies to gain greater power and the Fates have vanished. Moreover, John seems to be dead and Pierce sets out to go above ground to try to solve the problem and gain supplies for the Underworld. which is missing the ferry boats to transport souls. Alex is intent on proving his father’s innocence and Kayla and Frank aid them both.

With the finale of any of my favorite series, one thing is fixed – I know I will love the book. Maybe it’s a bit biased but I can’t really hate any book when it comes to series I like. In most cases, the first book itself sets the bar for me. Awaken – while good overall, left me a bit unsatisfied. I don’t mean with the story – it was wrapped up well, all ends tied up, happy ending galore, etc. My sole problem was the pace of the book – things were occurring too fast – and because of this, a lot of the events were becoming too convenient to be real. Pierce just happens to find Thanatos within a few hours of finding out about him, and Alex so easily finds the documents needed to prove Rector’s shady dealings. Um, why would a corrupt businessman keep incriminating documents so easily accessible on his computer; and it’s not like Alex is ever described to have crazy hacking skills. Even the part about them ‘fixing’ Frank seemed a bit convenient. So, basically I felt this book rushed – even the last chapter takes place like an epilogue in which all the character endpoints are described.

Things I did love about this book include the comic scenes. John meeting her parents and her grandmother (without the Fury) are hilarious. Pierce is a likeable character, smart and the romance between her and John is swoon-worthy. Other characters that were added – Chloe, Reed, Mrs Engle – I loved them too.

Hmm... well. I wasn't really feeling Awaken. I made the mistake of reading Underworld and Awaken within a few days of one another. (I read Abandon and Underworld a few months apart.) I think that reading these books back to back made me notice some things that were pretty annoying.


First off, this romance betwen Pierce and John is insane. Not intense , ooh-la-la kind of intense, but border line psycho. I had compeltely forgotten that these books took place in the time span of a few days. Soooo, how the heck are Pierce and John so exclusive and attached at the hip? It's just creepy... and now she's talking about babies? Heck no!


Then, you add in the mess of the plot. There was just way too much going on, and not enough answers. It was a mess. Seriously. I get very annoyed when questions are not answered. Or, like in this case, the answers are just thrown together really quickly. Something just didn't sit well, let's say that.


Since this series is at an end, I think I can speak for it on the whole. I honestly do not care for these books that much. The relationship aspect between Pierce and John just isn't that believable. I think there are just better versions of the Persephone and Hades myth out there to read instead.