Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Myth of Persephone, Darkly Reimagined


Note: This book review was originally posted on TheLitExpress.blogspot.com on April 2, 2011

Title: Abandon (Book One)
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Hardcover: 320 pages
Source: ARC (Thanks, Scholastic!)
Reviewer: Sandy Phan

She knows what it's like to die. Now Death wants her back. Seventeen-year-old Pierce knows what happens to us when we die. That's how she met John Hayden, the mysterious stranger who's made returning to normal life—or at least life as Pierce knew it before the accident—next to impossible. Though she thought she escaped him—starting a new school in a whole new place—it turns out she was wrong. He finds her. What does John want from her? Pierce thinks she knows... just like she knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven. But she can't stay away from him, either, especially since he's always there when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears the most. And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that’s exactly where John sweeps her: The Underworld.

Review:

I have to say that I am a bit disappointed in this book. I was so excited when the ARC showed up on my doorstep, and I ripped open the package to find the sleek, black-and-gold book. As a child, I loved the romance and dark dangers lurking in ancient Greek myths. I was especially intrigued by the myth of Persephone and the lord of the underworld. Needless to say, I had very high hopes for this book.

I felt that the characters could use a bit more development, and they probably will be later in the series. Perhaps I am overly critical, but recently I have found that many female protagonists in YA novels tend to annoy me. Bella particularly irked me in the Twilight series, and I only put up with her because I loved Edward and Jacob. Bella just seemed so helpless, useless, and clueless—especially when it came to reading both Edward's and Jacob's feelings. Pierce Oliviera is a similarly frustrating character. She fully intends to be a strong and independent girl, but somehow often manages to come off as a bit dense and rash. John (a.k.a. Death or the ruler of the underworld) describes her as caring and selfless, but I wasn’t entirely convinced by her desire to help others. She simply had no idea what the people she cared about wanted or needed. I often had the urge to shake her and ask her if she really was that blind. 

John, while only slightly less clueless than Pierce, displayed a bit more depth. I mean, you can’t exactly blame a guy who has so little interaction with live people for not understanding a girl—especially a girl like Pierce. Sometimes I had imagined Hades as a seductive bad boy, and other times, I believed him to be a manipulative and selfish sort who could only get the girl by tricking her into eating the food from his world. Cabot created a somewhat complex and very sympathetic modern-day Hades figure in John. He exuded just the right amount of moody, dark, bad boy sex appeal, and I genuinely felt bad for him. He really didn't deserve a thankless job for eternity. And he certainly didn’t deserve a girlfriend who had no sense of emotional accountability. I am curious to learn more about his history as the series develops.

I would like to point out that one of Cabot's greatest strengths is her ability to make her main character jump off the page. As a writer, I know that it is very difficult to express a unique point of view, rather than simply write in an expository manner. In Abandon, Pierce's attitude and opinions infuse every line of text, and I really felt as though I was experiencing the story through her eyes. It's simply too bad for me that I didn't agree with most of her thoughts and actions.

The story opens about a year and a half after Pierce's near-death experience, and bounces back and forth in time between the present and past, filling in bits and pieces of information. This was a very clever plot device to keep the reader curious about Pierce's encounter with John in the underworld and the violent events afterwards that forced her to change schools and move to her mother's hometown on a tiny island off the coast of Florida. Overall, I found myself wanting to know the back story because it was offered so piecemeal, and this is what kept me turning the pages, despite my frustrations. However, the more I found out about her actions, the less sympathetic I became to Pierce. Eventually, I finished the book because I really wanted a resolution or some sort of reward for sticking it out, but I encountered a total cliffhanger. I prefer series that provide the reader with some payoff at the end of each book, while still keeping you hungry for more. I suppose it’s a very fine balance that is difficult to achieve. 

So I am moderately interested in finding out what will happen next, but I haven’t quite decided whether I will read the next book in the series. Perhaps Pierce will mature and become a less frustrating character in the next installment. If I didn’t have such a strong reaction to Pierce, I believe it would have been a much more enjoyable reading experience for me. The concept is really interesting, and I’d kind of like to see how Cabot develops her version of the myth.

My rating: 2.75

Friday, June 24, 2011

Quick Book Review: The Botticelli Secret


The Botticelli SecretThe Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Adventure, political intrigue, art history, romance, intelligent and humorous dialogue, plot twists ... this novel had it all! I enjoyed every bit of it and absolutely ADORED the protagonist. What a unique and entertaining point of view! This was by no means serious and "important" reading, but it was so cleverly concocted with complex characters and an even more complicated puzzle to solve, that I couldn't have asked for a better way to de-stress, and I've been super stressed lately. Thanks for lending it to me, Heidi!


View all my reviews

Friday, June 3, 2011

Community

www.facebook.com/commongroundOC


"What is community? How has community impacted your life?"

These are the questions the attendees of the Common Ground Open Mic event were asked last night. We had a chance to engage in a chalk talk (apparently, chalk talks involve writing and responding to answers on a huge sheet of butcher paper). Here were my responses:

What is community?
Community is a supportive group of people who provide a safe space where both individual members and the entire group are encouraged to grow.

How has community impacted your life?
Community has given me the courage to be creative.

There were some amazing performances last night. So much musical, poetic, and artistic talent! And everyone was so passionate about working for and with the community. I am always inspired when I attend these types of events. And it's volunteers who make it all happen. I used to make it out to LA for the Tuesday Night Cafe events every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, but it's just so far.

I signed up for open mic last night and read a few of my poems. I was super nervous, as I hadn't performed in a very long time. But it makes me want to write again. So here's a poem:

Community creates unity
amongst unique personalities
bound my commonalities
that thrive on feeling alive
through words
through actions
through music
mind-melding attractions
of the heart and soul
and pulse of the whole.

Community challenges me
to be my truest me.

My next project is creating an inspiration Swatch Booklet. I'm going to paste/draw/write in images, events, people, anything that inspires me and the reasons why. This way, whenever I'm feeling down, I will just have to flip through and be reminded of all the things in the world both big and small that inspire me.