Point, 2011
307 pages
YA; Supernatural; Greek Myth
4/5 stars
Source: Received a free ARC through Amazon's Vine program.
I didn't have very high expectations for this as I've been disappointed by Cabot's recent work despite loving a lot of her earlier work. Additionally I had heard mixed things about the mythology as it differs from the traditional Greek myth of Hades and Persephone.
And while I had some problems, I mostly enjoyed this book; partly because main character Pierce Oliviera is a genuinely caring person whose best attempts frequently result in disaster. She's curious and brave and hurting in so many ways. The title is very appropriate because in many ways she's been abandoned as have many of the other characters.
Although they were not as well-defined as Pierce who narrates, the other characters intrigued me. Of course there's John Hayden, the mysterious guy who always seems to pop up whenever Pierce gets into the most trouble. Then there's her cousin Alex, with an undefined grudge against the popular kids at school and his father Chris, who just got out of prison but also seems like a sweet and caring person. I also mostly liked Pierce's parents. Her mother wants to restore the ecosystems of Florida that have been largely destroyed by her father's company. I certainly wouldn't trade my dad for hers (cause mine is super awesome) but he had some funny scenes and he seems to care about her in his limited way.
As to the story, there's a lot of flashbacks and confusion of time, which confused me although I think I have it sorted out now. And not a lot happened until a (very short) battle at the end. There's a lot of Pierce puzzling through key incidents in her life to help her figure out her relationship with John in the context of Greek mythology and a lot of very enjoyable narration that I flew through as I read this all in one day. But if you want kickbutt action, you won't find much of that here...hopefully in the second book Underworld.
Overall: An enjoyable twist on Greek mythology with some of Cabot's signatures; sets up some interesting paths for the rest of the trilogy.
Ooh, I'm reading this one right now! I'm really glad that you liked it. :) Usually, I find That Meg Cabot's books are usually just for quick, enjoyable reading, but I love Greek mythology so I hope this one is more!
ReplyDeleteAwesome review! :)
Sounds good! I think I'm going to wait until the rest of the books are published, but I like the way the characters sound.
ReplyDelete