Considering the plot-less demise of a book that was Abandon, I was pleasantly surprised at its sequel. Underworld turned out to be a pretty pleasant read that kept me turning the pages, and not just because I had nothing better to do.
This next book takes off from where the first leaves off, about a day or two after. Pierce wakes up in John's bed...with her cheek pressed to his chest. Which happens to be bare. And streaked with her tears.
So, Pierce starts freaking out, naturally, until she finds out that John didn't "spend the night with her," he just moved from his place of rest on the couch to the bed to hold and comfort her because she was crying and talking in her sleep about something.
Then she starts talking about how she doesn't really want to spend all of eternity in the Underworld or something, and blah blah, they bicker and insult each other with poor communication but then make up, and to be honest the rest of the scene is pretty much lost on me. Oh, and John makes a bird out of thin air (a mourning dove) and Pierce names it Hope because that's what it will only respond to, although she's reluctant because it's such a cliche name. Pierce eats breakfast because she thinks only pomegranates make you live in the Underworld forever (although I swear that it was any food in the Underworld and pomegranates were just what Persephone happened to eat because they were so rare and special and stuff...Pierce kept insisting that it was only pomegranates because they were the "fruit of the dead," which I found pretty stupid...).
John goes off to "work," escorting departed souls who wait on a beach to their final waiting destination place, and then Pierce goes off to explore the castle.
She meets Henry, a servant boy who collects the trays of food every morning, and when she follows him (despite his insistence that she shouldn't, since she wants to find John desperately because she saw a disturbing video of her cousin Alex on her phone being trapped in a coffin) she ends up in the kitchen where she meets Mr. Graves, Frank, and Mr. Liu. Who these four people are isn't revealed until a little bit later, but they all refer to John as "Captain."
Eventually, she finds John and convinces him to take her back to Isla Huesos one last time so she can say good-bye to her mother and find her cousin Alex, who may or not be in trouble.
Basically, the entire plot of the story is to find Alex and help him out of the danger, although there's a lot of side-things in the way, like visiting Mr. Smith the cemetery sexton and talking with him, an encounter with a Fury in the guise of the groundskeeper (where Pierce manages to actually knock him out, if you're wondering whether she's still a weak heroine), ending up at a festival, etc.
Despite there being no real specific plot in this book either (i.e. a specific goal they try to accomplish the whole time), it's still a nice read that will pass the time when you have nothing else to do. There's more world-building in this installment, including more about John's past (which I find interesting), more about the rules of the Underworld and the Fates, and more about what goes on in Isla Huesos that hardly anyone knows about.
John, in my opinion, gets more likable and his character development is a lot more than in the first book. You get more inside his past and why he does the things he does. His "love" with Pierce gets less creepy and more sweet (although, if you really look at the time frame of this book, still not as believable as I'd like).
Henry, Mr. Graves, Frank, and Mr. Liu were interesting additions to the cast, and they introduced nice new dynamics that I thought made the story more refreshing to read and compelling.
Pierce does get better in this book, mostly because you don't get to see her do stupid things since she doesn't get that many chances to (like in the first book...which I shall not dwell on because that would ruin my mantra of focusing on the positives), she doesn't mention her idiotic past (yay!), and she doesn't overly use phrases like cemetery sexton and Check yourself before you wreck yourself that make you want to bash her head in with a brick. She gets more of a backbone here, and although yeah, she's still pretty submissive when it comes to her and John's love (sort of justified...just read the book and decide for yourself), at least she can handle herself when it comes to dealing with Furies and her messed up family. I liked her a lot more in this book than I did in the first.
There was something at the near-end that bothered me...but talking about it would reveal spoilers. Sigh. You'll probably know what I'm talking about when you get to it, if you ever read it. It has to do with...pomegranates. *shudders* And I think it's pretty stupid. But to each his own.
The ending was a cliff hanger that I found very enjoyable, and not just because I can read the third book whenever I want to. (HA!) I like cliff hanger endings, and this one was pretty good, although you can probably tell where it's going to head in the next book.
Read it? Yes!
Happy 4th of July everyone!
