Review posted here. 
 Awaken picks up only a short time after Underworld. Pierce and John are back down under...and they're not alone. I will elaborate under the cut for the sake of anyone who has not read the first two novels. To you people, I say, "GO READ THEM NOW." Ahem. 
 Right, Pierce + John + band of Merry Men + Alex + Kayla + Underworld = madness. One thing that I love so much about Meg is that she has no problem adding new people to a series, even in the final book. I think it's great. Abandon introduced all the people on Isla Huesos, while Underworld introduced John's crew (and kind of ignored the people introduced in Abandon, tbh), and you think that's gonna be it. But no, suddenly there are new people who get plenty of page time. Meg is a master at pulling in new characters up to the eleventh hour and using them to the greatest effect while simultaneously bringing back characters from the first book that weren't as prominent in the second. Brilliant. 
 Also, Meg has no problem causing plenty of drama. Like, oh, the love interest goes away (I won't say where, but ohhh, I thought I was going to die reading that part). And suddenly Pierce is making out with the bad boy. And there's a secondary character love triangle. Oh, yes, and a massive hurricane in the real world and a weird supernatural storm raging in the Underworld. Perfect. Let it be said that Meg Cabot juggles drama with more ease and with greater effect than the casts of every rendition of Real Housewives, The Hills, Jersey Shore, and Real World combined. Guys, this shtuff be crazy. 
 By far, Meg's greatest strength is writing relatable heroines and matching them with insanely and ridiculously good looking love interests and giving them heart. Some of the language used by other characters was a bit much, but basically the gist is that Pierce and John balance each other out. They can both be pretty volatile and as un-levelheaded as one could possibly be, especially when it comes to the other or at least, their safety, but somehow they manage to calm each other. Their relationship is flawed and imperfect, but they truly love each other, which is clear from the sacrifice and hard work they put in to keep it going. There's one lovely scene in Awaken where John and Pierce sit down and basically act out Relationship Compromise 101. The young adult genre is a lot about the getting together, but not always about the staying together. Often, the love interests don't even kiss until the last chapter. The entire Abandon trilogy walks the reader through the history of John and Pierce's relationship and proves that they want to stay together, even when faced with, well, everything going to hell. Literally. It's messy andfrustrating, but it's also tender and loving. I am in love with John and Pierce together, which is rare for me because usually I'm too busy lusting after just the guy to entirely care about the characters' actual relationship. Hee hee. 
 I feel very at peace with the conclusion of the series; I really feel like it was the right way to go. Did I know what was going to happen? Nope. Another good thing about Meg is that while I feel so familiar with her writing, she still has a lovely capability to surprise me. It keeps her stories fresh. I'm very impressed with the research and time Meg put into the series. This trilogy is beautifully written and features some fantastic new characters in a really cool mythologically-inspired world. Meg has written so many wonderful books and series that sometimes I wonder if she'll be able to keep it up with the new stuff. The answer is unequivocally, yes.