Saturday, April 9, 2011

Review of Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

From GoodReads:

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.


Starcrossed is not your typical girl meets boy they fall in love and defeat the bad guy together. No, it’s much much MORE. I absolutely adored this book! I was left thinking about it long after I finished this enthralling story that entwines Greek mythology and modern day times so flawlessly and with such vivid accuracy I almost question if Ms. Angelini had witnessed the Gods-and all that that entails-herself.

Helen has lived her entire life on Nantucket Island, she’s always known she was different so she tries very hard to ‘fly under the radar’. This means never drawing attention to her unusual strength, speed or intelligence. Then the dreams come-acrid dry desert dreams that are so realistic she’s actually parched when she wakes; when the dreams become even more realistic, Helen realizes that whatever is happening is real and out of her control.

It’s only when the very large Delos family moves in to Nantucket’s largest most expensive home that Helen realizes why she’s different. The entire Delos family is a mystery to Helen; at first she hates the very sound of their name, it’s only when she sees Lucas Delos the first time and tries to kill him that she begins to come to terms with who or what she is. Danger now seems to lurk around every corner, if not from Helen herself then from others who want to capture or kill her. With the help of the Delos family, especially that of the gorgeous Lucas, Helen comes to terms with what she’s capable of. For the first time, Helen is comfortable with who she is and who she loves. She knows true happiness for awhile, despite the danger lurking but with the arrival of a family member that has been missing from Helen’s life for years, the danger increases and Helen’s left with chaotic feelings that tear her apart. Will Helen make the right choices to protect those she loves or will she choose a different path altogether?

This is such a complex story but to thoroughly review it would be to spoil it for the reader. What I can say is that I feel certain that this book will appeal to audiences of all ages and many genres. The brilliant weaving of Greek mythology with current times was dazzling-it was what I like to call -A One Sit Read- which is the highest of honors given by this reviewer.

10 comments:

  1. Wow, I cannot wait to read this. Thanks so much for the review! I love greek mythology and this sounds promising!

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  2. It's wonderful! I know you'll enjoy it, that's how confident I am in this book!

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  3. I'm working on this book now. I'll have to stop back and read the review once I am done.

    New Follower :)

    Mad Scientist

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  4. I try and do the same thing, M.S. I don't like anything to color my judgement.

    Although, aside from reading the synopsis of a book I do read some reviews before I read a book but I don't remember the review by the time I've received, read and finally reviewed the book.

    I hope you like it as much as I did!

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  5. This sounds fantastic! I've had it in my TBR for awhile now and can't wait to get started on it.

    Thanks for visiting my own blog, Kristi!

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  6. Your Blog is wonderful, Kelsey, and I'll be a frequent visitor there. I enjoyed your site immensely!

    Thanks for visiting and I'm glad my review helped get you pumped to read it!

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  7. This sounds SO GOOD. I requested it on NetGalley so I hope it gets approved soon!

    By the way your blog is absolutely awesome! Thanks for taking the time to stop by mine. :)

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  8. Hmmmm, sounds like another good one. You are really starting to increase my WANT list. ;D lol. Thank you for the great review!

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  9. So glad you enjoyed this one! It's definitely an honour when you feel you have to read something in one sitting.

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  10. Great revoew! I really want to read it now!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog and following! I'm a new follower here! :)

    Nora, The Bookery

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