Starcrossed - Starcrossed - Book 01

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I must say the name of this book made me a bit apprehensive at reading the story between its beautiful cover. I immediately thought it would be another angsty teenage love story of a boy and girl who loves each other but cannot be together for some unfathomable reason, like a love triangle or vampire / werewolf thing. I certainly did not expect to find a story about one of my favourite subjects. I thought the story was action packed and interesting, albeit with a few reservations.

SUMMARY

For pre-release books I do no summarise the story in fear of spoiling the book for all of you that are yet to read the book. The Goodreads blurp reads as follows: 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.

WHAT I LIKED

I have always had a strong interest in Mythology and enjoy reading about anything related thereto. This book was therefore a hit with me from at least the point that I realised that Mythology formed an integral part of the plot. I found the book to be a light read whilst still being entertaining and with a few great surprises. I loved the characters’ family interaction and the fact that they were such a close unit with the person with the least power as the fabric that keeps them together. This just goes to show that physical strength does not necessarily equate to emotional and mental strenght. The start off to the “relationship” between Helen and Luke was also a welcome change from the norm even if the barriers between them were contrived, which did not bother me as much as it would have in any other situations. And by the way I think the cover is gorgeous!

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

I tend to not have a lot of critisisms of books I enjoy as I tend to read right over them when I get into the book, so not a lot to say on this score, but I thought the author could have made a bit more effort to try and fellow the know Myths and stories. I suppose if one believes that what Mythology is, is mainly stories, then you can expand and/or manipulate those stories, however I would have liked to see some more respect for the age old myths.

SO WHAT’S THE VERDICT?

I adored this story. I can’t say any more than that. A resounding two thumbs up to Josephine Angelini for a very enjoyable read.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The next book in the Starcrossed series, Dreamless is due for release in 2012. I can’t wait to read what happens next!

Thank you to Harper Teen through Netgalley for providing this book for review!

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