Publisher: HarperTeen (May 31st, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 496 pages
Series: Starcrossed #1
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
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.
Okay this will by my first official book review on this blog argh, hope I am going to do it justice.
So today I just finished 'Starcrossed' by Josephine Angelini and I must say it was absolutely AMAZING!!! I-BLOODY-LOVED-THE-BOOK. There were numerous times that I had clutched the book with anticipation and frustration (also making the sound eeik on several occasions, I'm sure I'm not the only person who makes that sound....................right?). Its a book that you can't possible put down. In fact I took it everywhere with me, plunging into the world of fantasy and hastily turning every leaf of page when I found some free time such as waiting in the meeting room for my bank appointment to commence, on the toilet and even at work (where I was actually told off numerous times for not focusing on the task ahead of me....yikes). It is a book that I kept finding myself going back, re-reading the pages.
Anyway, I thought I would start of by giving a brief summary of the book with my own opinions, for those who are interested in it and I know my summary on my last post (if that is what you call a summary anyway) does not do it justice.
Okay so 'Starcrossed' is about this girl, Helen, who is this gorgeous, tall, blond girl, that every girl in high school is jealous of. She doesn't like getting attention from other people, so keeps a low profile, you know, walking around hunched, sliding down her seat, not pushing herself deliberately in school to do well (despite the fact that she is really smart) and also not pushing herself to run faster in track, which she is more then capable of. She has a really cool friend named Claire who is the one that keeps her sane pretty much at school and everywhere else. They are really close friends, like nappy buddies and they are there for each other. So one day in school she sees this guy, called Lucas Delos at his locker. She had been hearing so many stories around her area about this new family moving in and how extremly talented and not to mention how hot they are. However, every time someone mentions the name to her, she feels irritated, but she can't place her finger on the reason why.
So this is the first time they see each other and there is this hot, burning murderous hatred that overcomes her when they lock eyes. She wants to actually rip his head off and kill him..........and she does that.......well tries to and nearly succeeds in the hallway of their high school. I could not help but laughing at the sudden description that Josephine wrote when Helen comes charging at Lucas out of nowhere. It would be extremely shocking to witness if I was at their school.
After that Helen is hooked into Lucas's family and cannot seem to be away from him. There is a cousin of Lucas called Hector and I desperately wanted something to happen between him and Helen. They seem to have some kind of chemistry however, nothing of that sort actually does happen. Nevertheless, the second book might bring a little taste of romance between these two characters. We will just have to wait and see. Anyway, Helen starts seeing these weird hallucinations, where there are three women, all covered in dried blood and dirt called 'The Furies', that create these murderous emotions she experiences whenever she is near the Delos family. She also experiences these dreams/nightmares taking place in a dry piece of land, where she is constantly walking and looking for water. They try to stay away from each other, but the more that they do, the more that fate brings them together until one day she learns about her history and the destiney she is to play, which is when everything changes in Helen Hamilton's life.
I was hooked from the start! I absolutely love Josephine's writing. It had just the right amount of plot, twists, turns, characters and description. It was as if I were actually witnessing the events taking place first hand. The descriptions in the book was not too long, which was perfect and not something that made you feel you were reading a GCSE English revision book that instructs you how to write the perfect description to some random (and mostly commonly boring) title, such as 'Your House'. This is something that Stephenie Meyer does and honestly, reading her books makes me feel I am reading constant streams of metaphors, similes and juxtapositions (which if you ask me seems like she is just dropping them anywhere to make whatever atmosphere she is creating sound intelligent) then actually reading a good story with a plot that goes somewhere. No wonder her books are massive, they are just 600 pages or so of description.
Anyway, I experienced a full range of emotions when reading 'Starcrossed'. From the fear, to the giddiness to the full heart pounding anxiety at the fierce action and passionate romance. I love the character Helen, she is such as strong heroine, a wonderful character, who has a back bone and can make hard decisions for herself, unlike Belle from 'Twilight', who irritatedly follows Edward everywhere!!! Arghh, silly girl! You can compare the two books together. Both have similar plots and similar circumstances but the difference is that obviously the former is wayyyyy better then the latter.
I have not read much books concerning about Greek Gods and its mythology, but I was always interested in the story of Helen of Troy, which this book taps into brilliantly. The story seems to fit nicely together like a jigsaw puzzle and she introduces us to a lot of cool characters, all of whom you fall in love with and become eager to know more about their past or story. Unfortunately we don't get much of this, since it is more about Helen and Lucas however, I am sure the second book will touch more into the other family member's lives. Josephine create a stunning setting in the book and it seems like it is something out of a movie.
Starcrossed is more then a typical story of 'boy meets girl'. She cleverly creates a story that is packed with intense action, captivating romance, heart-filled tragedy and not to mention the all important twists and turns that all stories should have. With also a touch of mythology it makes this book a must read! I cannot wait for the next book in the series: Dreamless.
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