Goddess (Starcrossed book #3) by Josephine Angelini

                                                                              Title: Goddess          

                                        Author: Josephine Angelini

Pages: 421

Published: May 28th 2012, by HarperTeen

Series: Starcrossed book #3

Genre: YA

Stars: 3.5/5 stars

After accidentally unleashing the gods from their captivity on Olympus, Helen must find a way to re-imprison them without starting a devastating war. But the gods are angry, and their thirst for blood already has a body count.

To make matters worse, the Oracle reveals that a diabolical Tyrant is lurking among them, which drives a wedge between the once-solid group of friends. As the gods use the Scions against one another, Lucas’s life hangs in the balance. Still unsure whether she loves him or Orion, Helen is forced to make a terrifying decision, for war is coming to her shores.

In Josephine Angelini’s compelling conclusion to the masterfully woven Starcrossed trilogy, a goddess must rise above it all to change a destiny that’s been written in the stars. With worlds built just as fast as they crumble, love and war collide in an all-out battle that will leave no question unanswered and no heart untouched.

Okay this review is going to be quick and brief.

If you want to see my review for the first book click hereand the second book click here.

Okay, so my opinions about the main characters have not changed from the first two books. I still love Orion! Gotta love that guy!!!

But the only change was from Helen. Oh gosh, this girl annoyed me sooo much in this book, which was such a disappointment since I really liked her character in the first two books.

At times, she has such a big headed attitude and this was partially by her mass of powers at her grip. Like seriously it was actually ridiculous how much power she had at her grip. Yeah I understand making Helen that strong was part of the plot line but it just didn’t fit right.

For example, not only could Helen fly, be fireproof, and create electricity with her fingertips; standard powers that was evident in book one and two, but in this book is was also a world builder, could control people’s hearts, is a falsefinder and could make an electromagnetic field, whereby metals flew to her. Seriously? I get that two of her powers also came from Lucas and Orion when they became blood brothers, but again.....seriously!!!

Oh and that makes me move onto the term blood brothers. I’ve lost count of how many times Helen kept referring to the fact that all three of them were blood brothers. Yeah we get it and saying it once or twice is enough but saying it about ten times is just borderline annoying.

Aside from that the story was just jarring at times and the chapters did not flow well. It seemed like Josephine researched a bunch of Greek mythology and wanted to add everything she came across into this one book. It seemed like she created one plot line, didn’t finish that, created another one, didn’t finish that and moved onto another plot line.

*Sigh* this book was a bit of a disappointment.

Dreamless (Starcrossed book #2) by Josephine Angelini

 Title: Dreamless

                                                      Author: Josephine Angelini

                                                    Pages: 487

                                                      Published: May 2012, HarperTeen

                                                      Genre: YA novel, mythological

                                                      Stars: 5/5

Can true love be forgotten?

As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out--a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling "Starcrossed" delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations.

See review for Starcrossed, first book in this trilogy here.

To stop the Furies and break the cycle that tortures her family and friends, Helen must enter the Underworld, lift the curse of the Furies and stop the rage and senseless killings. She is the only person who can travel there, but not without consequences whereby Helen experiences extreme exhaustion and in some ways insanity but also death. Helen desperately needs help and luckily another Scion, Orion has come to her rescue who can also enter the Underworld. As they both start to work together, Helen begins to have feelings for him...but what about Lucas who seems to be always on mind constantly? However, after finding that they are both related from the first book, she tries very hard to see him as just her cousin and only that.

I love Helen! There is so much to her character that I don’t even know where to begin. Not only is she extremely stunning, but she’s extremely strong that she doesn’t even know her true strength. She has a rare gift of using electricity, is the only one who can enter the Underworld at will and has a Cestus that protects her from any harm! Gosh, she’s Wonder Woman all right. I like her even more in Dreamless. I liked seeing Helen branching out and actually considering someone else as a love interest other then Lucas. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Lucas, but it was nice that Helen explored a relationship with Orion, who is just as dreamy and gorgeous as Lucas.

My opinion of Lucas from the first book, ‘Starcrossed’ (see review here) has not changed.  The only differences might be is that I loved him even more...if that is even possible. I wasn’t even mildly ticked off at him when he kept interfering between Helen and Orion.....he is just so loveable! I think I’m in love.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Orion! He is the kindest, hottest, strongest, funniest and easy going demi god I have ever met....not that I have met any but you know what I’m talking about. He truly cares for Helen and there is a kindest in him that no other demi god processes, what with being all mighty and a tad bit big-headed due to the power they hold. But oh no Orion is not like that. He actually doesn’t like the idea of using his power where he can somewhat physically change what a person is feeling like. I’m rooting for him and Helen to be together, but I highly doubt that’s going to happen. I really hope he gets with someone though! I think I’m in love......again!

I was kind of ticked off with Jason at being angry with Helen all the time as if it was her fault that everything was going on, especially with Lucas’s mood swings. I mean seriously, has he forgotten that Helen is the least selfish person in this book by going down to the Underworld and risk dying, just so she could stop the furies! I really wanted her mission to the Underworld with the help of Orion just to be their little thing, what with the way everyone kept pushing Helen away, or so it seemed.

One of my favourite parts in this book is the cave scene with Helen and Orion (it seems to be like a trend of using a ‘cave’ to produce some steamy romance!). At first I loved the way they fought together caused by the furies but I loved it even more when Orion kissed her so she could stab him! Arghhh!! I think I’m saying the word ‘love’ way too much. 

There is a lot of emphasis that is placed on the Olympian gods even more then the first book. There is much more emphasis placed on the Olympian gods especially towards the end. There are new mythological characters that are introduced such as Achilles, Ares and Persephone. I really liked this twist to the mythology of Olympian gods and mostly the mythology of Helen of Troy and Paris. It was very authentic and I liked the way Josephine changed and added things to the original classics. It was never a boring book, despite the novel being fat!

Notables quotes/passages: 

“Yes. I love them both. And I'd die for them both.” 

Book Trailer:

Starcrossed book #1 by Josephine Angelini book review.

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
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.

Book Trailer: