Starcrossed - Josephine Angelini

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

GENRE: Young Adult Fantasy; Greek Mythology
FORM: AudioBook
NARRATOR: Devon Sorvari
SERIES: Starcrossed

SYNOPSIS: Helen has always been different, extra strong, extra fast among other things. She’s also tried her best to not be noticed by anyone except her small group of friends. When a new family moves to town, she does her best to avoid them, despite the fact that everyone is talking about them and how cute and great they are. When their paths finally cross, Helen is filled with the unavoidable desire to kill Lucas Delos. This is just the beginning of a long series of strange things that happen to Helen that begin to unravel the mystery of who she is, where she came from and what happens next.

REVIEW: This is one of those books that consume your thoughts even when you are not reading it. You want to go back and see what happens next. I do not have the luxury to spend hours upon hours reading (listening), but if I did I would likely have completed this book in one day. I have never enjoyed Greek Mythology so much, and Starcrossed also has me thinking about going and brushing up on the subject outside of reading Young Adult novels. The book is a perfect blend of romance, action, and interaction of characters.

I will admit, I almost stopped listening to the book when it seemed like it was going to be another Twilight copy; girl in high school who does not like attention, abnormally attractive family moves to down, strange events…getting the picture? I honestly DID stop reading a book recently because of it being so closely related to Twilight. It’s becoming a bit of a pet peeve of mine. I LOVE that series, and have been deliberating on going back for a re-read recently, but I absolutely hate when a different book uses the same framework. I don’t mine books that are closely related (Hunger Games and Divergent are pretty close in framework, and I like them both very much) but when there are more similarities than differences, I feel like I’ve just gotten a hold of a cheap knock off. HOWEVER, Starcrossed is NOT a cheap knock off. In fact, the similarities start ending pretty soon after Helen and Lucas first meet. And I’m so thankful I didn’t put it down!

WHAT I LOVED: If you’ve read my blog/reviews much at all, you all know that I am always up for a girl who can kick-butt. One of the best things about Starcrossed is that Helen is a very strong character. She doesn’t even know how strong she is. But it doesn’t just come to her one day. She isn’t helpless one minute and a butt-kicker the next. She has to learn about herself, her history, her abilities. Even at the end, she still hasn’t reached her full potential. She must rely on the Delos family for help. This book was a perfect framework for who Helen is going to be in the upcoming books. Anticipation is sweet!

NOT SO MUCH: Once again, the very thing I “loved” also becomes the thing I didn’t like. While I love that this book provided so much set up for action and contained a lot of action as well. The book, however, did start to get a little bit long. I actually misjudged the climax a couple of times before actually reaching it.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
Coming in 2012:  Dreamless

View all my reviews