"STARCROSSED" by Josephine Angelini - Gods, Bloodlust and an Epic Love

 

Details

Title: Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1)
Author: Josephine Angelini
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 31st' 2011
Available to order here: Amazon / Book Depository / Barnes & Noble

Synopsis 

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.

My Review

Helen Hamilton lives a life of relative peace and quiet on the serene island of Nantucket. Not much happens on this island where everyone knows everyone else, and Helen is happy for it to be that way. Uncomfortable with attention, and physically pained by it, she lives her life like a quiet nobody, living alone with her father, the owner of a general store, since her mother left them both when she was very young. Her best friend is Claire, who being Japanese on the island is automatically different and much more comfortable in the limelight, but who still thinks Helen is bound to stand out, even if it sends her into pangs of physical pain. 

Helen's quiet world is torn asunder with the arrival of the Delos family who have moved from Spain. The Delos teens are the talk of the town before Helen has even set eyes on them, and gossip is abound as to how physically attractive they all are. Also, she is shaken by these strange nightmares she has been having, where she finds herself in a barren and desolate land, and upon awakening finds herself covered in dust and incredibly thirsty. And the vision, this hallucination, of three old women who are always urging and crying blood. But when Helen first sets eyes on Lucas, one of the Delos boys, her reaction is one that no one would expect out of her, not even own self, especially not her self. She attacks him. Regardless of how sexually attracted she may be to Lucas, and how intensely drawn to him she may be, her blood also boils at the very sight of him.

Unable to keep herself away for him, and soon realizing that she never will be able to keep herself away from him, she begins to get to know Lucas and his family better and realizes that she learns more about herself through them than she ever would have imagined. Through the Delos clan, including Hector (the hefty, aggressive one who keeps needling her to unleash her aggression), Ariadne and Jason (Twins who are both beautiful, but extremely sweet and understanding) and Cassandra (the youngest, the smallest but with the wisdom and aura of a million sages) and their parents, she is able to come to terms with who she is, what her history is, and what she is truly capable of - that sometimes what you read in the books isn't just a myth, sometimes it is as real as it gets. In the meanwhile, there are dark forces on the hunt for Helen, and she must learn to protect herself from them. In the process of all this, Lucas and Helen are attracted to each other like a moth to the flame. But like the moth's obsession with the flame only results in his demise, Lucas and Helen are not free to follow their desires...there are prophecies that have to be fulfilled, traditions to abide by, Gods to be appeased, and the whole world hangs in the balance of their distance from each other. So will they be able to resist temptation? Will Helen be able to save herself from the dangers that lurk around her? Above all else...will the epic romance between Helen and Lucas be able to bloom, or will it be nipped in the bud? You will have to read the book to find out...

OMGods OMGods OMGods! This book is so absolutely fantastic, I didn't read it, I literally snorted it like crack! The pages kept turning, and I keep getting invested. I laughed out loud, I shed tears...it was an emotional roller coaster. But also, it was so action-packed and fast paced, I felt like I was reading a Marvel comic, rather than a Young Adult fiction novel. I am sure parallels can be, and will be, drawn between Twilight and Starcrossed...but I can safely say that I was far more impressed with the writing and the characterization in Starcrossed than I was by the first book in the Twilight series, and I enjoyed Starcrossed far more. So Stephanie Meyers, you better watch your back, because a new diva is about to take the Young Adult literary genre by storm!!! Also, this book includes a lot of info on Greek Mythology, but author Josephine Angelini has done the subject justice, and the myths and legends are seamlessly incorporated into the storyline. This book was like X-Men meets THOR meets Hercules meets Superman type of stuff, but with a generous helping of romance, friendship, family and plenty of Greek Mythology thrown in there - the PERFECT mix for an extremely riveting read, I must say. There was a seriously cool, award-winning movie going on in my head as I read this book (about that: watch out for a ~Movie Castings~ post on this book on Wednesday of this week). I loved EVERY DARN MINUTE of it. Love, love, loved it, and would recommend it to EVERYONE!

So don't wait another second, Starcrossed hits the bookstores tomorrow - go out and get yourself a copy. I personally promise you, you will not regret it!!!Greek Mythology, teenagers, blood-lust, action-packed sequences, and an epic romance...what's not to LOVE? :)

My Rating : 5/5 Stars

Disclaimer: Although I received an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) of this book for review, I was not compensated monetarily, or in any other way, for my opinion. The opinions stated in this review are solely mine, and are not representative of views of the author, or publishing company, of this book.