Book Review- STARCROSSED

By Josephine Angelini

Published by Harper Teen

To Be Released on May 31st, 2011

Source- ARC from TLA

4 stars- I really enjoyed it

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 (quoted from Goodreads).

I'm a huge fan of Greek mythology and I'm been waiting for the chance to sit down and devour the book. Aside from the unique spin Josephine gives her mythology, I loved the setting, Nantucket. I never would have pictured this as the setting for a whole cast of demigods to live, but it really worked for the story and provided the perfect amount of seclusions they needed for what happens in the story.

I thought there was a wonderful cast of beautiful demigod characters who have a wide range of unique and exceptional talents, which I really liked. Thrown into this mix is the traditional lore, mythology, and legends of the Greek gods with a fun twist that allowed Josephine to create believable teenage characters with modern day family dynamics. There's great chemistry, romance and of course some wonderful twists. You also can't have a story about demigods without having some great actions scenes, which I really enjoyed. A lot of the action is centered around Helen being trained in her powers and being able to protect herself from those who would like to kill her.

I liked that Helen, the story's main character is a normal teenage girl with unearthly powers she knows nothing about until she meets the Delos family, who've recently moved to the island. I mean, Helen has always grown up feeling different, which who hasn't, and I think that's one thing that makes her relatable. Along with Helen, I felt like I was thrown right into trying to wrap my head about the world she now finds herself apart of, whether she wants to be or not.

There are a few things I had a hard time with the story, but I can't mention what they are without giving anything away. There's something that happens right when Lucas, the main love interest and Helen first meet that really almost turned me off from the story, but I was relieved when the reasoning behind what happened was explained later on. Though I felt their connection was a bit too intense right after they met, I ended up loving their relationship, especially since they started off loathing one another. This is one of those books that made me feel a variety of emotions. There were times I loved it, felt frustrated with it, and times it made me laugh out loud, and others times I couldn't help but feel broken hearted for some of the characters and what they have to deal with. Over all I feel that STARCROSSED provided a fun, unique story and world that YA fans of Greek mythology will enjoy. I am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.