Mundie Moms

Sunday, May 15, 2011

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.

City of Fallen Angels Not So Mundane Moments Wrap Up & Exclusive COLS teaser

This last week we have had a lot of fun with our City of Fallen Angels, Not So Mundane Moments with Novel Novice. We've enjoyed sharing our favorite scenes, talking COFA and hosting a fabulous COFA giveaway. Here's a re-cap of our favorite scenes:

We've saved our best treat for last and today we have a little COLS (City of Lost Souls) teaser for you from Cassie!

“Well, hello there, Mother,” Sebastian said in a voice like silk. “Surprised to see me?”

Talk about a teaser! This is one just gave me the chills. Why on earth would Sebastian approach Jocelyn unless he had a reason or an alter-motive to, cue the heart pounding music. Now I'm dying to read the rest of this scene. We all know what he did in COG, and now I'm even more anxious to read COLS.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster, we have an awesome prize pack we're giving away! Here's what will be giving away TODAY:
1) A SIGNED copy of COFA
2) The COFA post card set, which you can read here
3) A COFA poster

We will be picking three winners. The 1st name drawn wins a copy of COFA, the 2nd name drawn the post cards and the 3rd name drawn the COFA poster.

CONGRATULATIONS to the following:
* SIGNED COFA Book- #419 April Xu
* COFA post card set- #188 Laura Morales
* COFA poster- #54 Stephanie Bubnis

Congratulations to everyone! Thank you to everyone who participated in our COFA week! Winners have all been notified and have 48 hrs to reply back to their emails, or new winners will be chosen. Visit Novel Novice to see to who won their giveaways here.

Today is the last day to enter our Signed, Barnes and Noble Limited Edition COFA giveaway HERE.

If you're in Australia & New Zealand, be sure to go out and visit Cassie! She's touring both countries through out the month of May. Here's a list of her tour stops HERE.

Chills & Thrills Teen Book Tour

The Chills & Thrills Teen Book Tour is coming to Austin TODAY!! Sophie Jordan, Tera Lynn Childs, Lara Chapman, Tracy Deebs, Mari Mancusi, Jennifer Archer and Jordan Dane will be at Book People @ 2 pm! If you can't make it, don't worry they'll be traveling around TX this month. Be sure to go HERE to find out the dates & locations for the rest of their tour.

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