Starcrossed Review

“Helen Hamilton has always tried to hide how different she is—no easy feat on an island as small as Nantucket, and only getting harder as she finds herself haunted by hallucinations and vivid nightmares.

It’s not until she crosses paths with Lucas Delos at school that Helen’s true heritage is finally revealed. Yet even as Lucas helps her awaken to her startling powers, they can never be together—not unless they can break free from the tragic destiny the Three Fates have in store.”

So, the lesson for today is that when your book blogger friends tell you that a book is OMGFANTASTICYOUNEEDTOREADITLIKENOW, you really should listen. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini is full of Greek tragedy and forbidden love and as such, this book had my name written all over it from the start. I knew I’d love it but I’d put off reading it for silly yet totally tangible reasons like “if it really is THAT good, I’ll have to wait FOREVER for the sequel” and that kind of nonsense because y’know, I’m not patient when it comes to books I love. Thankfully, having waited this long and totally fallen in love with the series, I only have until July now to wait for Dreamless and I cannot wait!

I’m going to start by talking about the book cover. I have to say that whilst I really like the UK cover, as a major hardback fan I’ve got to go with the beautiful US cover that reminds me very much of the setting in the book. I loved the coastal vibe and sleepy seaside town images that I got from the book. But aside from the setting, it was the exciting plot and the amazing characters that had me hooked. I’m deliberately trying not to say much about the plot as I feel like anything I could say would be a potential spoiler however, I will say that Helen doesn’t know who she is and neither does anyone else really until the Delos family waltz into town and awakens something inside her. It’s all systems go from there on in.

Helen is essentially at the centre of the story and my favourite thing about her is that she is a really decent person and that comes across in the book. This fact alone endeared her to me although I did like the bond she shares with her best friend Claire AKA Giggles. Speaking of Claire, I did so enjoy the tension between her and Jason and I also have high hopes for Matt and Ariadne. Matchmaking is such fun ;)

Ok, let’s talk about Lucas. HELLO. I’m totally adding him to my list of literary boyfriends as he is just lovely. My favourite scenes in the book were between Lucas and Helen – specifically when they crashed into each other and the bed scene (it’s totally innocent, I swear). I also loved it when Lucas insisted on staying on the roof but then came down when he changed his mind. I have to put this out there and say that I would die to see that scene from Lucas’s point of view, maybe as an extra *sends magical vibes out to Josephine*. One of the things that makes this book different from other YA novels is that rather than love at first sight, it’s definitely hate at first sight for Helen and Lucas and that makes for a very interesting and entertaining dynamic. Now, I can’t talk about guys and not admit to having a soft spot for Hector too and I could not help but picture Kellan Lutz (Emmett from Twilight) in the role. With those muscles? There’s nothing wrong with that folks!

Besides the awesome characters, another favourite thing about the book was the family element which is something I enjoyed in books like Finding Sky by Joss Stirling. I don’t come from a huge family and so when I see strong family bonds, brothers and sisters having each other’s backs, I love it.

Starcrossed was a fantastic read and is an example of how Greek mythology SHOULD be taught in schools. None of this stuffy textbook crap but amazing and highly entertaining YA novels that rock your Grecian socks off. And, even though the book is over 400 pages, I can honestly say that I didn’t even notice and even further, I never wanted it to end. That’s writing skill right there, my friends. I really do feel like Josephine Angelini has cast a spell over me and seriously, I’m not sure what I wouldn’t do to get hold of a copy of the sequel right now.

Starcrossed was published on 31st May, 2011 in the US and 3rd June, 2011 in the UK. The sequel entitled Dreamless is published on 29th May, 2012 in the US and 5th July, 2012 in the UK. To find out more about Josephine and her books, please click here. If you live in the UK, the last I looked on Amazon you could buy the kindle version for ONE POUND. That is a mega bargain my friend for such a good read and you should buy it immediately if you have the ways and means.