Title: Starcrossed {goodreads}
Authors: Josephine Angelini
Publication (dd/mm/yy): 03/06/11 (UK/AU)
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
RRP: $16.99
RRP: $16.99
Source: Publisher for review
Age:
Age:
Pages: 530
My Rating:
Summary:
Destiny brought them together. The Gods will keep them apart.
When shy, awkward Helen Hamilton sees Lucas Delos for the first time she thinks two things. The first: that he is the most ridiculously beautiful boy she has seen in her life. The second: that she wants to kill him with her bare hands.
With an ancient curse making them loathe one another, Lucas and Helen have to keep their distance. But sometimes love is stronger than hate, and not even the gods themselves can prevent what will happen...
My thoughts:
COVERS
US: I really love this cover. The finished copy has this colourful sheen to it, as well as a stunning cover image and text.
AU: The cover focuses on the romantic aspect of the book, but also does implicate quite strongly that there is a Greek mythological twist to this story. The lightning also goes really well with the book, which becomes apparent when you read it.
US: I really love this cover. The finished copy has this colourful sheen to it, as well as a stunning cover image and text.
AU: The cover focuses on the romantic aspect of the book, but also does implicate quite strongly that there is a Greek mythological twist to this story. The lightning also goes really well with the book, which becomes apparent when you read it.
~~~
I have no idea what to say about this book. It was really, really good. I think I did let the hype heighten my expectations to unrealistic levels though and for that I ended up perhaps hoping for something a bit more groundbreaking. Well let's just say that I hoped for tears. Not just out of the characters' eyes, but mine. And while I loved the characters I just didn't shed a tear even when tragedy struck.
I was really able to escape with STARCROSSED. Angelini was just really good at creating the settings and the characters and the whole Scions family in a way that engrossed me completely.
For 500 pages, I'm sure any normal (I use this term loosely, given how 'normal' a bookie is, haha) YA reader would find that pretty intimidating. However, once you really get into the book, it's really easy to see why Angelini has written so many words.
The prose has that easy-to-read quality that YA generally pertains to, but the amount of detail that Angelini put into it allowed me to see the scene unfold before me.
As said earlier, the characters as a whole were well developed so that I liked them. I think that the character who did face tragedy (who was supposed to draw upon great emotion to the reader) just wasn't known enough for me to really care about them.
Helen was a great protagonist. While I did find her stubborn and immature at times, I don't think those moments were really unwarranted. She has had to go over a lot over the course of this book. What I did like was that when she made a decision she stuck to it to the end. She was also PRO equality in a relationship, always good to see.
Speaking of her relationship (with Lucas), I think with the AU cover, people will go into the book expecting a lot of romance. It really did take a backseat, or at least in my mind. I liked that the pair thought rationally, that given the forbidden-ness of the relationship they didn't just go full-out and screw everyone over to be with each other.
The actual plot of this book would be really hard to summarise, because it goes all over the place. First the story arc is this, and then that gets solved or is developed further, and so on. Every aspect of Helen's life is explored - her family and school life, her future, her past, her gifts and training and heritage. Her new family, the situation at hand, and so on.
STARCROSSED is a great start to a new supernatural series that throws Greek mythology into modern day. The ending strongly leads up to the next book that I will not hesitate to pick up when it does release itself into the wild. I implore anyone who is interested in Greek mythology, supernatural powers and/or epic romances to check this one out.
Buy:
* cheapest Australian e-store price ($10.51)
AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTS
INTERNATIONAL READERS
Amazon | Book Depository
All links from Booko, because I'm too lazy to search each individual store anymore.
I have received this review copy in return for an honest review.
Challenge: Debut Challenge 2011
All links from Booko, because I'm too lazy to search each individual store anymore.
I have received this review copy in return for an honest review.
Challenge: Debut Challenge 2011
