Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I was so so excited to read this book - firstly because it sounded awesome, and secondly, it’s pretty much all about Greek Mythology, something I am VERY interested in, so I - regrettably - read a few reviews beforehand, most of which were good, and some of which were bad, but I found that many compared it to Twilight, which kinda stuck in my head throughout reading Starcrossed, and I couldn’t help but notice many similarities between the two, which were too uncanny to be coincidences, though I’m sure many were.
    
              My opinion on Twilight is kinda divided because I used to be seriously obsessed, and it really helped me to get back into reading – I don’t know whether anyone else has patches when they do nothing but read and other times when I honestly couldn’t make myself pick up a book – which I’m pretty grateful for, and it also helped to get me into teenage and young adult books, which, again, I’m grateful for; but I also realise it is terrible terrible fiction. Anyway, that’s for another review, but the main point is that the only bad thing about this book is the slight similarities between it and Twilight, but let’s be honest – there’s hardly a book out there that doesn’t ever-so-slightly borrow ideas from other books. Oh, and Helen’s constant complaining about stomach cramps got on my nerves quite a bit, though I understand it’s a part of the story. 

The similarities are soon surpassed when the action really kicks off and the myths begin to tie in, and they do is a very good and pretty unique way. Having read the other reviews, many people say there is a huge cliffhanger, but I didn’t find this too much, though I am incredibly desperate to get my hands on the sequel Dreamless – a whole 10 months away – and I still couldn’t put this book down. At. All. A word of advice: if you do read Starcrossed, do not read it when you’re tired or at all sleepy – I can guarantee you won’t get any sleep!

Even though I’m not a demigod, or in love with a demigod; even though I haven’t been in any life-threatening situations like Helen had, and even though I’ve never been to America, let alone Nantucket, I felt that I really connected with Helen and I felt for her every step of the way (except when she was being annoyingly lovestruck or whiney, which wasn’t a lot of the time), and I could even clearly picture everything that happened, such was Angelini’s (that is such a nice surname!) writing. I did have to laugh, though, when you found out that Lucas, and of course Helen, could, wait for it…FLY, which turns out to be remarkably convenient!

            Something about this book, which I can’t quite put my finger on, really draws you in, pretty much from the first few pages, and you WILL be addicted to the story and you WON’T be able to put it down, even if it is a good five hundred pages, which literally fly by - I would be perfectly happy if it were a hundred pages longer! Literally everything about Starcrossed is amazing - from the variety of personalities in the Delos family, to the believable development of the romance between Lucas and Helen, to the fact it captivates you from the beginning, takes you on a ride that will evoke a lot of emotions in you - you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll smile, but most of all, you'll be glad you read it. 

It was sort-of predictable, but there were parts that I never would have guessed where to occur, and left me utterly shocked. I can see how it won’t appeal to everybody, but it definitely did for me, and I think many teenagers and young adults will enjoy it as much as I did.

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[SYNOPSIS: 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 . . .]