Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Release Date: May 31, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 496
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository
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. – Goodreads
Review:
Starcrossed is one of those reads that I grow to find more frustrating as more time passes by. I had seen many positive reviews, and the cover is so gorgeous, that it proved impossible not to be excited for it. Imagine my surprise when it came very close to joining my pile of “did not finish” books. I decided to continue on after putting it aside for a day or so, hoping that I just needed a break, but unfortunately Starcrossed never picked up for me.
Set on the island of Nantucket, Helen Hamilton has always felt different from everyone around her. Once the Delos family arrives, she learns just how different she really is. Upon seeing Lucas for the first time, her first instinct is to kill him and the two characters have a go at attempting to destroy the other. Their animosity is later explained as the Furies trying to keep them apart and, of course, they’re eventually able to stop the powers that compel them to kill each other. Helen slowly learns the details of her history, revealing her as a demigod.
When it comes to romance in books I’m so easy to please and yet it proved impossible for me to care about Lucas and Helen: individually, together, whichever…but their romance especially! Despite the “IT’S DANGEROUS TO BE TOGETHER, WE CAN’T” protests from Lucas, they quickly moved from their insta-hate to their insta-love. I could get behind the former, sure, but failed to see when and why they grew to have feelings for one another. I never felt a spark between the two.
I have no problem keeping up with a large cast of characters — which we definitely have here — but the majority of them fell flat to the point that I didn’t care to keep them straight. With the exception of Hector, I couldn’t tell you specifics about any of them and I’d probably even butcher their names in any attempts to do so.
With some polishing and tighter editing this had the potential to be a good read. I’m intrigued by one certain event involving Hector towards the end, but it’s not nearly enough to keep me invested in the story. These 400+ pages were more than enough. Who knows, though, maybe I’ll skim through the next installments, but right now I’m thinking that this is where the series ends for me.
About Stephanie
You review for this is much, MUCH better than mine at explaining what lacked in this book. I think this was my first ‘iffy’ review and I wasn’t sure how the heck to explain what didn’t work for me because usually any book I don’t like, I don’t finish. I’m learning how to better ‘negative’ reviews now!
But I agree with everything you said. I was insanely excited for this because of the greek mythology element and it sounded really good. But none of the characters connected with me and half the time I was just…. eh. Plus I wasn’t a big fan of the writing either. I really liked the plot ideas behind it all, but the execution was a big disappointment for me :/
I think my comment here is better than my review LOL.
Haha, it’s always so hard to pinpoint what went wrong with our reading of the material when it’s all so BLAH. The idea of it sounded amazing, but I guess it was too good to be true. Better luck next time!
Oh dear, the whole retelling thing in YA, I’m mostly staying out of it :P
I read so many great reviews for this one that I was wondering if it was too good to be true. I do love mythology so I was really excited about this one, but so far, none of the retellings I’ve read were really really good. :/ I think I definitely still plan on reading this one, but I will lower my expectations a bit.
Thanks for your review – I felt pretty much the same after reading! Im struggling to write my review now actually – I’m still hesitant about posting up negative reviews!
I always try to find pros/cons and suggest who might like it – I wouldn’t want to just trash a book! Especially when everywhere I looked there seemed to be 4/5 star reviews about this one!
Aw, sorry this one didn’t work out for you. I definitely see the drawbacks, particularly with how sprawling it was. I couldn’t really feel anything for Helen and Lucas’s relationship either. I loved Hector though. I hope he plays a bigger role in the second book.
Girl, you and me are on the same page with this one. I felt like I was locked in a duel to the death with this damn book and it nearly sucked my soul from my body.
Too much?
I haven’t read this and now it looks like I won’t. Your review and Logan’s comment made me laugh!