Thursday 11 August 2011

Starcrossed - Josephine Angelini


Book details:
Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books (3 Jun 2011)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0330529730
ISBN-13: 978-0330529730

Summary:
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 . . .

Links to buy:


Rating:

Favourite quote – “Helen sniffed and stared at him with a tiny smile. He was so sensitive, so quick to pick up on every detail; she couldn’t stop herself from adoring him. There were an infinite number of ways for her to admire this one person, and, because of that, there were an infinite number of ways for her to fall in love with him over and over again. She realised that she wasn’t going to have to give up Lucas just this once and be done with it; she was going to have to give up all the different ways she could have learned to love him every day from that day forward.”

My review:
After finally giving in to the amazing reviews I’ve read about this book, I decided that it was time to take action. Thanks to Rebecca from [insert blog here] I won a competition and was able to choose a book of my chose and I chose Starcrossed. I wondered whether this was the right choice or not, but I shouldn’t have worried about it. It. Was. Perfect.

Analysis of plot:
A refreshing idea amongst the usual YA novels regarding vampires, wolves, or ghosts, this was based on the mythical story of the Gods, and Greek legends. I liked the idea of something different and once I started reading it, while there was some confusion as there were so many Greek characters to remember, I eventually got the drift of it and the inclusion of many characters only enhanced Angelini’s talent in providing in depth detail about the baseline she had constructed her novel on – something I loved about her book.

Also, I found that once I started the book and was few chapters in and Helen, the main character, found out about who she really was, I was slightly put off by how normal and un-phased she was about it all. Granted that she always knew she was different, yet the way that she didn’t question anything, did make me feel a little upset that there wasn’t more to her self discovery. Yet Angelini more than made up for that and when I finished the book all was forgotten!

Angelini wove a beautiful story together, and the connection between Lucas, Helen’s love interest and herself reminded me unashamedly of Twilight – and I say this all in a good way. I loved Twilight, and I loved seeing the same intensity of emotions, protectiveness and Helen’s strong-headedness in Starcrossed.  Lucas and Helen’s progression in the book was beautiful and not rushed like some novels are, instead you can see the feelings and emotions of care develop between them. I liked that about the story, and I’m always a sucker for lost causes.

Similarly, I admired the way that the family that Lucas belonged too was constructed, full of different individual characters, each with a talent and they were joined by the bonds of blood which was all carried out in a non-cheesy way. It was admirable and they weren’t all always getting along (especially Hector and Lucas) but that added to the realistic bonds that a family usually maintains.

Angelini used the right amount of romance, action, thriller, and mystery in this novel which flowed beautifully with the novel and urged you to read on – I couldn’t put the book down and again consumed it within hours of starting it.

Analysis of characters:
I loved all the characters in the novel, from Helen’s Dad right down to the evil Creon as they were all constructed with attributes of their own which set them apart, even if most of them were bonded through Greek mythology.

My favourite, (which I know many will agree with) was the character of Lucas. My oh my, he was amazing! While I loved that Helen could hold her own as wasn’t a leaning-type of character who relied on Lucas for everything, I loved Lucas more, simply ‘cause he was the type of guy every girl probably wants and I’m a huge sucker for cliché guys in my books.

Overall:
I totally fell for this book, hook line and sinker. It was a great read and I was smiling along while reading it and laughing out loud at parts and even chewing my finger with tensions. This book had everything I look for in a YA novel and it was definitely a book I’d recommend and I’m pining away for the next book in the series, so glad that it isn’t over ;)

4 comments:

  1. Umm...I have to read this then. Sounds different. Goes to my list. Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Should definitely give this a shot! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. wow great review! Glad you liked it! (: I ned to pick this up now! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for my comment! :) I love your blog design!

    I have yet to read this one, but I've only heard good things! great review :)

    ReplyDelete