starcrossed

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Just Finished…Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

   I really enjoyed the first book in this series when I read it earlier this year and in many ways Dreamless delivered just as well as Starcrossed did. I do like the way Angelini uses the traditional mythology: some very famous and obvious, such as Helen and Paris, the Oracle, etc. with others less common.

Certainly, I read the book quickly and found it difficult to put down (although the chapters are quite long, so that could explain it!) But I didn’t enjoy the dynamics between the characters as much as I did in the first book – I missed Helen and Lucas’s intensity and was quite put off by how their relationship developed/dwindled in Dreamless – I understand why this was necessary for the plot, but I still missed them.

There’s lots of romantic developments for other characters, which if you’ve read Starcrossed I’m sure you can guess at – they were fine, but I wasn’t overly fussed. The baddies are good though and I thought the overall plot was interesting. Angelini’s skirting around the idea of a love triangle towards the end of the book – I hope she doesn’t opt for this ‘go to’ plot device in Book 3 as it’s been done too much recently and I’ll probably switch right off.

Overall Verdict: 4* People who liked Starcrossed will enjoy this I’m sure – doesn’t suffer too badly from ‘second book syndrome’. For a mythology YA it’s one of the better series around.

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Just Finished…Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I bought this ages ago on a recommendation and kind of forgot about it, so I started it last week without reading the blurb.

This is the first ‘mythology’ based YA I’ve read – not sure if there’s loads of them around or not – and it was great. I loved the detail of the writing – the slow development of the character relationships; the dynamics added by the recycling of mythological characters and stories. It is good enough to keep you guessing what the mysteries are and how they will unfold.

I think what I liked best about this was the depth of the world-building: the reflection of well-known myths and lesser known classic themes is woven so well into the world of the Scions and I think gave a wonderfully deep texture to the world the story is told in. Helen and Lucas are a lovely pairing – I felt they were quite realistic in their relationship – with all the obvious difficulties – I’ve definitely got a soft spot for Lucas and Hector (but then I always loved Hector in the Illiad).

Overall – really liked this: it’s intelligently written and works the mythology angles perfectly without being contrived or superficial. Can’t wait for the next book – if I could have got it at 2.00am this morning I probably would have – so that tells me how much I enjoyed this! 🙂

Rating: 5*

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Blurb:

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…

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