Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Summary (from Goodreads): 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.

My Thoughts: Wow, what a book. I loved it. From beginning to end, it was fabulous. I was quite intrigued at the beginning, and HOOKED by about 100 pages in. (Don’t believe me? Check out my In-Progress post! Don’t worry, I’ll wait …)

Helen is a great, likable character. Even when she finds out the truth about who she is, she remains as faithful and loyal to her father and her mortal friends. She doesn’t ditch anyone for her new-found super friends. I like that! So many girls in books like this seem to separate from people from their life before, and ditch them for their new friends and/or new life. Even better, these new friends embrace her as she is, and also welcome her existing friends and family!

This book is overflowing with Greek/Roman mythology. We have, most obviously, Helen of Troy represented. Lucas is, of course, Paris. He is the only one who doesn’t bear the name of a well-known figure in mythology. And, yes, we do learn the reason for that. There also is Hector, Jason, and Pandora – to name a few of the others. And, no, they are not the people from way-back-when. They are current-day people who bear the names of their long-ago ancestors.

There are some big questions, of course, and the answers aren’t too predictable.  I had some idea about the perpetrator of some attacks early on, but had forgotten about that until toward the end – when we find out for sure. We find out which House (or family) Helen is from, and by the time it’s revealed it’s no secret to the reader. It’s not blaringly obvious, and it’s entirely possible that one might not pick up all of the clues before it’s revealed by the characters. There were a couple of unexpected twists, one of which kind of double twists. (You’ll see what I mean when you read this.) Very exciting!

I would like to say that if you’re a fan of Greek/Roman mythology, then you’ll love this, but I don’t know. I’ve studied it a little, and really enjoyed it, but my recollection of most of the stories is pretty fuzzy. There might be purists out there who don’t appreciate this take on the ancient myths.

I cannot say enough how much I loved this book! It’s easily one of my favorites so far this year. Fabulous, fabulous book. I will be anxiously – with bated breath – waiting for the rest of the series!

My Rating: 5 stars

Favorite Quotes: There are a couple this time.

Helen hadn’t realized how heavy the burden of hate had been until she was allowed to put it down. ~ page 110 (ARC)

I don’t think I need to explain why I felt like this was worth sharing.

They dragged the air mattress up to the widow’s walk and eventually figured out how it was supposed to inflate, but Lucas had to read the instructions in Spanish because the English ones were nearly incomprehensible. Hilariously so.

“Insert mouth to the purpose inflation,” Helen whispered, quoting one of the stranger lines of the English instructions as she fixed up the newly filled mattress with sheets.

“Expel lung into inflator tube,” Lucas whispered back. He stuffed a pillow into a fresh case. “That sounds like it would hurt.” ~ page 333 (ARC)

I’m sharing this because it cracked me up. I laughed out loud, making my kids wonder why Mommy was going crazy! LOL Hopefully I’m not the only one who finds it so funny!

Source: Received through Book It Forward ARC Tours for review.

Read It: Starcrossed is scheduled for release on May 31, 2011. You can pre-order it HERE. (This is a Book Depository link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission at no cost to you. Your support is appreciated!)

Challenges: Counts for 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011.

Find me on Goodreads.com >>

This review is part of Book Review Party Wednesday.

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I’m doing something I rarely do with this book. I’m starting my review before finishing it. I don’t think I’ve ever done this before, but I already have thoughts I feel I need to make sure to write out. As of right now (8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30, 2011), I’ve stopped (momentarily) at page 103. I’ve done so more out of habit than anything. I try to read roughly 100 pages of my books before I take a break to do something else – like read blogs, check out Facebook, play on the Wii with the kids, etc. I could easily have skipped that break today. But, I didn’t. Because I have a feeling that if I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t take a break until I was done – or falling asleep tonight, whichever came first. And so, I have stopped reading for a couple of hours. To tend to other things. I am totally into this book, so it’s not that I don’t like it. In part, I suspect, I’m savoring it, but also because once I start again I have a feeling that I just will NOT want to stop. It’s a stop-while-you-can thing. A short breather, so I don’t fall behind in other tasks, and so my children (and husband) don’t feel neglected. At least not too neglected …

For the curious, here’s the summary from Goodreads:

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.

According to Goodreads, this book is to be released on May 31. And it’s first in a series of three. And, I know that once I dive back in, I won’t be coming up for a long time. I guess I better have my Dr Pepper and some snacks nearby, to minimize the times I absolutely HAVE to stop. I can’t say it enough, I’m really liking it so far!

And with that said, I’m off to finish tending to other things before diving back in.

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The Thirteen Curses by Michelle Harrison

Summary (from Goodreads): When fairies stole her brother, Red vowed to get him back. Now trapped in the fairy realm, she begs an audience with the fairy court where she strikes a bargain. Her brother will be returned – but only if she can complete a task set by the court. In a world of trickery and deception, Red is about to find that not all is as it seems. For even if she succeeds, will the fairies keep their promise?

My Thoughts: Now this is more like it. Excellent book, full of exciting twists and turns.

That was my initial thought, which I posted on Goodreads, with the promise of more to come here. And now I’m trying to decide what to say. I don’t want to give away anything in this book. (Just be aware that some things in this book could give away stuff from the first book, 13 Treasures.)

First and foremost, I loved getting to see Red’s story. I can’t say I was too curious about her in the first book, simply because she was such a small (albeit, quite important) character. But, snippets of her story are strewn about throughout this book, and it’s handled perfectly. Just the right amount is shared before returning to the present adventure, leaving the reader satisfied, yet eager to read more.

Speaking of the present adventure, an adventure it is. And it’s fast-paced. This is a longer book than the first, but it reads much faster. It’s a real page-turner, and I read it all in one day (taking breaks for kid-related tasks and dealing with my own illness). I didn’t want to stop. There were many unexpected twists and turns, with the big reveal toward the end hitting me at about the same time it was shared with the characters.

Another thing I really liked was learning more about Warwick. His character is much more likable than I’d ever have guessed, and I have a hard time fitting his image as described in the book with the image his persona tries to create in my head. But that’s not the book’s problem – it likely reflects my own prejudices, or something. I loved his having a more integral part, complete with more dialogue.

I felt the characters had much more depth this time around. I felt I got to know each of them better, except maybe Tanya, who didn’t seem much different from before, and was more of a secondary character this time around. She was quite important, but this was focused more on Red.

Overall, I felt this was much better than the first book, and I am so glad I made sure to read it. I look forward to the final book in the series, 13 Secrets. I hope that we’ll get to know Florence much more in this book. While I know it’s a book for younger readers, Florence is really the biggest mystery (character-wise) left in the series. I really would love to know more about her, have her more involved, and learn some of her own secrets.

My Rating: 4 stars

Source: Received through Book It Forward ARC Tours for review.

Read It: Get your own copy of 13 Curses HERE. (This is a Book Depository link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission at no cost to you. Your support is appreciated!)

Challenges: Counts for the 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge, the 2nds Challenge (second in a series AND second book I read by Michelle Harrison), and iChallenges 2011.

Find me on Goodreads.com >>

This review is part of Book Review Party Wednesday.

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