Starcrossed [Paperback]

Josephine Angelini (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 1, 2012 | Series: Starcrossed

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—now it's getting harder. She's having nightmares of a desperate desert journey, visions of three women weeping tears of blood. And why is she possessed by the sudden, unstoppable urge to kill the handsome new boy in school, Lucas Delos?

A love written in the stars . . .

A feud started in ancient Greece . . .

A curse not even the gods can break.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A gorgeous, haunting saga that completely swept me away. I fell for Lucas just as hard as Helen did. OMGods, I can’t wait to read more!” (Lauren Kate, New York Times bestselling author of Fallen )

“Move over, Romeo and Juliet--Josephine Angelini debuts a dizzying tale of action, drama, and romance with just the right twist of humor and tragedy. Modern mythology has never been sexier!” (Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of Paranormalcy )

“One of the most cinematic books I’ve ever read. Dramatic and intense! I can’t tell you how many times I gasped while reading this book. Starcrossed plays out like a movie in your head.” (Sophie Jordan, author of FIRELIGHT )

About the Author

Josephine Angelini is a Massachusetts native and a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a major in theater and a focus on the classics. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three shelter cats.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; Reprint edition (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780062012005
• ISBN-13: 978-0062012005
• ASIN: 0062012002
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (273 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #773,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Josie was born in a tiny town in Massachusetts called Ashland. When she meets people from Massachusetts and tells them 'what part' she hails from, she usually gets one of two answers. The first is: "Isn't that in Oregon?" And the second is: "I drove by it once on Rt. 9, I think."

Her next stop was about as different from Ashland as it gets without leaving the country. As soon as Josie was legal, she packed a bag and moved to New York City to attend NYU. Somehow, she managed to squeeze in a little higher learning between bartending shifts and graduated with a BFA.

Massively in debt with college loans, she then moved to Los Angeles for reasons that are still a little blurry. Something about the weather was mentioned, and a vague idea to write poetry and find herself. She found that she is a terrible poet, but she never gave up on the writing bit.

Josie still lives in Los Angeles with her husband and now writes YA fiction.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love the Mythology May 31, 2011

By A Book Obsession.. TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Helen has always tried to hide her differences and knows that her face holds a beauty like no other, yet instead of this being a asset in her eyes, she finds it be a major flaw as it draws attention to herself. She is painfully shy, to the point where she experiences horrendous pains whenever any attention is drawn to her. When she starts having nightmares that come to life as well as startling visions of three screaming women who cry tears of blood she knows that she won't be able to hide her true self much longer. To make matters worse those three women go into an absolute fury driving Helen with the need to kill whenever she runs into one of the Delos teens, especially Lucas. What Helen doesn't know is that the fates have ensured that these two will replay the roles of one of the greatest tragedies of all time, destined to be star crossed lovers with the highest stakes imaginable.

I've always loved anything to do with Greek mythology, especially books that turn the myth into reality in a modern setting. Starcrossed does exactly this. However, what is different is that it paints the gods as petulant beings that no longer have a role in human's lives. Well, as long as the demigods keep their end of the bargain that is. This was a really interesting twist on the typical mythology story, and made Starcrossed really stand out from the crowd. The idea of fated roles is really intriguing, especially since there is still the possibility that the characters could potentially find a way around that destiny and choose their own paths.

This may seem to be a little funny, but I couldn't help but be a little frustrated at the major roadblocks standing in the way between Lucas and Helen, especially considering the title. I knew before I even started reading that things would be rough between them, perhaps their love being forbidden but not by insurmountable odds. Of course that thought got quickly put out of my mind once things started to be revealed. Considering how sweet things were between the two of them and how much their heartache sucked me in, I really hope that they find some way to overcome those obstacles so they can be together. As Lucas points out, never say never, as the gods like to torment those who use absolutes.

The best thing about Starcrossed is that while you are kept in plenty of suspense to keep you sucked in, you are also given just the right amount of information to ensure that you never get overwhelmed or frustrated from a lack of information. This can be a hard balance to find, but Starcrossed does it perfectly. I'm really eager to see what happens next as there was a twist at the ends that can only spell trouble for the future. All in all Starcrossed was a really great read, that may have been a little slow to build at first, but it never once lost my attention. Prepared to be sucked in from almost the start and make sure to give yourself plenty of time to read this one as you won't be able to put it down. Definitely a fantastic debut that you won't want to miss if you are a fan of mythology in the YA genre.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars So Good! July 11, 2011

By The Book Runner TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love Greek mythology so when I read the review on "Starcrossed", I knew I had to get it and it does not disappoint! Helen of Troy, Paris, Ajax, Daphne, Hector, Fates and the three Furies; they are all here from the Trojan War and the romance, whew! FABULOUS!

Helen knows she is not normal. She can run extremely fast and is incredibly strong. Her mother left her when she was a baby and she has been raised on the island of Nantucket by her father these last 17 years. Her best friend is Clair, an oriental smart mouth who suspects Helen is not normal, but loves her anyway.

The Delos family moves to Nantucket and Helen's visions of three sobbing girls with bloody feet drive her to attack Lucas, one of the brothers. He is able to stop her from killing him, so she realizes his family is different like she is. Struggling to overcome their desires to kill each other, Helen saves Lucas after he has saved her from falling after flying, and the desire to kill each other is over. The blood-curse is broken. Now they can't stay apart from each; other only their romance is forbidden because if they are ever together, a war would break out similar to the Trojan War, and lots of people would die.

Helen and the Delos family are demigods who are controlled by the Furies and Fate which cannot be thwarted. All the demigods of the four houses of Zeus are cursed to relive the errors of their predecessors whom they are named after. Starcrossed lovers are doomed since the Trojan War to relive the tragedy of never being able to be together. Helen and Lucas are no different but they are determined to fight Fate or at least find an end to the curse.

This was a well written story, especially near the end when wall the action and adventure was happening at once. It apparently is a trilogy because the mystery is not solved nor all the questions answered in the end. "Starcrossed" reminds me of "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare with the relationship between the main characters being forbidden despite their huge attraction for each other. I will definitely be buying the sequel when it comes out. This was an exciting adventure to read and I highly recommend it.

Would I/Did I buy it? Yes
Would I read it again? Yes
Would I recommend it to friends? Yes

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Very slow and overly long May 31, 2011

By S. Power TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini follows Helen a girl who has always tried to hide who she is. When a new family moves to the island of Nantucket where she lives everyone is intrigued. However when Helen sees one of the boys in the hallway at school she sees sirens who make her have an uncontrollable desire to attack and kill him. The story continues with star crossed lovers, godly powers and a blood feud that has gone on for generations.

It took me a while to get through this book and I put it down several times. It is very long and reads very slow. Each section of the plot seemed to be to long from the introduction of the main character to the ending that went on to long. The plot was original and the characters likeable enough that had the book been edited tighter so that it was a quicker read I would have loved this book. However, instead I felt like I was plodding through the story waiting for the storyline to move along and for something to happen.

Appropriateness: This book was fairly clean. While the main character did have a boy stay in her room overnight it was clear that all they did was cuddle and there wasn't much kissing. There was no substance abuse or excessive violence. I recommend this book to teens 13+ who enjoy paranormal romance.