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Bel:

 

Cover

Two faces in profile and an electric-type air between them. Quite telling really.

Characters

Very Twilight-esque with the almost outcast girl being included into the new family to town. However that’s pretty much where it stops being anything like Twilight. Thank bleep.

Favourite

Claire. As with so many best friends of the main character in books I just want her all to myself. Even if she did push her BFF off a roof.

Least Favourite

Is it too clichéd to pick Lucas? Tough. He makes me want to pinch him.

Beginning

There once was a girl from Nantucket… okay I’ll stop there, however this is actually set in Nantucket so it fits. Helen meets the new kids to town and wants to eat their faces on sight.

Storyline

Helen finds out WHY she wanted to eat the faces of the new kids, then discovers everything she has ever known about her life has been a big fat Greek LIE.

Ending

There may or may not be incestuous thoughts.

Thoughts

I screamed through this one in 24 hours. Yep all 514 pages in under a day. So in short I LOOOOVED this book.

Greek mythology, love/hate relationships. Girl having a Rocky Balboa scene and food, lots and lots of food.

Quote

“I’ve known you could fly since we were kids. I even pushed you off your roof once to make sure. Sorry about that by the way,” she said sheepishly. Claire talking to Helen.

 

Krista:

 

 

Cover

The US Cover has a lot of purples and blues. The dress is a nod towards Ancient Greece and the myths this story references. The combination of the stormy air and the ocean waters also ties together the setting. 

Characters

Although Helen is an only child, she has a best friend who’s part of the large Delos family. Although Helen is the main character, we get to learn a lot about each family member individually.

Favourite

This was a hard pick for me but overall I had to choose Claire, Helen’s best friend. She adds a lot of humor to the story, she’s cute, spunky and a good friend.

Least Favourite

Matt. He seemed a little too power hungry and frustrating for me to understand. I forsee his story continuing in depth as the series progresses.

Beginning

Helen is used to her somewhat dull life on Nantucket Island, working for her single father and hanging out with her best friend Claire. When the Delos family moves and transfer to her school, she cannot stop her desire to kill them upon sight.

Storyline

As Helen is just coming to terms with the Delos family and her strange new desires, she discovers that somebody is after her, possibly to kill her. And why she has started seeing visions of three women urging her to commit murder?

Ending

The ending is by far not a conclusion, but at least it’s not a cliffhanger! There are several storylines that are left open and I am personally interested in what happens next.

Thoughts

I really enjoyed the fact that the author was able to incorporate the stories of several different characters without being overwhelming; and how she she used the Greek Myths, Gods and history to tie them all together. There are some complicated family ties brought to the story that helped take some of the pressure off the head over hills romance. It’s very detailed and well researched and adds an interesting perspective on today’s world.

 Quote

“I don’t care how hard being together is, nothing is worse than being apart.”

 

Lisa:

 

 

Cover

One of my favourite covers in the world! I love the way the entire trilogy looks sitting on my white bookshelf. They’re just so shiny and really catch the eye!

Characters

Is it weird that I like, when characters don’t like each other right away? I mean we see insta-love in YA so much. And I always ask myself why do they like each other? How can someone “love” someone else so quickly? In Starcrossed, the two main characters absolutely hate each other, until they are forced to work together, and that’s what brings them so close. Love love love!

Favorite

I think I would have to agree with Bel and Krista when they chose Claire as their favourite character. She’s just funny, and brings a bit of humor to the story. She’s that friend, who is dorky, and goofy, even in the worst situations. But if I wasn’t allowed to copy Krista and Bel, I think I would have to pick Helen. I feel like there is just SO much going on around her, and in her life and she handles it… much better than I would. And even much better than I’ve seen characters handle situations in other books.

Least Favorite

I don’t have a least favourite but I have something to complain about, and it doesn’t really fit in any of our other categorie, so I’m just going to rant right here instead. Helen’s mom! REALLY? I know it’s only the first book, but I feel like we (the readers) deserved to know a little bit more about her mom, and why she left and what happened to her. Hopefully she’ll be mentioned more in the next two books.

Beginning

So there’s this really hot babe named Helen… JUST kidding. But there really is this beautiful girl named Helen who lives on an island called Nantucket. Besides her immense beauty, Helen is also extremely fast and strong. She runs track (beating everyone by minutes) and helps her dad at the general store (lifting heavy boxes). Life’s been good, and Helen has been trying to keep her powers to herself… that is until a new family moves to town, and the life she’s known is gone forever. Whenever she comes near one of its member, she feels anger and the urge to beat them to pulp.

Middle

Throughout the middle of the book, Helen discovers who she is, who her mother is, and that her life isn’t what she always thought it was. The beauty, speed and strength aren’t something that just happened. It’s something that happens to all people who are descendents of the original players in the Trojan War.

End

AHHH! No! That can’t be happening! Please tell me this isn’t true… Josephine Angelini, how can you do this to us? Do you want to break our hearts?!

Overall Thoughts

Okay, where can I begin? Angelini did an amazing job tying the historical and mythological aspect into this story. When reading YA historical fiction, many times the history is mentioned, or brought up, but not really carried along throughout the entire story. Angelini did a great job sticking to it, but also bringing in the future and her own twist to the characters and story. The book never had a slow moment. Once you started with the first page it was extremely hard to put it down. The characters are lovable and I adored Lucas and Helen. The ending broke my heart into a million shards and I’m still picking them up today. I’ll be reading the rest of the trilogy in January hoping Josephine will mend my heart again.

 

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