Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

How do you defy destiny?

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.

So, a few days ago I finished Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini. It took me a week or so to read because it's almost 500 pages, and I've been so busy lately I had no time for reading. But it was worth the time it took to read.

Not to ramble on for too long, let's get started with the pros: The plot is genius. There are so many details and interesting facts in this novel, and the plot kept getting thicker and thicker as I got farther along in the book. I was constantly on the edge of my seat. All of the different aspects of the plot were woven together perfectly to create a truly outstanding book on modern day Greek Mythology.

Starcrossed is kind of like a mix between the Iliad and Romeo and Juliet. There's this whole idea of "forbidden love" and a curse that has been repeating itself for hundreds of years. It's such a unique idea, and I've never read anything like it before.

Another pro for me was the characters. They were all so memorable, even if they were only in the story for a short time. I fell in love with each character and their individual traits. My favorite character in the book was Hector. Now I know what you're thinking: Why would you like Hector? He's so rude. But as you get to the end of the book, you see him really start to soften up, and I love that about him.

Even though the book was very long, I never found myself thinking "Okay, stop dragging it out, get to the point." It was very interesting the whole time, and every page was essential to the story line.

The very small list of cons: I didn't really care for the main character, Helen. Maybe it's just me, but she seemed a little whiny and stubborn. Usually I don't dislike the main character in a book, but Helen I didn't like too much.

And that ends the list of cons.

Overall, this is a great book, and if you're into Greek Mythology, this is definitely an interesting take on it.

Profanity level: High