Book Review (100). Starcrossed - Josephine Angelini

Starcrossed (Starcrossed #1)

by Josephine Angelini

Publication: 31st May 2011
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 487
Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Young Adult


Set on the island of Nantucket, STARCROSSED tells the tale of Helen Hamilton, a young woman whose destiny is forever altered when she meets Lucas Delos and tries to kill him in front of her entire high school. Which is terribly inconvenient, not only because Lucas is the most beautiful boy on the island, but also because Helen is so achingly shy she suffers physical pain whenever she is given too much attention. 


Making matters worse, Helen is beginning to suspect she’s going crazy. Whenever she’s near Lucas or any member of his family she sees the ghostly apparitions of three women weeping bloody tears, and suffers the burden of an intense and irrational hate. She soon learns that she and Lucas are destined to play the leading roles in a Greek tragedy that the Three Fates insist on repeating over and over again throughout history. Like her namesake, Helen of Troy, she’s destined to start a war by falling in love. But even though Lucas and Helen can see their own star-crossed destiny, they’re still powerfully attracted to each other. Will they give up their personal happiness for the greater good, or risk it all to be together?

My Thoughts.

From reading different reviews for this book you either love it or hate it, and I'm glad to say that I absolutely loved it.

I've been meaning to read this for the longest time, I remember when it first appeared on Goodreads, I loved the synopsis and then when they revealed the cover it just made me want to read it even more. But for reasons even I don't know I kept putting off reading it until I received a review copy for Dreamless (the next book in the series) and it gave me a reason to finally pick this up.

I wasn't really familiar with the Greek mythology about Helen Of Troy and the Furies so I did a little research beforehand to catch myself up and I found the story interesting and was intrigued to see how this was incorporated into the storyline.

I loved that the myth was taken and used in a modern day setting but also adding a twist so that the myth is repeated in every generation.

Having never read another book with the subject of Helen Of Troy I found this to be a fresh and exciting read, I couldn't get through this book fast enough to see what was going to happen next.
Helen is an extremely shy individual, she does everything she can to try and blend in to become invisible, she also suffers severe stomach cramps whenever attention is on her.
She is really beautiful and tall which doesn't help in her quest to stay unnoticed.
And then a new family moves to town the Delos' and the first time she see's Lucas she tries to kill him, not knowing or understanding why she hates him so much and feels the need to kill not only him but his sister and cousins who also are new in town.
But she discovers that the Delos' feel the same way about her too and she can't understand why.
And then Helen finds out something about herself, her mother (who deserted Helen and her father when Helen was just a baby, and whom she hasn't heard from since) and the Delos' that connect them all.


I loved most of the characters in this book especially Lucas, and Hector grew on me quite a bit.
And that ending, well I'm just glad I have the second book sitting right next to me to read as soon as I post this review.
I give this 5/5.

Teaser Trailer: Breaking Dawn Part 2.

Omg! This looks so good, I only hope it's better than the book which was the worst book in the series I think, enjoy!

Cover Reveal: Everbound - Brodi Ashton

Everbound (Everneath #2)

by Brodi Ashton 

Two months ago, the Tunnels of the underworld came for Nikki Beckett. That night, Nikki's boyfriend, Jack, made the ultimate sacrifice. All Nikki wants is to save Jack before it's too late. All Cole wants is to find his queen - and he thinks Nikki is the one. Both determined, both desperate, Nikki and Cole form a tense alliance, leading them on a dangerous journey to The Heart of The Everneath.

Expected publication: January 22nd 2013 by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins

Waiting On Wednesday.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on....

Taken (Taken #1)

by Erin Bowman

Expected publication: April 16th 2013 by HarperTeen

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends...and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive. 

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

Full Blooded (Jessica McClain #1)

by Amanda Carlson 

Expected publication: September 1st 2012 by Orbit

After living in hiding for the last twenty-six years, Jessica wakes up to find she's become a full-blooded werewolf -- claws, fangs, fur, everything. It was never supposed to happen: female werewolves don't exist. 

When a mercenary killer comes looking for her, her Pack finds themselves caught in the middle of a war. They must rise up to protect her, but no one knows if she's means the end of their race-or just a new beginning.

The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories

by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton , Brenna Yovanoff 

Expected publication: October 1st 2012 by Carolrhoda Books

From acclaimed YA authors Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff comes The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories.

- A vampire locked in a cage in the basement, for good luck.
- Bad guys, clever girls, and the various reasons why the guys have to stop breathing.
- A world where fires never go out (with references to vanilla ice cream). 

These are but a few of the curiosities collected in this volume of short stories by three acclaimed practitioners of paranormal fiction.

But The Curiosities is more than the stories. Since 2008, Maggie, Tessa, and Brenna have posted more than 250 works of short fiction to their website merryfates.com. Their goal was simple: create a space for experimentation and improvisation in their writing—all in public and without a backspace key. In that spirit, The Curiosities includes the stories and each author's comments, critiques, and kudos in the margins. Think of it as a guided tour of the creative processes of three acclaimed authors.

So, are you curious now?

Earth Girl

by Janet Edwards

Expected publication: August 15th 2012 by Harper Voyager

2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else portals between worlds, 18-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an ‘ape’, a ‘throwback’, but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.

Jarra invents a fake background for herself – as a normal child of Military parents – and joins a class of norms that is on Earth to excavate the ruins of the old cities. When an ancient skyscraper collapses, burying another research team, Jarra’s role in their rescue puts her in the spotlight. No hiding at back of class now. To make life more complicated, she finds herself falling in love with one of her classmates – a norm from another planet. Somehow, she has to keep the deception going.

A freak solar storm strikes the atmosphere, and the class is ordered to portal off-world for safety – no problem for a real child of military parents, but fatal for Jarra. The storm is so bad that the crews of the orbiting solar arrays have to escape to planet below: the first landing from space in 600 years. And one is on collision course with their shelter.

Adaptation

by Malinda Lo 

Expected publication: September 18th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Reese and David don’t remember what happened to them after a bird flew into their headlights on the Extraterrestrial Highway--not the resulting car accident and certainly not a bit of the 21 days of care at the military hospital in Nevada. It’s a good thing, the doctors and colonels tell them, that they crashed on a military base, but they won’t tell Reese and David what the extent of their injuries were, or how they were healed. They do tell them they’re not going home, though, until they sign a confidentiality agreement. 

When they get home, Reese can’t help but find everything a little weird. Worldwide bird strikes resulting in plane crashes have grounded air travel, David won’t talk to her, and she could swear she’s seen her military doctors around the neighborhood. It’s only when she meets Amber Grey that things in her life begin to really fall apart, and the mysteries of the bird strikes, the military, and her own treatment come together. Reese realizes that she must find out what they did to her in that hospital, but her search for the truth threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.

What if we aren’t alone in the universe? What if the alien is inside us?

Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction

by Richelle Mead, Simone Elkeles,Meg Cabot , Heather Brewer, Saundra Mitchell, Diana Peterfreund, Laini Taylor, Margaret Stohl , Matt de la Pena , Kami Garcia, Malinda Lo, Lisa McMann, Michael Grant , Carrie Ryan

Expected publication: August 28th 2012 by Random House Children's Books

Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate?

It's human nature to wonder about life's twists and turns. But is the future already written—or do you have the power to alter it?

From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life's unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction's brightest stars.

Cover Reveal: Hidden - P.C Cast & Kristin Cast

Hidden (House of Night #10)

by P.C. Cast

Neferet’s true nature has been revealed to the Vampyre High Council, so Zoey and the gang might finally get some help in defending themselves and their beloved school against a gathering evil that grows stronger every day. And they’ll need it, because Neferet’s not going down without a fight. Chaos reigns at the House of Night

Expected publication: October 16th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin

Cover Reveal: Rise - Anna Carey

Rise (Eve #3)

by Anna Carey

Expected publication: April 2013 by HarperCollins

Book Review (99) Magic Of The Moonlight - Ellen Schreiber

Magic of the Moonlight (Full Moon #2)

by Ellen Schreiber

Publication: January 2012

Publisher: Murdoch Books

Pages: 229

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

** Warning Contains Spoilers From The Previous Book In The Series**

Beware of a bite under a full moon…
it will complicate your love life.

Celeste has more to worry about than a secret romance with a hot guy from the wrong side of town. That guy, Brandon, is a werewolf. With gossip and hostility swirling at school, it’s time to find a cure for his nocturnal condition, and perhaps the one person who can help is his scientist father. But what if a “cure” makes things worse and Brandon becomes a werewolf full time? And with rumors circulating that there are werewolves in Legend’s Run, is it possible that there is another among their classmates?

To keep Brandon’s secret safe, Celeste must hide her relationship with him from her best friends, but with the Moonlight Ball approaching, she must make a choice. Her dream is to go with her one true love—Brandon. But once the sun goes down, the clouds separate, and the full moon appears, could she really walk into the dance on the arm of a werewolf?

In this installment of the sumptuously romantic Full Moon series, Celeste faces her fears and her friends and finds out whether she’s strong enough to stand up for herself and her one true love.

My Thoughts.

This is the second book in the Full Moon series and it starts several days after the ending of the previous book.

Nash has found out Brandon's secret and proceeds to blackmail Celeste with the information, in exchange  for not telling anybody that Brandon is a werewolf he has Celeste pretend that they are dating again, he tells her that he's protecting her because Brandon is dangerous, but that's not the case and Celeste wants nothing more than to let her friends and everyone else know that she and Brandon are dating and not only that but they are in love with each other.

But Brandon is hoping for a cure and calls his Dad a scientist who's working in Europe to come home and hopefully help him cure his ability to change into a werewolf.

One day at school Celeste decides to sit with Brandon at lunch in hopes to stop the name calling and graffiting of his car and locker but it only makes things worse especially with Nash and her idea of people accepting their relationship made clear that they won't.

I loved the ending of this because now there are two werewolf's running around in Legion's Run and it's not who you would think, but it will make for an interesting third book with this added to the storyline.

I still love Celeste and Brandon as a couple I just wish that they had more together time as that's what makes the story, I really didn't like Nash throughout most of this book  and I guess that was the point, he should have realised how much Celeste meant to him before when they were together and not now because he's jealous of all the time she spends with Brandon.

Jake and Dylan are just filler characters there so that Celeste's two best friends Ivy and Abby have boyfriends and I really could do without them, and while her friends, Ivy in particular bug me a bit they do have their good moments.

I did like this book but it wasn't as exciting as the first one, and it had it's moments of repeating the same thoughts over and over, once is enough maybe twice but we understand that they can't be a couple together in public I just don't need to read about it constantly, that's really my only complaints,

I'm looking forward to see how Schreiber moves the storyline forward in terms of an extra werewolf running around and I can't wait for the third book.

I give this 3.5/5.

A Big Thanks To Deanna @ Murdoch Books.