So you may have heard about a little book called DIVERGENT by fellow Bookanista Veronica Roth? Well, it hit the New York Times Bestseller list. More than once. So the Bookanistas put together a little celebration video:

I welcome any excuse to fist fight my sister!

And now my review of STARCROSSED by Josephine Angelini

What it’s about:

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.

What I thought:

I’m a huge fan of retellings. I’m also a huge fan of Greek Mythology. So naturally I couldn’t wait to read this book. I thought this was a brilliant retelling of the Helen of Troy story that manages to redefine the myth and make it its own.

The characters from the original story are reimagined here with striking personalities that not only fit with the old characters but far surpass them, in my opinion. Helen herself is such a wonderful character. Beautiful, yes, but also humble and awkward, which provided a nice, sympathetic balance to her. She’s vulnerable yet strong, and can whip any guy’s ass. And she’s funny!

And of course, her romance with Lucas is sizzling. I was captivated the moment they first meet and her first instinct is to kill him. I wanted to know why, I wanted to know how they would overcome that. And the answers I got were not only satisfying, but very surprising.

Lucas has a Twilight-like family that I adored. Every one of them was an interesting character, though I have a particular fondness for Hector, and I can’t wait to get more of him in the sequel.

But the best character of all has to be Helen’s best friend Claire, a tiny girl who radiates so much fiestiness with every line of dialogue she speaks.

The plot is full of twists I didn’t see coming, I never knew who to trust and who was the real villain, and several moments made me literally gasp.

I can’t wait for book 2!

Check out what the other Bookanistas are reading this week:

• Elana Johnson and Stasia Ward Kehoe savor BAD TASTE IN BOYS
• Lisa and Laura Roecker celebrates THE SUMMER OF THE BEAR
• Christine Fonseca has got a surprise for a Bookanista buddy (ooh—curious?)
• Beth Revis interviews Blood Magic author Teresa Gratton
• Carolina Valdez Miller enjoys a special celebration
• Megan Miranda and Jessi Kirby gush about IMAGINARY GIRLS
• Bethany Wiggins is crazy about DELIRIUM
• Shana Silver sings praises for STARCROSSED
• Jen Hayley applauds POSSESSION
• Veronica Rossi hails HEREAFTER
• Carrie Harris glories in TEXAS GOTHIC

Tags: book reviews, bookanistas

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 9th, 2011 at 8:35 am and is filed under bookanistas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.