These Reviews May Contain Spoilers
the covers for this series are beautiful.
Series Rating 2.5 Stars
Rating 3 Stars
Blurb
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.
Review
The love story where hate turns to love has become quite a cliché but this story turns it on its head. It is not simply personality traits or love disguised as hate that keeps this couple apart but an ancient legacy. In many ways this book reminds me of many other paranormal romances available to young adults (eg. twilight, hush hush, fallen, mortal instruments) however playing with Greek gods was a nice change from the normal vampires or angels that seem to fill the shelves these days.
the ending i must admit kind of annoyed me a little but i am hoping that maybe that might be remedied in Dreamless
Quotes
“I don’t care how hard being together is, nothing is worse than being apart.”
“You’ve got the killer instincts of a houseplant”
“And I don’t just WANT you, Helen. I LOVE you. Big difference.”
“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”
Dreamless ~ Josephine Angelini
Rating 2.5 stars
Blurb
Set in the romantic and death-defying world of the international bestselling Die for Me trilogy, this digital original novella follows Jules, a brooding, immortal French artist who has fallen in love with his best friend’s girlfriend.
Jules Marchenoir is a revenant-an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save human lives. He’s spent the better part of the last century flirting his way through Paris, but when he met Kate Mercier, the heroine from Amy Plum’s Die for Me trilogy, he knew his afterlife had changed forever and he had found the love of his life. Until Kate fell for his best friend, Vincent. Now Jules is faced with an impossible decision: choosing between his loyal friend and a love truly worth dying for.
Review
this one while interesting i must admit annoyed me just a little. while i understand the need for the love triangle in this story Orion really did very little for me in the way of a love interest and it felt like for the most part Helen felt the same. the “cousins” storyline i must say i am over entirely and i was hoping the truth would come out (to the main characters as us the readers already know) the ending i was quite impressed with as was i with the authors portrayal of the underworld but there were a few moments of confusion that did not quite add up (i.e. at various points Hector was called Lucas’ brother instead of his cousin)
Quotes
“…try to remember that dreams do come true, but they don’t come easily.”
“It’s not our talents that make us safe or dangerous, it’s our choices.”
“Even if it kills me, staying awake and seeing you… is better than any dream.”
Rating 2 stars
Blurb
After accidentally unleashing the gods from their captivity on Olympus, Helen must find a way to re-imprison them without starting a devastating war. But the gods are angry, and their thirst for blood already has a body count.
To make matters worse, the Oracle reveals that a diabolical Tyrant is lurking among them, which drives a wedge between the once-solid group of friends. As the gods use the Scions against one another, Lucas’s life hangs in the balance. Still unsure whether she loves him or Orion, Helen is forced to make a terrifying decision, for war is coming to her shores.
In Josephine Angelini’s compelling conclusion to the masterfully woven Starcrossed trilogy, a goddess must rise above it all to change a destiny that’s been written in the stars. With worlds built just as fast as they crumble, love and war collide in an all-out battle that will leave no question unanswered and no heart untouched.
Review
as i was starting to suspect from the end of Dreamless this story became just a little off. the main reason for this is that the author pitted Helen against all powerful gods and so therefore had to make her all powerful this meant that Helen became immortal and able to make anything happen changing the rules of the story completely. creating this unbeatable entity as the main character made the story a little dull for me even if we always know the main character has to survive. the big twist about who the tyrant is was predictable… i had it basically worked out since we were first told of the tyrant and i must admit i was expecting a little more as to the reasoning behind Daphne being the worst mother of all time. the “memories” of past Helens were interesting but often a little unnecessary.all these factors ultimately led to what was for me a bad ending to the series, although admittedly i can not come up with a better alternative given that the author chose such a formidable antagonist
Quotes
“some things stay a little bit broken forever—even after they’ve been fixed.”
“I chose love—I chose you over everything that was offered to me.”
“My whole life I’ve wondered what it feels like to be loved like that. To be loved more.”
Confessions of A Broke Bibliophile 