Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

The Synopsis:
Can true love be forgotten?
As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.
Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out--a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.
As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.
Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling "Starcrossed" delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations.

My Thoughts:
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love Greek mythology.

Dreamless picks up almost just where Starcrossed left off.  Lucas and Helen are 'cousins' and Helen is still getting used to the idea that she's the Descender.  And lemme tell ya, her visits to the Underworld are not pleasant.  Not at all.  And then there's Orion, mystery hand and mouth dude that comes to Helen's aid.  The stakes are even higher and this one and the danger is even worse.

I felt that Helen's character much improved from the first book.  She was stronger emotional wise.  Her mind was more stable without the Furies screaming in her ears and a clear goal in her mind.  Her badass self, a trait I certainly love to see in YA, was awakened with the truth she was so hard trying to hide all her life.  I didn't like her personality in Starcrossed; I didn't find her noteworthy, but she definitely made herself worthy in this book.

Now, I have to say.  I just have to.  I love these demigod hotties!  My heart still goes out to Lucas, but I also liked Orion.  Although he needed a haircut, I loved his intelligent and kind personality and he was a steady center for Helen, who needed someone sane, even if she could only meet him in the Underworld.  They were swoon-worthy boys, indeed.  Although I'm not one to go for the macho men type, they had my full attention every time their name was on the page.  Yup.

Oh, was I hooked on the story.  I could not put this book down at all.  There was just so much....much to it!  Once again, the villains were true villains in all their evilness and darkness.  I seriously would not want to mess with these bad guys, that's for sure.  And the love triangle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  It was almost one sided since Lucas and Helen are off-limits from each other, or so they think.  Most of the times, love triangles are too soap opera like with all their dramatics and cliches and they do not make me happy.  I did not mind this love triangle, surprisingly.

My only bone to pick with Dreamless is that I didn't feel as if there wasn't enough imagery.  There were moments where I would get confused and would have to reread a sentence or paragraph because it either wasn't delivered right or there wasn't enough description.  Then again, there were moments where the description of Helen's house was described beautifully.  It was like heaven to my mind it was so perfect.

Dreamless is a dark tale of your favorite forbidden romance between Helen of Troy and Paris.  It was wicked and captivating, keeping me glued to each page.  I enjoyed it even more than I did Starcrossed, getting me really excited for the final installment to the trilogy.  My only question is, Why does the release date have to be so far away? 

Cheers, everyone!

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini



The Synopsis:
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:
How come I've not read this book any earlier?  Is there something wrong with me?  I just don't understand.  Ever since Little Me sat under the dark dome as I observed and learned about Greek mythology under the projected stars in Star Lab, I've been in love with it.  Not just the name of all the constellations, but the tragic or heroic stories behind them.  I read The Odyssey and loved it because I was drinking in all of the mythology, following Odysseus on his twenty-year journey back to his home, fighting Scylla, a six-headed monster, and steering clear of Charybdis at the same time.  The stories are always of the gods seeking revenge in their own clever and sly ways and I love it.
I'm going to stop there because I could go on forever.  Seriously, I could. 

Helen wants to be like an average girl, but she knows deep down that she never will be no matter how hard she tries not to be.  She tries to hide her freakishness by trying to blend in and act average, but no matter what she does, people always seem to notice her.  And then she meets Lucas Delos and its like some beast is unleashed from her and not only does she attract unwanted attention, but she unintentionally jumps on this roller coaster of events that she was predestined for.  She wasn't a character that really stuck out to me, but she did surprise me every now and again with some of her decisions.
Now I hear that there will be a love triangle in the sequel to this, so before I go any further, I must pronounce that at the moment I am completely Team Lucas.  Usually the uber hot guy in the book turns out to be a total jerk wad.  He's not cocky and overconfident and annoying.  He's absolutely gorgeous and he knows it, but he doesn't care for it.  He'd much rather take care of his family and Helen than get all fascinated in the angle of his jaw.  Umm, if there actually is a guy like this out there, I'd totally be all over that.  Just saying.
However, the story was not something I was content with the entire time.  Especially in the beginning, I was confused.  There was just so much emotion and I didn't feel as if there was enough description or the delivery was off.  I found myself rereading sentences, trying to understand what was happening or how it was happening.  There were many awkward moments, but I didn't mind them all because they were flawlessly dealt with, creating it to be not as awkward as it would have been in real life. 

Other than that, I absolutely loved this book.  I can't wait to pick up the second book to the saga and see what will happen with Helen and the others.  My only issue will be about the love triangle.  I get forbidden love and all, but when you add a love triangle to the situation, I feel as if things get too soap opera drama-like.  I cannot wait to learn more about this new world Josephine has created with the demigods and I cannot wait to meet the villains because they are pure evil!

Cheers!

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