Josephine Angelini - Starcrossed (ARC)

Title : Starcrossed
Series : Starcrossed Trilogy #1
Release date : May 31th, 2011
Publisher : Harper Teen Publisher
Genre : Young Adult

Sixteen year old Helen Hamilton knows she is different from the rest of the small community on the Island. She is a real beauty, although she believes herself as plain and simple, not very popular at school. Her best friend Claire is a tiny girl, but with her heart in the right place. Besides Claire the only other people Helen is close to are her father and his co-worker Kate. Lately she is having stomach cramps when she is the attention of people and she also discovers that she is much stronger and faster than the people around her.

When the Delos family moves to the small Island, things are getting worst for Helen. She is getting hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood and the moment she meets the Delos teenagers she has the urge to kill them, especially Lucas. Luckily for her this new boy in town is a little faster and knows what she’s capable of and stop her in time.

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini is her first novel in the Starcrossed Trilogy and I have to say that this book is addictive. The moment I started I couldn’t put it down; it had me from the first page and holds my attention all the way through.

Helen Hamilton is a young woman, who lost her mother when she was just a toddler. Her father raised her alone and they are close, her only and best friend is a tiny teenager named Claire. They have been friends from the cradle and trust each other. Helen knows she is different from the rest, but cannot imagine how different she really is. But she is about to find out, when the Delos family moves into the area and their children are going to the same school as Helen.

From the moment she meets those children, but especially Lucas Delos she has the urge to kill or hurt them. She has no idea why, but fortunally for them Helen hasn’t grown into her full powers yet and they can stop her in time. She knows it’s time to talk to this family and demands some answers, not knowing that her mother was a demigod and she inherited some great powers.

What I love about this book is the journey Helen goes through, in the beginning of the book she is a reserved young teenager who grows into one confident strong young woman, determined to control her powers. Her growing relationship with Lucas is just fabulous, two young teenagers trying to discover what they are feeling towards each other and finding out that is totally forbidden. But we all know that love and fate has a mind of its own. I would love to see how this is going to work out in the future novels.

Besides Helen and Lucas, my attention was immediately drawn to Hector, Lucas’s cousin; he‘s a total ass in the beginning trying hard to protect his family against Helen, but turns out to be Helen greatest companion in battle at the end. My heart was weeping when I read his destiny at the end; I truly hope that his life will be better in the next novel.

This debut novel by Josephine Angelini is well written and full with great characters. The moment you take the book into your hands and starts reading you are hooked….well that is exactly what happened to me. I loved it and I truly hope that the next book isn’t that far away. I cannot wait to find out more about Helen & Lucas and their destiny.