Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Release: May 2011
Pages: 496 (hardcover)
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Netgalley
Summary:

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....read more at Goodreads.

Thoughts: Helen is a gorgeous-yet-insecure^{1} beauty with more gifts than she’s willing to find out about. But when the Delos family moves into town, Helen can’t hide from just how unique she really is. The first time she comes across Lucas Delos, he inspires nothing but the purest emotion of hatred…something that the Delos family seems to feel for her in turn. Then there are the mysterious three crying women who appear whenever she comes near the Delos family – three women that only they can see. From there, Starcrossed only gets more intriguing, dangerous, and downright surprising. 

While the Delos clan and Helen take center stage, supporting characters like Helen’s best friend Claire^{2} or her father manage to shine all their own – possibly even more than intended. Angelini puts her own spin on Greek mythology, creating an interesting backstory. Some aspects to the plot can easily be predicted, but the story still manages to slip in a few surprises. Starcrossed, simply put, is an exciting debut novel and Angelini has great potential.

Highlights: Lucas and Helen's first interactions^{3} with each other really put an interesting spin on YA – it was oddly nice to see the girl instantly dislike the guy. Despite my complaints about the Delos family, I adored how addictive and surprising Starcrossed turned out to be. Helen’s growth as a person was absolutely wonderful to see as well.

Lowlights: The POV switches didn't work for me at all, they seemed random and unnecessary. The Delos clan was too Twilight-esque; they needed to be far more unique and much less reminiscent of the Cullens.  The story starts off with strong creativity and stand-out appeal, but then slowly eases into more clichéd elements. Regardless, I have high hopes for the sequel.

Rating: 3.5 out 5

{Footnotes}

{1} Haven't I read about that girl before? Helen might even be a bit Bella-ish at first....yikes. 
{2} Claire is actually kind of bubbly/sassy/awesome. Very jump-off-the-page personality. I wish she had more page time. 
{3} Girl tries to kill boy at first sight. I want more books like that, it's interesting. Is that weird?