ARC Review: Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

Title: Dreamless (Stacrossed #2)
Author: Josephine Angelini

Pages: 487 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published on: May 29th 2012
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

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.

(Summary from Goodreads)

REVIEW:

It was wonderful experience having to go back to Angelini's mythological world. There was something about Dreamless that made it even better than Starcrossed was. There were many concepts and reasons that made it all the more satisfying and better, in general. Most people might argue that the second books in a series isn't as amazing or as interesting as the first, or that love triangles are just SO overrated but reading Dreamless will definitely prove you wrong.

GOING DOWN UNDER. (And a few cool gods)

Dreamless basically starts off with Helen in the Underworld, where most of the book is held in. What’s really so great about Helen’s adventures in the Underworld is that you see her develop as a character. She’s more confident and surer of herself since she now knows what she’s meant to do. I really liked her adventures in the Underworld because this is where we really see Helen struggle, not just with her task but as well as with her feelings for Lucas. And we definitely get to meet more gods, such as; Hades (god of the Underworld), Persephone (his wife), and more! The introduction of these gods just thickens the plot and makes everything all the more interesting.

DEMIGOD LOVING

This is where the “love triangle” lies. A lot of people are making a big issue that there’s love triangle in the story but I really think that the people need to read the book first before they start judging. I think that adding Orion into the story was a very smart move on Angelini’s part because putting him in only made the story progress even further. And while people might think that there might be an “Edward-Bella-Jacob” triangle going on, there’s really nothing to fear because Angelini managed to incorporate the triangle in a way that wasn’t cheesy or lame. I really felt like it was very appropriate that she put it in because it adds a sort of suspense as to what was going to happen and that was really cool. And while it saddens me to think that Orion doesn’t really have a chance, I still salute the people rooting for Lucas.

IN THE END

This book pretty much made my head take a 360 degree turn. It was really enjoyable since we saw new places and were introduced to new gods. And I love that fact that even though the romance part of the story was important, it didn’t overshadow the badass demigod fighting parts either. The plot twists and turns will literally make you feel like you’re riding a million foot rollercoaster and you don’t know when you’re coming down or taking a turn. It was exhilarating and absolutely heartpounding. As I was reaching the end of the book I was worried that my copy was missing a few pages because all I was thinking was “THIS CAN’T BE THE END!!” But then it was… So now WE have to wait more than half a year for the last book.

Rating: