Dreamless

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini
4/5 stars
HarperTeen, 2012
487 pages
YA Paranormal
#2 Starcrossed

Source: Picked up from the library for review.

Honestly I was pretty astounded when I picked this up from the library and saw how fat it is. Almost 500 pages? That is a lot! Happily though Angelini's writing is incredibly absorbing and I absolutely flew through the book.

Thanks to a refresher from Jen Ryland, I opened this book prepared especially with a reminder about a big spoiler from Starcrossed. I had completely forgotten and it does play an important part in the plot.

The prologue had me very confused though as it starts with Zach's perspective. I did not remember Zach and thus was confused that he was there. Who was this guy? Why did he matter to the story? But soon the book does return to Helen, a character I did remember.

This change in focus is both good and bad, in my opinion. Good because Helen was the main character in Starcrossed and it is right for her to continue to be the focus. She is also the Descender who descends to the Underworld every night trying to find the Furies so she can break the curse that has dogged the Scions for generations.

However it was bad because she kept angsting over Lucas who pissed me off in this book (sidenote: I kept picturing him as Kellan Lutz, probably because of those Time Warner Cable commercials. This is not a compliment for the character of Lucas). There was so much angst over their forbidden lovey-dovey feelings (and we get to see it from both of them-*yay* (sarcasm)). Meanwhile Helen meets a new super-hot guy in the Underworld named Orion. Although I sense the futility of it, I am completely Team Orion.

There was also a lot of angst among the secondary characters about mortal/Scion relationships. Helen's two best mortal friends Claire and Matt are frustrated by their love interests Jason and Ariadne-none of them handle this situation very well. I liked that there was an explanation for all of this young love: since most Scions don't live very long, they like to get started on their love life right away.

Other highlights include getting to meet some of the Twelve: Hades and Ares (Persephone and Eris also pop up). This gives me hope that we'll get to meet the rest in the concluding book as more of the overarching plot of the book is revealed and we seem to be propelled toward war. Like most of the recent Greek retellings I've read, Hades is presented as a more sympathetic character and I loved his brief appearances.

Overall: A compulsively readable book that is sure to please fans of the first book.

Cover: I don't really like the colors-I preferred the more blue/purple palette of the first book's cover.