Starcrossed: Dreamless (Awakening) [Unabridged] [Paperback]

Already a fan from the first book, I seriously couldn't wait for this book and Angelini did not disappoint.

We are brought straight back to the both shocking and saddening cliffhanger from the last book that Lucus and Helen are actually cousins. While we know, from Helen's mother Daphne's conversations previously that this is not true, Helen, Lucus and the rest of the Delos clan and everyone else do not and what we witness is heartbreaking in it's entirety as they try to stay away from each other when they clearly still love each other. Star crossed lovers they are - Romeo and Juliet all over again.

While this is constantly in both Helen and our minds every time they are in the same room, or near each other, an important task is now in play. Helen is the Scions only chance of freeing those such as Hector who have been Outcast. The only way thought to do so is to kill off the furies which enrage members of the same house and other opposing houses to attack their own flesh and blood such as Hector to pay a blood debt. Helen is the Descender and is tasked with descending into the Underworld to find a way to set the Outcast's free, but while she has been chosen to do so, she has been dealing with Hell, quite literally and it is taking it's toll on her.

While she constantly wanders the Underworld every night for weeks trying to figure out how to complete her task of saving the Outcasts, she is suffering from exhaustion due to the lack of sleep since every time she goes to sleep she descends. What doesn't help is that while both Lucas and Helen accept that they can't be together, Lucus has taken to cutting her off completely from him in a cruel and hurtful way that see's even the reader surprised. While we learn, he is acting cruel in an effort for her to not feel anything for him anymore and help her concentrate on her task, it does the opposite effect. Instead we feel how alone she has become. Even though she still trains with the Delos family they have been keeping their distance too in an attempt to help her focus but instead pushing her away. Sympathy is an understatement for what we feel for Helen at this point.

One night when Helen descends and meets someone down there; Orion, she can't help but feel attracted to him, especially since he is the son of Aphrodite and has the power to control desire and hearts as well as being the heir to the House of Rome and also an Outcast. What develops is a friendship which while in the Underworld gives Helen a strength and purpose to her life that she had lost, also conflicts her emotions and clouds her heart.

While the task is still Helen's, she now has a friend and someone to help with her task and it's clear that Orion and Helen grow close, but it is also clear that despite everything Lucus and Helen still care for each other. All three are caught in a triangle which leads to a head in an epic battle which see's all three fight for what they believe in but at the same time, opening up a whole new can of worms that can never be closed again. As Cassandra always says the Scions follow history and there are many ways that history does indeed replay before our eyes.

War is on the horizon...

Cassandra220689

I got this without realising that this is a follow up.

Unfortunately in the 1st few chapters it was painfuly obvious that i needed to of read the 1st book to figure out what was going on so i am putting this on hold until i do so.

This beautiful story, which began in `Starcrossed' and now, continues in `Dreamless' is the kind of book which gets under your skin. Totally transfixing and exquisitely evocative, I was utterly spellbound by the supernatural ambience and tale of two lovers. Josephine Angelini captures quintessentially forbidden, heartrending love and the constant ache as the hero and heroine of this tale fight to be together forever.

As an avid reader of the Young Adult genre, I was extremely excited when presented with the opportunity to read the sequel to bestselling book and it certainly did not disappoint! Mesmerizingly magical and simply stunning, I was stunned as to the addictiveness of this saga and how easily I was sucked-into this book. Fans of Lauren Kate's fallen series, Alyson Noël's Evermore and Jana Oliver's Forsaken: The Demon Trappers will absolutely love this thrilling tale which I cannot enthuse enough about.

Their love could last forever...If it doesn't destroy them first

The series that captured readers' hearts globally continues. HEARTBROKEN and forbidden from being with Lucas, Helen has been tasked with breaking the curse that keeps them apart by killing the Furies. She spends her nights wandering the Underworld in search of them and, tormented by her worst nightmares made real, she's beginning to suffer from extreme exhaustion on top of her heartbreak. ONE night, Helen meets another person down in the shadowy Underworld: Orion, descended from Adonis and with the power to control desire. Still in love with Lucas but drawn to this seductive stranger, Helen must make a choice that could save her life but break her heart...

Darkly delicious, delicately interwoven tale takes one on an acutely dreamlike journey of the heart. The blending of supernatural fantasy and spinechilling suspense makes this emotive tale of eternal love so profoundly affecting and magical. I was mesmerized by the love triangle between Lucas, Orion and Helen (which reminded me so much of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight; with Edward, Jacob and Bella). Sensual and sexy this seductive supernatural story is an astonishing paranormal phenomenon that concludes in "Goddess" (released May 23rd 2013!!). The breathtaking complexity, scope and substantial plot makes me want to delve into the final installment.

I was so impressed by this exceptional tale that I predict it being summer 2013 bestseller and a winner in the Young Adult genre!!

*I won an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of "Dreamless by Josephine Angelini" through a Goodreads, First-Read giveaway*

mykindabook.com ~ for great books, author chats and fab prizes!