Book Review: Dreamless (Starcrossed #2) by Josephine Angelini

Title: Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)
Author: Josephine Angelini
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Publishing Date: July 5th 2012
Length: 502 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, Greeks, gods, romance, underworld, myths, furies
Source: Publisher

Can true love be forgotten?

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.

Summary by Goodreads

After a slow start, I fell hard for STARCROSSED, the first book in Josephine Angelini's trilogy. I loved that Scions exist in the 21st century and bring a piece of the past with them. Ancient myths, epic love stories and feuds between Greek houses of Scions and gods, that’s what made STARCROSSED a fantastic read.

The ending of STARCROSSED left me in an emotional turmoil and at that time I wanted to read its sequel so badly, to see the conflicts finally being solved. You can imagine my excitement when I started DREAMLESS. Unfortunately you have to witness my disappointment now after finishing. I had a slow start with DREAMLESS as well. But the story continued like that, I never really got into the story, and it felt strenuous to keep up with Helen's story.

If you read STARCROSSED, you know in how far a certain piece of information influenced Helen and Lucas' relationship. I really didn't like the way it developed in DREAMLESS. Helen and Lucas had a limited number of scenes full of emotions and heartbreak, but it simply wasn't enough to keep my mind and heart hooked on the story.

The storyline and the way Helen spends most of the book, in the underworld  -a barren and colorless setting- trying to break free, appeared sluggish and uneventful to me. Even if something happened, it didn't affect me at all.

One day when Helen descends into the underworld, she hears a voice. And unfortunately soon we'll meet the source of that voice. Orion. His character itself wasn’t that bad. He is protective, smart and helpful, but in context with Lucas and Helen's romance crumpling, I just didn't need him there as her new kind of love interest. I would've easily accepted him as someone else's new companion, but not Helen's! Love triangle stay in the underworld where you came from!

Whereas the secondary characters, especially Ariadne, Hector, Jason and Claire, and their relationships had more power to hold my attention, the enemies and their view on parts of the story in DREAMLESS were rather enervating.

Josephine Angelini continues the story of Scions and Greek myths in DREAMLESS. The most significant in DREAMLESS are definitely the furies. Be prepared to learn more about their unfortunate fate and help Helen find a way to free them, herself and all the other Scions from their violent fate of hatred. There are magical items, new myths to uncover and the Delos' enemies don't keep quiet either.   

1) of a forbidden love
2) of a strong family
3) of a vast dream world
4) of the furies myth
5) the lost can be reclaimed

2,5/ 5 **/* DREAMLESS - Only a shadow of the first STARCROSSED book. What happened to the epic romance of Helen and Lucas?

DREAMLESS comes along with only a weak development of plot and action. Furthermore there are annoying enemies and an infuriating love triangle that kept me from adoring this sequel as much as STARCROSSED. The enormous solidarity of the Delos family, their undying love for Helen and the main romance between Helen and Lucas are things I am counting on in the next book. I'm expecting GODDESS to end the series with a bang!   

* Liked DREAMLESS? Keep looking out for the third book in this series, GODDESS.

* For an excerpt of DREAMLESS click here.

* Watch the DREAMLESS book trailer!

* For further information about Josephine Angelini and her books visit www.josephineangelini.com

* Thanks to Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy of DREAMLESS for review!