Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)
Publication: May 29, 2012
Pages: 487
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Publisher: Harper Teen
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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.
After Josephine Angelini’s epic debut with Starcrossed, I could not (but, alas, had to) wait to receive my copy of Dreamless. You can imagine my excitement when my ARC of Dreamless arrived in the mail. From book one, I knew where the story was going, but I had no idea how Angelini would bring us to its conclusion. This is how she does it: action, reaction, and characters. Dreamless is not one of the transition middle books in the series; no, Angelini delves right into the heart of the plot and kept me glued to the sofa until she brought the novel to its stunning conclusion, leaving me breathless and anticipating book three (Goddess).
While there is a prophecy and destiny driving the characters, the characters themselves, with their complex personalities and relationships, also drive the plot. Book one left my heart tearing up for Helen and Lucas. Book two broke it two pieces, as I watched the two mature and try to forget each other. Another guy is introduced, and he seems to promise a way to move on. While I typically hate love triangles, this one melds beautifully into the plot.. Dare I say that I might have a crush of my own on the new guy? For Helen, however, forgetting is far from easy. Other conflicts arise as Lucas’s relatives fall for mortals, Hector comes into contact with family, and Cassandra grows more distant. Every character found its way into my heart, even the nasty villains (I just loved to hate some of them).
Helen’s duty as the Descender seems pretty simple. She has to find the Furies and eliminate them. However, as always, that isn’t all there is to it, and Helen’s journey in the Underworld reveals that there is more to her quest that she initially thought. Helen’s inability to dream wears her down gradually, threatening her health and mentality, rendering her unable to make the decisions that she needs to make. The fate of the Scions rests on her actions. Dreamless captivated me from start to finish. I absolutely cannot wait to read book three!
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. No payment was received in return for a review. The receipt of the book had no influence on the opinions expressed in my review.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Cath Brookes says
Overall, I loved this book probably even more then I did the first because I felt like I really knew all of the characters and it was like reading about a bunch of old friends and I enjoyed every bit of it. If you liked starcrossed then I think you will definitely like dreamless, action and greek mythology, love triangles, what more could a girl want in a book!
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BeckyLouiseWilliams says
Loved your review and I loved the book just as much!
Dreamless also captivated me through the whole of the book! I loved it so mcuh!
France says
When I first read the summary of this book, I had no idea who Orion was/what he would be doing in the book. After reading Dreamless, I have to say that Orion easily has become one of my favorite characters! He is really brave, and super strong, but he also has an awesome sense of humor that really balances Helen out. He really is a great partner for Helen to have in the underworld and they really do make a great team! I was really worried about their being a love triangle because I'm not the biggest fans of them, but Josephine Angelini does a great job of straying away from the "typical" love triangle scenarios and makes this one work in a way that I really liked! I really didn't feel that I was rooting for one guy over the other. What I felt was that Helen needs both boys because they both balance her out and I really can see how she is torn between the two!
The introduction of a bunch of new characters including a bunch of minor gods and a few major ones as well! I really liked seeing a whole different group of characters included in this book, especially since I love reading about Greek mythology! These new characters definitely make the plot really stand out, and I found myself keep re-reading scenes with these characters in them because I liked them so much!
Crystal says
@Julie: I love Starcrossed and highly recommend it!
Julie says
Oh! Thanks for reminding me that I still have to read the first book of this series. 😀