Goddess (Starcrossed, #3)

by Josephine Angelini

She must rise, or they will fall . . .

Helen's powers are increasing-and so is the distance between her and her mortal friends. To make matters worse, the Oracle reveals that a dangerous traitor is lurking among them, and all fingers point to Orion. Still unsure whether she loves him or Lucas, Helen is forced to make a terrifying decision, or risk all-out war.

Goddess is the final book in Josephine Angelini's heart-stopping trilogy inspired by Greek myth, Starcrossed.

• ISBN10: 0062012045
• ISBN13: 9780062012043
• Publish Date: 29 April 2014 (first published 23 May 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leigha]

Helen discovers she is a decedent from the Greek Gods in this ho-hum young adult contemporary romance.

I remember reading and enjoying this series when it released many, many moons ago. My husband asked for a book recommendation when we started dating, and I recommended this series. It’s a miracle he didn’t laugh in my face. For some reason, it came across my desk recently so I decided to give it a re-read. What I remember and what I read are not one and the same.

The series is based off Greek mythology, specifically influenced by Homer’s Iliad. It had the makings to be intriguing and unique, but somewhere in book two it grew tedious. The one-on-one of each character corresponding to a Greek myth was unnecessary. The gods and goddess do eventually show their faces, which is always fun and entertaining.

The most time and attention is given to the trinity of Helen, Lucas, and Orion. Helen’s journey from shy wallflower to powerful Goddess is fun, although Lucas’ journey is the most surprising. Orion was my favorite – too bad he never had a shot with Helen. The secondary characters were all over the place. Either I disliked them, such as Jason and Clair, or I disliked how they were treated, like Matt and Ariadne. Matt’s arc was a particular sour pill to swallow. I hated how he betrays Helen, and then is killed sparring with Hector. Just *screams in eternity*

tl;dr While an interesting retelling of the Iliad, I found myself disliking the supporting characters and overall arc of the story.

Goddess was a better read than Dreamless. This is because my expectations for Goddess weren't as high as it was for Dreamless and because tons of things that I hated in Dreamless started to sort itself out.

The pacing in this book was still a problem. In the beginning and the middle of the book nothing much really happens. The beginning and the middle was basically there to set the stage for the epic war that was to come at the end. I was really excited about the war that was going to take place between the gods and the demi-gods! I wanted to see blood, guts, death, storms and I loved that the battle was epic! That was one thing in this book that I felt was done right! But I do have to admit that I had an issue with the fact that the battle took such a long time to start, but ended in such a short amount of time and that the main characters, weren't really a part of the epic, god vs demi-god battle.

I also had major issues with Helen, which I did mention in my reviews of Starcrossed and Dreamless and that I don't want to go into much detail about it because I felt as though I did in those reviews. But Helen is the typical Mary Sue Trope. I honestly didn't like Helen as a character. I couldn't connect with her or relate to her and when she became extremely powerful, I felt as though she had no control over her powers nor did she use her powers to help her situation. I only felt that she used her powers well during the war, but if she had thought about using it before then, she could have saved a lot of time and lives.

One of deepest problems that I did have in this book was the romance. So, the unnecessary love triangle that started in Dreamless continues in Goddess and I honestly hated the love triangle with a passion. I knew who Helen was going to pick from the moment the love triangle started. I do have to give Orion a bunch of brownie points when it comes to the love triangle.Orion basically ended the love triangle when he told Helen that he didn't want to be second best, but he did it in such a tactful manner. :) The other romance aspects were also unrealistic. Every single character in the novel, ended up being paired off with somebody. Even although I love Hector as a character and I loved who he was paired with, I hated the fact that his relationship was extremely insta-lovey. My rant is now officially over!

So now, I'm going to randomly fan-girl about what I did love...

I loved the Delos Family. This is the third time that I'm mentioning the amazing dynamics that they brought to the Starcrossed Trilogy. They are a huge family and their interactions are so complex and full of love and annoyance. Definitely one of the best families that I've read about in Young Adult Fiction.

The Greek Mythology aspect definitely improved itself in this book and I stopped feeling like I wanted to re-read Percy Jackson. I loved the fact that Helen was getting Helen of Troy flashbacks, but I didn't really enjoy the Guinevere flashback, it felt weird for a story with a Greek background to introduce a Medieval background. I loved the introduction of a certain siren. I've always wanted to read a book that had siren's in it and I sort-of found one. (If anybody has recommendations for a good siren book, don't hesitate to share)

The Starcrossed series did end well. I do like my ending to be wrapped up into a neat parcel and unfortunately the Starcrossed series ended with a few questions that I felt needed to be answered. But I feel as though this is a personal preference...

All in all, Starcrossed was unexpected amazement, Dreamless was unexpected disappointment and Goddess was an unexpected saving grace.

[ladygrey]

In some ways this is the strongest book in the trilogy, but it still left me wanting. The characters are fantastic and are what have drawn me through these stories. I really enjoy them all and, in the end, even the ones I hated I kind of like.

I think [a:Josephine Angelini|3406550|Josephine Angelini|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1298407165p2/3406550.jpg] handles the war with the Olympians really elegantly and it was good to see Helen grow so much as a character (despite my earlier update). I like that this book is well plotted and keeps moving quickly but also makes sure that something is happening so that it never feels like its being dragged out just to fill a whole book (which [b:Dreamless|12995284|Dreamless (Starcrossed, #2)|Josephine Angelini|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320248839s/12995284.jpg|10965443] did sometimes).

I think Angelini also does a great job handling the Greek mythology, pulling it into the modern world. And especially she understands the nuance and implication of the old myths and the way they were woven together instead of just knowing the substance of them. At least, that's how it seemed to me because of how well she wove them into this story.

Oh, and I really liked the flashbacks of history that were incorporated into her mythology. The worked really well with the story and also gave it a nice depth.

I think the only thing I have to complain about is that we don't get enough time with Helen and Lucas getting to be together. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that certain reveals do eventually come to light and they happen early enough that they could be enjoyed and we've waited a long time for them but then so much else is happening that it falls by the wayside and as much as there is a happy ending (sorry if that's a shock) there isn't enough time to revel in it.

But even if there isn't enough Helen and Lucas, I like all the other characters so much that it's still a really amusing read that I couldn't put down.

ETA: Now that I reached the end, I'm also almost ok with the one story thread that bothered me the most. Recognizing all of the intricacies of Greek mythology Angelini wove in, I begrudgingly admit it wouldn't really have been a Greek story if there wasn't at least the hint of... maybe not entirely ok because I can't bring myself to type it. ugh.