Goddess (Starcrossed, #3)

by Josephine Angelini

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.