Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

Summary

 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 ahs 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 the chaos. But the hardest task of all with be forgetting Lucas Delos.

• Number of pages: 487

Review

I remember reading the first book in this sage, Starcrossed, and saying it was such an amazing book. I read it so long ago, and yet I can still remember how excited I was by it. Dreamless, I’d say, was very good as well. I really like how the story was picked up from the last one, and yet the whole plot was completely different—different goals, different struggles, different sides of the well-loved characters. If I were to compare the two books, I would have to say I like the first one better. But I will say that this book, if it were to stand on its own, was very, very good.

The whole point in this book was for Helen to do the impossible and break the curse that plagues all Scion Houses. The adventure was great in the sense that I had no idea what was going to happen, and I was thrilled by the surprises that were in store. Honestly, the end was the best part for me because it set up perfectly for the next book, and made me look forward to it (even though it won’t come out for another YEAR)!!

Now, maybe not every one is very familiar with Greek legends and stories, but if you are then this book in particular would be exciting to read. I got a thrill every time a character or a story from ancient Greece popped up. I would stop and grin because I knew who they were, they were familiar. I think the way that Josephine Angelini incorporated all those stories and people was incredible. It wasn’t an overload, but it was enough to notice her extensive knowledge on the subject. She definitely did her homework! I think Dreamless was a good follow up as book 2, and I am really looking forward to seeing what comes up in book 3. From 1-10? I give it a 7!

The Siren by Kiera Cass

Summary

“You must never do anything that might expose our secret. This means that, in general, you cannot form close bonds with humans. You can speak to us, and you can always commune with the Ocean, but you are, essentially, a weapon. I won’t like to you, it can be a lonely existence, but once you are done, you get to live. All you have to give, for now, is obedience and time . . .”

The same speech has been given hundreds of times to hundreds of beautiful girls who enter the sisterhood of sirens. Kahlen has lived by these rules for years now, patiently waiting for the life she can call her own. But when Akinli, a human, enters her world, she can’t bring herself to live by the rules anymore. Suddenly the life she’s been waiting for doesn’t seem nearly as important as the one she’s living now.

• Number of pages: 276

Review

The Siren was a new kind of story, with some flair of the usual. I can’t say it was the average story either because the plot line was very interesting to follow along. It’s the story about Kahlen’s sentence as a siren. She takes you through each of the biggest episodes in her 100 years as siren, and how, along the way, she discovers a person who she is willing to risk anything and everything for.

Like I said, the story was interesting, but I couldn’t help but get tired eyes as I read the book. It was long and it was monotonous at times. It’s not that the story was boring, only that many parts were extended and it made me tired to read it at times. It’s like she kept ranting in her head or something.

Something that I found extremely great was how the author gave life to the Ocean. She was real, and She felt and loved and thought as well. I can’t really explain it, only that I felt connected to the Ocean. I thought that was just amazing. So adding all the qualities together, from 1-10? I’d say The Siren gets a 6. 

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Review

Every girl who has taken the test has died.

Now it’s Kate’s turn.

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails . . .

• Number of pages: 293

Review

I’ve had my eye out for this book for quite some time. It caught my eye expressly because it dealt with some Greek mythology. I actually adore mythology. Reading The Goddess Test was very interesting. The concept of the story was good. I always thought that Hades (in this case Henry) to be misunderstood. It was great seeing someone recognize it as that. But there were lots of stuff that really bothered me about it.

The characters seemed quite annoying to me. I don’t know why, they just seemed very fake to me, like they didn’t have much substance. One in particular was Henry. God, it killed me that he was portrayed as an empty shell for the most part. I mean I get that Carter was trying to make it out that he had given up, but there just wasn’t any spunk to him! He didn’t have any special qualities about him that separated him from the rest. And honestly I don’t know why Kate fell for him. There was nothing in this book that made sense as to why she loves him. And if I can’t understand why she loves him then I, as the reader, can’t fall in love with him either! Kate sometimes came out as . . . I don’t want to say annoying (again) but somewhere near that. I just couldn’t understand her

Another thing was that some stuff was just way too predictable to me. Then again, somethings weren’t. It just all depends, but there were times when this piece of news, or that piece of news was suppose to come out as a surprise, and I had already predicted it. Then again, there were some moments when I was in shock that I hadn’t seen it coming. I think I would have liked it if this book just ended its, that there wouldn’t be more to the story to come in a sequel because this book could have ended itself right, and I would have been happy. But I guess I can understand why there would be given more to the story. I will be putting book two down in my list of books to read, maybe it’ll come out better than this one. So from 1-10? I give The Goddess Test a solid 5.