Starcrossed (3) - Goddess by Josephine Angelini
And, last but not least, Goddess, part 3/3 of the Starcrossed Series (in German Göttlich - verliebt, in French not published yet). I read it in German, where it contained 449 pages. Originally published 2013
Cassandra's prophecy is almost fulfilled - the Gods are unleashed and they have to be stopped, or the world will stop existing. Helen gives her best to adapt to her new powers, to the flashbacks of the other Helens before and – to not loose herself. In the meantime Matt, Claire and Ariadne put a group together to stop Helen... who seems to be more dangerous than the gods themselves.
Helen knows, what to do. But will she have the courage and power to save her friends and family - and the rest of the world?
Spoiler:
I think that the ending was the best thing that could have happened to Lucas and Helen. They got an open ending – nothing sappy, but something with… hope, in a way. Even though I’d wished that there was a bit more space to built this feeling of hope after all of the, well, depressing parts of the book.
And I seriously would like to know what happened with Claire.
I get why she did what she did. It makes sense, from her point of view. No one should have Helen’s powers and she acted cold-heartedly and didn’t explain how afraid she really was. She seems… like a killer to an outsider. And Claire wanted to stop her, she wanted to protect humanity and the people she loved. What she did was right – from her point of view. But the reasoning behind it based on an assumption that was wrong. And, most importantly, what she did hurt Helen. And now I wonder whether they could repair their friendship – whether they even tried.
To this whole concept of everybody fears Helen: That was as realistic as well done.
Okay, everyone except for Lucas, of course. He wouldn’t even be afraid of her if she held a gun to his head and sneezed.
Spoiler:
I like how the relationships in the book work, how the distance between Helen and everyone else gets bigger and bigger, how the others get closer – even though I must admit that it’s sad Matt gets to be this mythical person. I’d have thought it way more cool if he actually stayed full-scale normal human.
I’d have liked to know how these relationships turned out, in the end, it’s sad we get to know so little. Even if you ignore Claire’s and Helen’s friendship, there are some questions that are not answered: Did Claire she stay with Jason, in the end? Can Helen repair her relationship with the entire Delos’ clan, what about the new comer, Matt, how do the dynamics change, now that everyone realises that Helen is the good guy and Lucas will soon be AFK or rather AFMR (away form mortal realm)?
Well, this leads me again to the ending of the book.
Daphne deserved it.
I think the twist with that woman was pretty well done – especially how Helen’s feelings were torn over her, how she never exactly knew what to feel et cetera. The reader shares that.
Daphne is a deeply layered, interesting personality. I don’t like her – but she is well done.
Apart from that, I like what they did in the Underworld, the whole concept behind it. The three wishes Helen granted and the way her own kind of hell helped her trap the gods.
But I must admit that it was so clear who would rule Hades and who would be the Tyrant. It was so obvious.
Apart from that, I am so damn glad for Cassandra. She deserved some good, as did Orest. I hope that she gets a happier fate than her predecessor. Life pretty much sucked for her.
As for Matt… I’m glad for him as well.
In brief:
I give the book a star for characters, one for the style, one for the plot and one for the ideas. Plus one for the fact that the protagonist is actually not seen as a good guy, minus one for the ending – because too much was left unanswered.
Prequel: