Book Review: Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

Book reviews

2 June

Josephine Angelini- Dreamless (Starcrossed #2) Format- Paperback Source- review copy Publisher- Pan Macmillan Publication date- 22 May 2012 Synopsis- Helen needs to get through hell in two ways: by night they reflected the underworld, even worse torments her day that Lucas and they may possibly love. In the underworld, Helen meets Orion. The more time they spend together, the closer they come to. Then something totally unexpected happens, the forces calculated for holding and Lucas Orion: The four houses are combined and Scion, a new Trojan war seems inevitable! Review- This review holds spoilers for the first book in the series, Starcrossed and also for key plot points in Dreamless.Helen has to descend into the Underworld each night to uncover a solution to the Furies. It’s the only way to cease the bloodlust between the entire Delos family and Hector. She has to find a way to reunite them. She also has to hide her feelings for Lucas and try to keep them under control. As we know from the end of Starcrossed, the darn cliffhanger we were left with was that Helen and Lucas were tricked by her mother into believing that they were first cousins (ew!). They can’t believe that their feelings and attraction for each other, something that feels so right to them- could be so wrong.Helen is heartbroken, lonely and traumatised by the Underworld on a nightly basis. Until she meets Orion, a handsome young man who takes her hand and pulls her out of the quicksand. When only minutes pass in the real world, time seems endless in the Underworld and she quickly develops a trusting friendship with Orion. He stands by her side in the Underworld to help her save the furies and therefore stop the demigods from wanting to kill each other against their will.I read the majority of this book in one night, which was quite a feat because it is over 500 pages long! It was a frustrating story because I impatiently wanted Lucas and Helen to sort things out. I’d prefer the author to come up with a different barrier, like the one in the beginning rather than using incest. I was really angry that the author allowed them to continue thinking they were cousins throughout the whole novel. I understand that her mother had a plan to bring about the war and unknowingly Orion had a role in Helen’s task to overcoming the Furies. But honestly, that was just mean!I find it very frustrating in YA paranormal sequels when the couple are separated in the second book and a love triangle is introduced. Yes, Orion seems like a nice guy but Helen and Lucas love each other and I don’t like to be tricked into thinking that she is falling in love with Orion- whether she is or not. Although plot-wise the ending set up the third book quite nicely, I was so frustrated by the love story aspects that I was quite angered when I closed the book. I spent the whole night reading it hoping for some solace only to be disappointed. I’m sorry if this is a spoiler: but Lucas and Helen still think they are cousins by the end of Dreamless. Very unfair! And weird too, because I sometimes started to think of them as cousins and I have to remind myself that they aren’t and that I really want them to reunite and live happily ever after.Anyway, despite some of my negative feelings about this book, I’ve been sucked in enough to eagerly await the next book. Fingers crossed it is more satisfying!