Goddess

By Josephine Angelini

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

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: May 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781447217824

Josephine Angelini

Josephine Angelini is a Massachusetts native and a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a major in theater and a focus on the classics. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three shelter cats.

Reviews for Goddess

[thebacklistbook · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As always I loved reading the story, the world and character development were spot on as always. I must admit I saw the ending coming at far more than a mile away.

It was very predictable in an "Oh, you" sort of way. It was a great story, though I am not all that sad to see it go. I have never been a one book kind of woman. I like adventure in my life.

I give this trilogy my Very best wishes as I send it off in favor of a new adventure.

3/5 Violent uprisings.

[emma_manolis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Why did I read Goddess?
This has been such a fantastic trilogy. I love the way the author weaves in mythology, epic poetry and other tales into this trilogy. Angelini is truly a fantastic storyteller. Reading Goddess was a no-brainer for me as I have enjoyed the journey thus far and couldn't wait to see how it would end.

What did I love most about this book in particular?
I think this is hands-down the best book in the trilogy. So much was revealed concerning the Scions' previous lives and the roles that they have played throughout history. In addition to that there was the tension of an impending battle. This battle introduced some twists that I didn't see coming at all. I just really loved this book and the trilogy as a whole.

How was the romance?
It all turns out okay in the end, but what a journey we had to take to get there! This was a hard love triangle to witness because there were so many outside factors influencing feelings and outcomes. It is also a triangle where you can't help but love both of the guys involved and you just want them both to be happy. I think the way it is ultimately handled is really perfect. I'm left satisfied overall.

Is this a satisfying conclusion to the Starcrossed trilogy?
I've already mentioned that I thought this was the best book in the trilogy and I think that is very telling. This was a fantastic ending. I was left satisfied yet I can't help but hope to someday be able to return to this world and see what else may happen. At first glance it seems as if everything was neatly tied up with a little bow but then you realize that the author shared some details that leave the door open to future books which excites me! In addition to that it is clear that not everyone has a happy ending, which I find to be refreshing.

[mrsdanaalbasha · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I do own a copy of this book back home, but because I can't wait for my things to arrive, I downloaded an ebook edition to my smartphone, with one chapter on my belt, I got to say this is going to be good.

The conclusion to this trilogy felt fastidious and over the top, very fanciful and made up that it kind of destroyed the whole series for me. In all honesty the last 150 pages were a bit of a Tartarus for me: a realm of exaggerated nightmare.

[lrhubble · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Contemporary, Romance, Young AdultNantucket Helen is being plagued with visions of destruction especially with the gods’ thirst for war that already has a body count. She has to find a way to imprison them again or there will be the risk of unleashing immeasurable chaos. Helen’s powers are increasing and it is causing the distance between her and her mortal friends to increase too. They are uncertain whether to fear her or revere her and now the once-solid group is divided.Making matters worse the Oracle reveals that a dangerous Tyrant is lucking among them. All fingers are now pointing to Orion. Helen is unsure whether she loves Lucas or Orion and she must make a terrifying decision because an all-out war is coming to her shores. This is a wonderful conclusion to this trilogy. Readers will hate to see it end but it is a very satisfying ending to a trilogy of books that prove to be very original. The characters are interesting as they grow and deal with all the obstacles that are thrown at them. Helen starts the trilogy out as unsure of herself and by the end she finds out just what she is capable of. She also learns just who she can truly trust and depend on. This is a trilogy that has proven to be one to put on the keeper shelf because this is one that readers will want to read again and again. This trilogy also shows this is an author to definitely watch. The trilogy takes the myths of Greek mythology turns them around and makes it very unique. While the books have a number of pages the trilogy proves to be a fast read as readers will find it very hard to put down and won’t want to leave this world until the very last page of the last book. The ending does not disappoint in the least.

[lyssa73 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was kind of disappointed in the conclusion to this series, and I have to admit that my expectations were low. I felt that Angelini stretched too far. It's one thing to retell an old story, but quite another to take snatches of a bunch of old (and much better) stories and alter them significantly and use them as flashbacks. "what the eff" was running through my mind far too frequently as a result. Considering that these "flashbacks" made up the bulk of the characterization/plot there just wasn't much story building.

We spent the entire second book learning to fear ONE myrmidon and then all but three are nicely finished off without much trouble at the end of this book. what?

I thought Daphne's progression was kind of bull. I was fine with her being so selfish and ruthless. But then Angelini had to go and ruin it by trying to make her actions acceptable and her abandonment of her daughter not really real. *grumble*

I could go and and pick out pieces all over the place that were inconsistent or dull or cheap imitations, but it's just not worth the effort. To me, this read like fan fiction.

[bookloverslife · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a brilliant end to an amazing series!!

[kr15tina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What I LovedThe FinalI love reading the final books in series, but I'm always sad to know it is the final book. However this was a wonderful ending and I'm so happy with how it ended for all the characters.StoryWhat a great conclusion to this epic love/tragedy story. The final battle was fought. Lies and deceit played a key role in obtaining the outcome. And of course LOVE. Some loves were lost and a new ones were found.CharactersI love all of the characters in the book and Helen has always been a really great character. I like that she has never given up at any point in the books, even when discovering horrible news. She takes everything in stride which I like and tries to do what is best, no matter the final outcome for her.Flash-backsI loved reading about all of Helen's previous lives, that was so cool. I personally love when things go back into the past to explain and understand why things happened the way they did. Didn't LikeSaying goodbye to all these wonderful characters and story.Recommendation A must read series for anyone who loves romance, Greek Mythology and YA. If you haven't read this series yet it is the perfect time to just into the series since this is the final book. If you have already started this series, get this book asap and read it asap!

[mvthebookbabe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.When I started Goddess, I was really unsure. The books in this series have gotten progressively better with each installment, but I was afraid that this one wouldn't live up to my standards. It didn't help that I started it out blind-- I had to relearn several of the character names, because I didn't re-read the previous books before starting. This made the first few chapters a bit muddy, because I had to sort out all of the secondary characters in my mind.I liked that we got a few glimpses into Daphne's mind with Goddess-- in earlier books, she's been a huge mystery, but I loved that she opened up a little in this one. (And she's not all bad.) But before I start in on the virtues of Daphne (few and rare), I want to talk about Helen. The main character, the balm that's supposed to hold this whole series together. Honestly, Helen isn't a great character to me. I do like her, but it's the secondary characters that really make it pop.For instance, when I think about why I love this series...what comes to mind? Orion. Lucas. Hector. All of the interwoven stories from ancient mythology. Memories and Scions...did you notice that none of my reasons were Helen? I did. And honestly, it really doesn't bother me that I don't "love" Helen. I did, however, like the introduction of Andy! A new character in a group you've come to love is always exciting, because you're not sure how they'll play with the other characters; but I loved Andy. She was so interesting-- a siren? Come on. That is awesome. I also liked the introduction of her as {SPOILER}Hector's love interest. They were so adorable together!{/SPOILER} And I just have to talk about Orion for a little bit, y'all. I love him! He's like my sad puppy dog, honestly. I'm always rooting for the guy who probably won't win. But I just can't help it! Orion was a really deep character, and I felt like I could feel his sadness. And it was sad-- I did love his ending, though. He deserves to be someone's first choice. As I've mentioned before, I loved the Greek myths that were interwoven into the story-- the idea that each character was a representation of each of the myth characters was awesome! I completely fell in love with some of the characterizations, let me tell you. All the pieces and characters connect and snap perfectly together. Unfortunately, I did think that it was obvious from the beginning that Helen was {SPOILER}the tyrant.{/SPOILER} It didn't ruin the plot or anything, because I was completely freaking out over it, but... (OMG OMG OMG) There is so many other things that I want to tell you, but I just can't risk spoiling the book! Just know that my heart strings were tugged back and forth, and that the ending (while semi-happy) fell a bit flat. The rest of the book was so amazing, but the ending was slightly anti-climatic. There was a lot that I wanted to see resolved. Overall, this series is really worth a read. Don't let a "slightly" anti-climatic ending keep you away!

[usagijihen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5/5 stars!Man, this final BOOK, you guys. I'm still reeling from everything that was packed into this final installment of the "Starcrossed" trilogy. So many questions were answered, and questions you didn't even know you had? Those get answered to. All in all, this is a fantastic ending to the trilogy, and I think that fans will be very satisfied with everything that goes down. While I did have a few little nits to pick on this one, otherwise? Loved it. If you haven't read the rest of the trilogy, what are you waiting for? "Goddess" is the final book that all trilogies want in all technical areas.I loved that this book started more or less immediately after the final events of "Dreamless", literally picking up where the previous book left off. Everyone is bloodied and broken and the final battle is upon them. What I loved that Angelini did more or less immediately was expand the world (in a way I hadn't thought she'd be able to do in terms of how big it already was) with a backstory of the original Helen of Troy, along with other famous figures in history you'd never think were involved with the Houses (Arthur and Guinevere, for example) and giving us a very full, lush history of what really went down at Troy, the origins of Atlantis, and why the gods have such a grudge against Helen in the first place. This was masterly wrought, and spun out throughout quite a few chapters, but the chapters in between when everyone is amassing for the final battle (along with trying to figure out who the Tyrant is), so it didn't feel infodumpy. And it could have gone the way of the infodump had Angelini not used that way of alternating chapters and backstory.The characters also get a boost - with Helen, literally - and we also get some new characters that do a great job contributing to the story without taking away from it in terms of how important they are to the larger Helen of Troy history with the gods, and how that affects everyone now. This was also very cleverly done - with seeing the original (uncensored, one might say) Helen of Troy story, it made everything that's happened in past books make a lot more sense. Without spoiling everything too much, I will say - watch for Daphne's parts, and you'll see how many questions are answered just with her and her actions alone. And while I felt like Helen's deification literally felt like things were a little over the top sometimes, Angelini balanced this out with the original history, along with the gods being the way we haven't seen them since books like "The Iliad" - angry, bloodthirsty, and really just plain not cool guys to piss off. I like that Angelini went that route in terms of how she created the gods as characters, how it wasn't like we've seen in other MG and YA series as of late, and that return to the way we were originally introduced to them in Greek literature was a pleasant surprise.My only big one complaint - the love triangle dragged a little too long into the book. HOWEVER, I can see why Angelini did it - when certain plot pieces from the original Helen of Troy's past fall into place, it all makes sense - and thus, makes pretty much all of book 2's plot make sense, as well. As I said before, Daphne is the key, so watch for that. But I was happy to see that the love triangle did get resolved, and all of the historical pieces didn't always have those three together in romantic situations. To spoil just a bit, there was a lifetime where Helen and Hector were married, which I thought was a really nice touch. It kept things fresh, and it kept us as the audience on our toes.My second, smaller complaint - how the final battle with Zeus went down. I felt like that was resolved just a little too easily, a little too neatly, though I will admit the way that Helen went up against him was incredibly clever, and not without loss on both sides. In that sense, no one really "won", as Helen suffered a huge loss, as did Zeus. Which was nice to see - the stakes were so high, and though it felt a little too neat for my tastes in terms of how it was resolved, it also really brought home the impact of the idea of the Tyrant, and how important this final battle really is/was to everyone involved - gods, demigods/descendents, and humans alike. No one escaped entirely unscathed, which was the right thing to do. Had everyone on Helen's side come out without a scratch, I would have been pretty angry about the ending. But since it didn't, I'm quite pleased with how things went.Final verdict? With a lot of love, blood, violence, and history behind it, "Goddess" gets propelled to my best of 2013 list (and best series ender of 2013 list). It had everything I wanted, and I was pretty pleased with how it all went down, even with my nitpicks about it. I think other fans will be happy too, regardless of what "team" they are in terms of the love triangle. "Goddess" is out May 28, 2013 from HarperTeen in North America, so be sure to check it out then! And be sure to stop by the blog on Monday, May 27, 2013 for my stop on the blog tour with a guest post by Angelini herself.(posted to goodreads, shelfari, librarything, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com)

[bookswithbite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Finally getting a chance to finish the book late last night, I'm happy with the way that it ended. Though, I expected a bit more, it still came out to satisfy me.The plot of the book is very moving and exciting. Immediately the reader is placed in Helen shoes, the reader is ready to fight. I like the plot had a great build up towards the battle. There are secrets that are coming out that add to the rage of emotions flowing through all the characters. Powers are starting to become clearer as the reader moves further into the story.The love interest turn out the way I expected it to be. The mess the was created before that ultimately held them back form being with each other is settle out and made me quite happy. I like that Helen had lots of flash backs or memories of their lives together. This part intrigued more as I got to travel further back in time, fighting for the love that is real.Goddess is a great ending to a series I'm sad to let go. The author did a great job in tying up all the loose ends and giving the reader a great happily ever after. With romance and strength you can't deny, Goddess is great.