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bvblover28's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
baoluong's review against another edition
3.0
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G : R A P E , D O M E S T I C A B U S E
Hello everyone and welcome welcome to my first ever book blog tour! As you can tell I cannot contain myself. I don’t even know if I’m doing this right? Ok, so since I opted to write a snazzy review, here are my honest and unfettered thoughts. Let’s goooooooo
Mayhem is a Brayburn woman in a long line of Brayburn women. After a harrowing attack by her step-father, Lyle, her and her mother escape back to Santa Maria. Mayhem is greeted by her twin aunt and three foster cousins. It seems everyone but her knows why the town is careful around the Brayburns. Everything from the watchful birds, to the creepy rhymes, and gifts constantly being left on the farm is a part of the mystery. But all Mayhem wants is a new chance to make friends and hopefully have a better relationship with her mother, Roxy. Her new relatives, Jason, Kidd, and Neve seem to be in on the secret as they disappear every night and sleep until the afternoon. Mayhem soon gets left behind until she uncovers a power unlike anything.
I have to say the story does drag but it emphasizes the lack of communication and honesty in the family. When Mayhem does get in contact with the power, the jig is up and there’s a quick training chapter. Everything comes easier to a Brayburn and Mayhem picks up quick what she has to do. Santa Maria attracts certain types of bad energies and somehow the Brayburns are guardians of good and evil. Although there is an attempt to ask the BIG QUESTIONS, the book doesn’t dwell on it. It’s assumed the universe has plans and everything happens for a reason which makes for some of the most awkward conversations about rape and home invasions. I did not feel comfortable, but it’s left open ended with the implication that perhaps “the universe doesn’t give you more than you can handle”. I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. I have to say that the handling of Neve’s character was sloppy and inconsistent. I know the power corrupts but she doesn’t seem out of line. What happens when the justice system is flawed and you KNOW someone is guilty? I don’t understand how some people are allowed to roam just because they decided to not commit crimes in Santa Maria but elsewhere. I guess that’s not the point but it raised messy questions without any intentions of sitting in it. It’s more used as a backdrop to give a sense of conflict but not really because everything neatly works out in the end without loose ends. I was severely disappointed in the ending and wish the book could have been longer to flesh out the two “villains”.
That being said, the other plot revolves around Lyle coming back. I felt this storyline was more developed and drew out the complexity between having a codependent mother and child relationship where the child takes on more responsibility. The challenges of not blaming the other parent since they’re a victim too is one avenue I think could of had an intense climax. Instead, we get something a little more anticlimactic with a toss of magic. I guess the impact was lost on me because sometimes the bad guys don’t get their comeuppance which I thought was a part of the theme especially when it came to Neve. There’s a lot going on but not enough time dedicated to following anything to it’s logical conclusion the story sets up. I’m not asking for neat answers but something more satisfying then just because “we said so”. There were a lot of memorable moments in the story and the magically elements were unique without bogging down the particulars. If that were the case, I wish that attention to detail could have gone into character development instead.
I recommend this for fans of magic, feminism, and beach side parties.
zaineylaney's review against another edition
4.0
This book wasn’t really what I expected. Actually, I am not sure what i expected. It reminds me a lot about movies in the 90s, especially Practical Magic. A girl and her mom return to the home they left. The girl discovers she comes from a family of witches, kind of.
So basically, this is a hard plot to explain. But it is about family, discovering yourself, and decisions in your life. Mayhem and her mother are running from abuse, but how does that abuse shape their current view upon returning home?
My critique of this book is really that the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to be. I felt like it kind of wrapped up, but there was an uneasiness to it that I can’t describe.
You can see my video review here:
https://youtu.be/w7cLfUkchFs
So basically, this is a hard plot to explain. But it is about family, discovering yourself, and decisions in your life. Mayhem and her mother are running from abuse, but how does that abuse shape their current view upon returning home?
My critique of this book is really that the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to be. I felt like it kind of wrapped up, but there was an uneasiness to it that I can’t describe.
You can see my video review here:
https://youtu.be/w7cLfUkchFs
jennywrennn's review
1.0
Man, what a letdown. Lost Boys meets The Craft had me SOLD on this one and I'd been anticipating it for months - but the reality was just a few stolen ideas from Lost Boys, flat characters, very vague and confusing dialogue that was clearly meant to be 'deep & mysterious' but was really eyeroll city and a lackluster, anticlimactic storyline. Also a huuuge waste of the 80's setting, it's barely mentioned and it could have made for a great vibe if it had been utilized more. Meh. Hardcore meh. I'm really scratching my head trying to come up with something good to say about it and I got nothing.
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review
1.0
1/5
I was looking forward to this book but all K felt was bored throughout the plot.
I was looking forward to this book but all K felt was bored throughout the plot.
geliopoulos's review against another edition
2.0
i liked this more than the rating would indicate but the best thing this had going for it was its setting/atmosphere, which (among other things) was blantantly lifted from the lost boys and i really cannot reward this book for that
kleonard's review
3.0
Mayhem and her mom finally leave her abusive stepfather and go to California, where her mom is from. They find sanctuary with her aunt, and Mayhem soon learns that she's part of a long line of magical women in the family who protect the city they live in from violent men. That her aunt has adopted three kids and hoped that they too would become magical complicates things, and Mayhem has to find ways of helping her family by blood, her family by adoption, and her chosen family through both magical and non-magical means. There's a lot of violence and killing, but also some excellent girl power material, and smart readers will be attracted to Mayhem's conflicts of conscience and do some thinking about vengeance, violence, and protection on their own. Could be a good book for a book club or reading group of teens and tweens.
lillanaa's review
4.0
This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Coming from someone with no point of reference to the apparent source material, I have to say I genuinely enjoyed this. Many of the other reviews pointed out that there seems to be a fine line between retelling and inspiration, but unfortunately I don't have the authority to make that judgement. Standing on its own, though, I absolutely loved this book. There's something about it that grabbed me from the start and it just kept going in a way that I had so much fun with. Lauren's voice for the characters is one that stuck with me, feeling so full and different from anything I've read recently.
The characters are probably the catching point for me, though. While Mayhem was awesome, and I loved Kidd, the rest of the characters seemed to try too hard to push a specific viewpoint. Jason was probably the most likeable to me out of the side characters, but the constant hammer from Elle, mixed with Roxy and Neve, the butting of heads was enough to make me find it annoying. I won't say they're terrible, it's just something I don't enjoy out of these kinds of books. There always has to be the moral quandary character and in some cases it gets a little too much.
That being said, though, I guess I'll have to go watch the movies this book is apparently similar to. I don't see why we can't have a few retellings here and there, and the author does reference them in her blurb, but we'll see. Maybe there'll be a sequel, maybe there won't be, I'd be intrigued to see one, honestly, because this has such a weird energy about it. It was fun!
Coming from someone with no point of reference to the apparent source material, I have to say I genuinely enjoyed this. Many of the other reviews pointed out that there seems to be a fine line between retelling and inspiration, but unfortunately I don't have the authority to make that judgement. Standing on its own, though, I absolutely loved this book. There's something about it that grabbed me from the start and it just kept going in a way that I had so much fun with. Lauren's voice for the characters is one that stuck with me, feeling so full and different from anything I've read recently.
The characters are probably the catching point for me, though. While Mayhem was awesome, and I loved Kidd, the rest of the characters seemed to try too hard to push a specific viewpoint. Jason was probably the most likeable to me out of the side characters, but the constant hammer from Elle, mixed with Roxy and Neve, the butting of heads was enough to make me find it annoying. I won't say they're terrible, it's just something I don't enjoy out of these kinds of books. There always has to be the moral quandary character and in some cases it gets a little too much.
That being said, though, I guess I'll have to go watch the movies this book is apparently similar to. I don't see why we can't have a few retellings here and there, and the author does reference them in her blurb, but we'll see. Maybe there'll be a sequel, maybe there won't be, I'd be intrigued to see one, honestly, because this has such a weird energy about it. It was fun!
knittyreader's review against another edition
5.0
Mayhem is a wonderful coming of age book with fantasy elements. It is both very light and very dark, both very warm and very cold, both wonderful and awful. It's just how life is, and written in such a way that all those emotions and atmosphere come across like you are really there, in Mayhem's skin.
This is the kind of book I will probably remember a couple of times when I'm looking for a book to read, hoping that other book will touch me like this one did.
I received a free copy through Netgalley in return for an honest revieuw.
This is the kind of book I will probably remember a couple of times when I'm looking for a book to read, hoping that other book will touch me like this one did.
I received a free copy through Netgalley in return for an honest revieuw.