Review: A Fun and Exciting First Book in a Fantastic New YA Series!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 28, 2013
4.5 Stars'CHAOS' is the first book in a young adult fantasy series that follows main character Maggie Raynard who suddenly learns that she's a semi-god descended from Aphrodite. When she loses her temper, things go horribly wrong - especially when she accidentally puts her ex into a coma. Enter the mysterious and handsome new guy named Mac Finnegan. He's continually on Maggie's nerves and definitely knows how to push her buttons. So on top of leading a normal teenager's life with school, friends, and boys, Maggie has to learn how to control her powers while not using them on Mac. To make a bad situation worse, Maggie learns that there's a council of semi-gods watching her every move and they're prepared to take her down if she makes a wrong move. Now Mac seems to be the only one on her side, but he's definitely hiding something - something that might get them both killed.This was a really fun and exciting first novel in a new YA fantasy series that deals with mythology. The plot wasn't completely original since mythology is a big trend in the genre lately, but the author use of semi-gods and their powers along with the council and other story elements made it stand out from the others. The characters were realistic, all with their own personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. I really liked Maggie as a main character. She was believable, witty, smart, and definitely has attitude. I liked watching her character change and grow throughout the book as she learns about her powers and who she really is and then stepping up when she has to. The relationship between Maggie and Mac was rocky at the beginning and kind of cliched, but I liked their bantering and the way they eventually warmed up to each other. I loved all the detail and description the author put into the book about the mythology, especially the gods, semi-gods, their powers, and the council and its history. I found all of that really fascinating and I think it added a great dimension to the book. I hope that the next installment will allow us to go even further into that world and learn more about it. The writing was incredibly well done with a great pace that kept me reading eagerly to see what was going to happen next. I really liked this book and I'm glad that it's just the beginning of what promises to be an awesome series, but now I have to wait for the next book to be released. Highly recommended for fans of YA fantasy and paranormal fiction.Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.