The Chaos of Stars
by Kiersten White
Published: September 10, 2013
Genres: Mythology, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eARC (288 pages)
Source: For Review
Isadora’s family is seriously screwed up. Of course, as the human daughter of Egyptian gods, that pretty much comes with the territory. She’s also stuck with parents who barely notice her, and a house full of relatives who can’t be bothered to remember her name. After all, they are going to be around forever—and she’s a mere mortal....
I really struggled with The Chaos of Stars. I adore Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy series, but this felt like someone found a Egyptian mythology textbook and stuck in a teenage girl. I mean, I liked the mythology stories and I did learn a little bit about them, but it did not feel updated or interpreted in any way. The Egyptian myths are completely unchanged all the way down to the god’s appearances. Because of that I felt like I was reading an explanation of mythology instead of a modern narrative.
The dysfunction of what the gods would be like as a family was kind of amusing. At the same time, since the gods looked the same as they do in their mythological stories, it was really hard for me to imagine them actually sitting around the breakfast table. The plot jumped around a lot since the story would go from memories, mythology stories at the beginning of each chapter, and bad dreams the main character, Isadora, would have. The conflict through the story depends a lot on dark dreams that she has and it was not enough to keep my interest. Without a good conflict the story really started to drag.
The writing is very much the funny and quirky stuff that I remember from Paranormalcy. I could see Kiersten’s writing style come through. Sadly, the writing came across as very fluffy and superficial since I didn’t find any depth to the story to balance out all the quirk. I really wanted something bittersweet or sad to help me really connect with the story like there was in Paranormalcy.
All the swear words had been replaced with “floods” and “chaos” which were used a lot and it started to get on my nerves towards the end. Not that there needed to be swearing, but a bigger variety of words would have been nice.
The romance was cute but cheesy. Their connection was very dependent on fate and their love being written in the stars etc. Still, there were a few moments that I said, “Awwww.” I found the characters hard to connect to and visualize. It was hardest for me to connect with Isadora because I really didn’t get why she had an issue with her mother. It was hard for me to visualize the setting, too. I’ve even been to Balboa Park a few times. I love it there and I still couldn’t picture what it looked like from the descriptions. At least, I’m pretty sure it was set in Balboa Park…
Overall, it was mostly cliche, predictable, and very convenient, too. I felt relieved that it had ended and I could move on to something else.
Content Rating: Medium, for talk about Osiris’s “junk” but there was no other swearing.
This post contains affiliate links and I receive a small percentage of sales made through these links. I received this book for review from the publisher, Harper Teen, in exchange for an honest review. I was not told what to say, I was not paid to write this review and all the opinions expressed are my own. I read an Advanced Reading Copy for this review.
About Kiersten White
Kiersten White is the author of NYT bestsellers PARANORMALCY and SUPERNATURALLY. She has one tall husband and two small children and lives near the ocean, where her days are perfectly normal.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
Aww, oh no! I was looking forward to this one because it’s not often that I get to read an Egyptian mythology story – but I totally get what you’re saying in that it it should be a modern interpretation of the mythology. No one wants to read a textbook. I’m bummed because I didn’t really like Mind Games either so I have yet to read a Kiersten White book that I’ve liked. Which is why NEED to read Paranormalcy – I’m convinced it will make me fall in love with her fun writing style!
I know! There really aren’t very many good Egyptian mythology stories. Rick Riordan’s Red Pyramid series is by far the best. If you haven’t read those you should. And Paranormalcy is definitely worth reading! Lots of fun, quirk, satire but a lot of heart too.
I liked the Paranormalcy series ok, but it wasn’t amazing. I was really disappointed with her last book, Mind Games, so I probably won’t try this one. Hopefully she puts out another fun series cause Kiersten White makes me laugh.
I think she’s hilarious too. I haven’t tried Mind Games yet, but I’m a little worried I won’t like it either.
This is disappointing! The synopsis had sounded interesting (and the cover was cute too). Oh well, it isn’t like my to read list is super short or anything. ;)
Definitely disappointed that you didn’t end up liking this book, it does sound really good. I requested it from the library so I will still read it, but I guess I should dial down my expectations. At least the romance is cute (and cheesy isn’t too bad)! Thanks for the honest review!
I felt the same way about this one. You were better than me, because I DNFed. I just couldn’t handle the non-interpretation. Also, I visited Balboa Park for the first time this summer, and it wasn’t even recognizable from what I’d read. The real thing was MUCH more amazing. I’m sad that this one was a letdown because Paranormalcy was fabulous. Here’s hoping that the next offering is better!
Yeah I don’t really understand the point of a mythology story if you’re not going to interpret it and put your own unique spin on it.
I know! Isn’t Balboa Park amazing?! It’s my favorite place in San Diego.
I hope her next book steps up her game. She is so creative and funny and I have a lot of hope she’ll write another book that I’ll love.
I’m really disappointed with the amount of 2 star reviews this one is getting. I adore Egyptian mythology so I really wanted everyone to love this…I guess I’ll have to put this one the ‘borrow’ list.