Chaotic, Messy Life

Expected Publication:  September 10th, 2013
The Chaos of Stars
By: Kiersten White
HarperTeen
ISBN-13:  9780062135926

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.

Isadora's sick of living a life where she's only worthy of a passing glance, and when she has the chance to move to San Diego with her brother, she jumps on it.  But Isadora's quickly finding that a "normal" life comes with plenty of its own epic complications -- and that there's no such thing as a clean break when it comes to family.  Much as she wants to leave her past behind, she can't shake the ominous dreams that foretell destruction for her entire family.  When it turns out there may be truth in her nightmares, Isadora has to decide whether or not she can abandon her divine heritage after all.

Review

 

     Isadora lives in Egypt with her extremely crazy.  An outside observer might think they are crazy, religious extremists.  In a way that's true -- they're the Ancient Gods and Goddesses of Egyptian myth!  But Isadora herself is only human and has nothing but anger and feelings of betrayal from her parents.  So when she gets the opportunity to escape and live with her older brother in San Diego, she takes it eagerly.  Forced to work in a local museum by her controlling parents, Isadora reluctantly becomes friends with rambunctious Tyler (whose Aunt runs the museum), Ty's boyfriend Scott and their good friend Ry.  Of course, there are feelings other than just friendship building between Ry and Isadora, there is someone trying to steal something from the new Egyptian museum exhibit they're assembling, and Ry has his own, complicated family history.  Can Isadora leave behind her cynical outlook in life and learn to let love in for once?  Will she be able to save her parents and her friends from certain destruction, or will her stubborn anger ruin them all?

     I haven't read anything written by Kiersten White before and was curious to see if I would like it or not.  I have friends who love her 'Paranormalacy' series, but I've been kind of hesitant to get into another series that has vamps, weres, etc. in it.  Well, let's just say I won't be seeking out any books by White in the near future.  I am a mythology nut, for Egyptian mythology especially.  But this book wasn't really about mythology, as much as it was about a teenage girl with Mommy and Daddy issues, who doesn't believe in true love (or that it would even be worth it).  What little mythology was involved in the plot was woven in clumsily and the tidbits at the beginning of each chapter were hit or miss.  I was pretty positive of who the 'villain' was before even the halfway point of the book and the hints White kept bashing me over the head with were unnecessary by far.  Most of the book was spent with Isadora being an abrasive, judgmental bitch to everyone while trying to assimilate to life in America.  Ooohhh, Isadora like interior decorating, Coca Cola and hates boys.  Okay, whatever. 

     Isadora spends most of the book treating everyone else like complete crap and yet Ry for some inexplicable reason really likes her romantically anyways.  The revelation about his heritage and prior connection to Isadora was so obvious, that I found myself rolling my eyes more so than gasping in 'shock' over it.  The bits with the dreams just downright confused me and had me skimming over them to get through the rest of the book.  The majority of the book had no conflict and while I do enjoy contemporaries with paranormal elements thrown it, when I go in expecting mythology that's where I want the focus to be!  The romance between Ry and Isadora just wasn't enough to save this book for me, and the 180 her character does at the end of the book pretty much alienated me completely.  Kudos to White for keeping me reading till the end, but honestly wouldn't recommend it unless you're already a fan of hers. 

 

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication is September 10th, 2013.*