12578305Title: The Chaos of Stars

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: September 2013

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fantasy, Myth

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Synopsis can be found here.
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review:

Immortal gods’s children are not immortal. So Isadora finds out one day. And she’s mad about it.

Her mother and father, the big Egyptian gods, chose not to make her immortal. And to top it all off, they don’t even really acknowledge her existence anyway. So Isadora packs her bags and goes to San Diego to live with her older brother.  Volunteering at a museum, she realizes that normal life isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. But she finds some good friends and maybe even a cute boy Ry, who she totally does not like, at all. Nope. Even with his good looks and charming attitude. Nope. Not her type.

But when threatening things begin to happen, Isadora can’t help but think she brought her problems with her from Egypt. Trying to protect her friends, Isadora must come to terms with the most difficult person of all. Herself.

I liked The Chaos of Stars. The beginning was a little slow to get into, with a lot of introductions to the different Egyptian gods and goddesses and their past relationships, which by the way, is seriously messed up (like any mythology). It was very interesting to read and a lot of fun to put everyone’s relationships together- more like watching a long running soap opera and you’ve come into it just when it starts getting good.

Isadora was a little hard to like at first. She complains, A LOT. And she’s whiney and self absorbed. In fact, I’m pretty sure I didn’t even like her for the beginning of the book. But then, in a few choice conversations, the real Isadora comes out. Her reasoning, her fears, her insecurities. And through that, I really began liking her. It’s hard to get past the whiney teenager at first, but stick it out. She’s actually a pretty well drawn character.

Ry is of course, handsome and a little mysterious. While I did feel like their friendship was compatible and moved along organically, Ry as the love interest left me luke warm. He’s everything the boy should be, and maybe that’s the problem. There wasn’t more angles to him. I wouldn’t push him aside if he asked to buy me a drink, but I probably wouldn’t make doe eyes at him from across the room either.

I loved the mythology that weaves into and out of the story. The past is summarized in short paragraphs before every chapter, which reminds the reader that there’s a whole lot of history underneath everything that’s going on. The take on Egyptian gods was super refreshing and fun and White does a wonderful job really making these characters come to life. The plot is a bit predictable, but there’s so much cool Egyptian myth that it didn’t bother me at all. I loved Isadora’s mom. I could hear her on the phone.

Overall, a pretty good book. If you’re looking for some retelling of mythology but sick of the Greeks, this is the book for you!

Rating 7 Would Recommend