The Deets
author: Christine O’Neil
released: August 26, 2013
format: e-book
pages: 292 pages
publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Read: September 7, 2013
Acquired: Author
Book Pages: Amazon.com
Book Type: YA, mythology, fantasy
The Down-low
My name is Maggie Raynard. After sixteen years being just plain me, suddenly, when I lose my temper, my fingers become weapons of mass destruction. Turns out I’m a semi-god, descended from Aphrodite. Sounds cool in theory, but when I accidentally put my ex-boyfriend in a coma, things go downhill pretty fast.
Now some new guy named Mac Finnegan has made it his mission in life to continually piss me off. I’m stuck learning how to use my new powers while also dealing with regular high school problems, and with this annoying—and super-hot—guy all up in my business, I’m about to flip out.
But it gets worse. I just learned there’s this watchdog council of semis who keeps an eye out for any bad apples. They think I’m the baddest of the bunch and want to take me out before I do any more damage. My nemesis Mac might turn out to be my salvation, only he’s got secrets of his own…and they may just kill us both.(From Goodreads.com)
Why You Should Buy It
A fresh twist on an ancient story, Chaos will make you laugh, tear up, and fall in love with this descendant of the goddess of love herself.
My Thoughts
*I received this e-book in exchange for an honest review via the author/publisher.*
I may sound like a broken record, but I will say it again — I.LOVE.GREEK.MYTHOLOGY. I especially love when they are folded into a contemporary story. I’m pretty big on the Persephone/Hades love quandary, so this one was a bit different for me. Maggie is a descendant of Aphrodite, a semi-god. The closest I’ve read to this is the Starcrossed series. In a lot of ways Helen and Maggie are the same — they unexpectedly find out they have these powers when they are in their teens, no one really is there to teach them about who they are, and they are both threats in some ways. However, Chaos goes in a much different direction as far as mythology is concerned. And it does draw back into that contemporary/teen setting, where we are experiencing a lot of day-to-day with Maggie, Mac, and the other characters.
Right off the bat, I could tell I was going to love this book. Maggie is HILARIOUS and had such a genuine personality. I could tell O’Neil poured her heart into the character. She made me laugh, but deeper than that, she made me care about her. She had a no-nonsense attitude that I respected and was just the right touch of goddess and human.
The writing was natural and will connect well with teens. There was a lot of reference to pop-culture, which I loved, because it really grounded the story (again) in the day-to-day. The writing also was just witty and conversational — I felt like I was looking into a friend tell me a story. The drama in the story is a great blend of greek goddess major issues and normal teenage drama. It really made the book seem more genuine. Of course the back and forth of Mac and Maggie was a bit eyerolly, because of course we could FEEL the tension between the two. That, however, is normal in teen romance. Everyone else sees what the ‘couple’ doesn’t.
I SHOULD have seen the end coming, it is one that happens a lot in these types of books. I hope, much like some other series, there will be a good resolution in future books.
To me, the cover wasn’t really getting the essence of Maggie. Maggie was sexy in a non-descript way — with her tshirts, jeans, and vans. I know they like to sex it up for covers, but I don’t think we really got “Maggie” from that. I do like how she isn’t wearing make-up.
Did I like it? YES. Will I be sticking with the series? SO MUCH YES! The series brought something fresh to the Greek myth retelling and I’m really excited to have had the opportunity to read and review the book.
Rating
Such A Novel Idea 