Name: Mayhem
Author: Estelle Laure
My rating: 3,5/5
Content Warning: domestic abuse, child abuse, rape,
violence, murder,…
Publication Date: July 14th 2020
Genre: Supernatural/YA Fantasy
Buy it: Wednesday Books//Book Depository
Synopsis
The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls in this supernatural feminist YA novel.
It’s 1987 and unfortunately it’s not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn
has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has
to do with Roxy’s constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem’s own irresistible pull
to water. Either way, she knows they aren’t like everyone else.
But when May’s stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria,
California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem’s questions
about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There
she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs
through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit
and which will change her life for good.
But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls
from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of
vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.
From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle
Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of
women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and
saying when enough is enough.
I received a complimentary copy of this e-book ARC from the author, publisher, and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Before I say anything about this book can we just all agree that this is one of the prettiest covers in the world. Now that’s out of the way here’s what I think about the content:
I am not familiar with The Lost Boys – I watched the movie when I was a kid with my cousin – and I have never seen Craft before so I can’t say how good is the comparison, but I did like the book as it was. I think some other reviewers might help you with that, because I see that a lot of them have commented on the similarities between the book and the movies.
I like the writing, I think it’s the strongest point in the book. It deals with some pretty heavy topics, but it managed not to make me as uncomfortable as some other books do. Now, I’m not saying that the book will not make you uncomfortable or that it isn’t graphic because it is. I just think this writing worked for me.
The book is written in two perspectives. You get Mayhem’s perspective as you are following her story and the second one is in “written form” (I’m tired and I don’t know what words are hahaha) – what I want to say is that you get some diary entries that introduce you to Brayburn history.
The pacing is quite slow, and I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second. The second part felt a bit underdeveloped and I had a hard time connecting with the plot – I got a bit lost at times. And I didn’t completely connect with the characters, but again, that might be just me.
To sum it up I did enjoy this book, I hope the final version clears up some things that I thought were faulty with the ARC. I’m considering getting the final copy because I want to reread it at some later time since I didn’t give it my complete devotion (the exams and everything that’s going on in the world right now were always at the back of my mind making me lose focus). Also, I’m really looking forward to Estelle Laure’s future works.
That’s it for this review, I hope you enjoyed it.
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