Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of Paranormalcy, is back with The Chaos of Stars—an enchanting novel set in Egypt and San Diego that captures the magic of first love and the eternally complicated truth about family.
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Isadora’s family is seriously screwed up—which comes with the territory when you’re the human daughter of the ancient Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris. Isadora is tired of living with crazy relatives who think she’s only worthy of a passing glance—so when she gets the chance to move to California with her brother, she jumps on it. But her new life comes with plenty of its own dramatic—and dangerous—complications . . . and Isadora quickly learns there’s no such thing as a clean break from family.
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Title: The Chaos of StarsÂ
Author: Kiersten White
Published: September, 2013 by HarperTeen
Time it took me to read: 22/01 – 26/01
Rating: 3 out of 5
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This book is the exception that proves the rule. Those who read my reviews regularly know that when I don’t have anything to add to the synopsis than what is written in the burb, the review probably will not be very good. This is not the case with The Chaos of Stars though, I just want to jump straight into my review.
I picked up this book on a whim after passing it in the library. What made me notice it was the very pretty cover. It was definitely an eye catcher and then after I read the blurb I was like ‘eh why not’ and took it home with me. Let that be a lesson to publishers everywhere: pretty covers help your books get picked/sold. Look at it though, isn’t it gorgeous?
I really liked that this was about Egyptian Gods. We see so many books about myths and legends (see: vampires, werewolves and angels) and lately there’s a lot about Greek mythology too (see: Percy Jackson and the Starcrossed series). This was actually the first book I saw that was about Egyptian history. I was a bit apprehensive at first though, I feared that it would be another Twilight rehash or something like that but fortunately it wasn’t. It was actually pretty good!
Isadora is pretty much like you and me, only thing is that she is the daughter of two Egyptian Gods. Because she is not immortal like them, Isadora *not Isa or Dora please!* thinks that they don’t care about her. She thinks that she is just someone they need to remember them so they can keep their power as Gods. So when Isis feels a dark presence threatening her daughter, Isadora gladly takes the chance to get away and move to her brother in San Diego.
So Isadora is obviously the protagonist, we follow her to the States where she learns to live in the modern age and where she makes a life for herself. She is very cynical and angry at everyone pretty much all of the time. She resents her parents and basically is doing everything she can to get away from them. I don’t think that the author overdid it with the cynicism, though. Or it didn’t bother me anyway, it was just the right amount for me, but I think I can see how some people might think that’s it’s a bit whiny but oh well. What I really liked about Isadora is that her passion is interior design. Not just because I really like interior design myself, but also because it’s completely different from the usual ‘artsy, poetry writing, literature reading’ heroines that we usually have in YA books today. Isadora is very strong and original.
Of course, where you have a YA book, you have a love interest. I liked Ry a lot. And although it was painfully obvious what the endgame was when his full name was revealed, I didn’t mind. Ry may stay. He has the Emma stamp of approval.
So what I liked best about this book is that there’s basically two story lines that are entangled. On the one hand you’ve got that threat that’s looming over everyone’s head but then on the other hand there’s Isadora’s every day life and the story of her figuring out how to live her own life. Sometimes you kind of forget about the threat until it’s suddenly brought up again. I’m thinking that a book is well written when you don’t mind reading about a person’s every day life for fifty pages.
Anyway, another thing I love is that at the start of every chapter there’s this little history lesson on the Egyptian Gods that figures into the story. It was a great way to learn a little more about this culture.
All in all, The Chaos of Stars is very much a Young Adult book and it reads as such. I wouldn’t expect too much from it but it is still very much enjoyable. I do get that it might not be everyone’s cup of tea though. But you should definitely give it a chance, especially if you’re interested in Egyptian Gods and Myths.
I rated it a 3 out of 5 because, you know, it’s not like life changing literature, but it’s enjoyable all the same. It made me want to read more about Isadora and I wish there was a sequel. Oh well.. I will definitely check out the Paranormalcy series, written by the same author, though.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.
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