The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Posted 20 September, 2013 by Danny in Blog, Danny, Danny's Book Review / 15 Comments

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten WhiteThe Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
Published by Harper Collins, Harper Teen on September 10th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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3 Stars

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 she can abandon her divine heritage after all

I love Kiersten White. Her Paranormalcy series is one of my favorites especially because of the outstanding cute quirky Evie. Also, I do looove ancient Egyptian mythology so I was head over heels when this book was announced.

Egyptian Gods – Ancient Lore and a Contemporary Setting

The setting was actually quite exciting, since there are not so many books out there that center around Egyptian mythology and are set in the modern world. However, it took me some time to really understand where and how the setting worked. It was clear from the synopsis that it somehow plays in our times, but it took me some pages to truly get the feeling of a contemporary setting. The way Isadora lives with her God Parents was a little confusing as they still live like in ancient times, even though Isa would very much prefer a modern life which is also why she choose to move in with her brother San Diego. Even though I struggled getting into the story and understanding the world building I very much liked this combination of old and modern times.

A God’s Chid who needs to grow up and find her own path!

As much as I understood Isa’s wish to move away from her parents it felt more like a true Contemporary Coming of Age story than a Paranormal story about Egyptian mythology. I think this is one of the main reasons I ended up a little disappointed. I had wished that the mythology would have play a bigger role in the overall story, but the story was more centered on Isa finding her own path away from her (weird!!!) God Parents. Speaking of her parents, they were truly very weird and of course Isa needed to get away from them. Just like Isa I had very conflicted feelings about these two gods, who still lived in ancient times and have children who are apparently nearly mortal. Another problem was my connection with Isa – Sadly her and I never truly hit off and connected, which also made it somehow hard for me truly engulf into the story. I do understand that she grew up super protected, which definitely left traces in her a little self-absorbed personality, but I just couldn’t truly love her.

Ancient Lore and some romance?

Thankfully, there was a little Egyptian lore woven into the storyline which was nice and kept me hooked, it was just not quite enough for me. And of course, we need to talk a little about the romance which was also lacking and not as wonderfully developed as I had hoped. I didn’t feel the connection and I didn’t feel the chemistry between them. Ry had the potential to be super awesome and just my kind of boy – mysterious and cute. However, he was maybe too mysterious and his character felt a little forced for me. Again, I didn’t get the butterfly feelings when the romance lightly developed.

There were some surprising tuns in mythology part and the storyline which were actually quite awesome, but just like Isa’s parents faded all a little in the back and was not explored enough. There were so many exciting ideas, but just not quite “there” enough.

Bewitched Rating

Rating 3

Bottom Line

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White comes with a brilliant idea and  an exciting lore that could have been explored in a truly thrilling way. However, the focus was shifted more to Isa’s growth and development which dulled my excitement a little. I wished I would have loved this book more, but sadly ended up being not quite satisfied. It’s a good book, but her other books speak much more to me!

Interestingly, this is one of these books that I read super quick (it is a very quick read) and have no time to process and immediately give a higher rating. When I then wait a little before fully organizing my thoughts I realize that my initial thoughts changed  and more and more aspects I didn’t love so much pop up and take over my mind. 

 

     

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15 Responses to “The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White”

  1. That cover is gorgeous *O* That happens to me all the time – I read a book and thing “woah, that was really good!” But when I sit back to think about it a bit, I come up with all these cons and then…

    I’m not entirely sure about reading CHAOS because, like you I think, I’m expecting mythology to play a huge part in the story. Not quite there romance and a little bit of a self-absorbed personality is also a little… ehh. I’m glad Isa did show character growth, though! Great review 🙂
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  2. Shoot Danny! I had such high hopes for this one with that amazing cover and the Egyptian mythology premise. I think I might pass on it now though, as I want a protagonist I can really connect with. I need that connection to be able to enjoy the story. You wrote a lovely, balanced review though, and as always, I loved getting your thoughts!

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  3. Wonderful review, I had high hopes for this since I love Egyptian lore, but after reading your review I have a feeling this will leave me craving more. boo 🙁 Danny on a side note..what app are you using for related content? Is that UBB and how did you get it to look like that? LOL
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    Danny 9/21/2013

    Yes it’s the UBB Plugin and Ashely customized it for me to look like this. The other look was too bold for my theme so Ashley was so kind to customise it for me :))
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    kimbacaffeinate 9/21/2013

    thank you and I should have known to ask Ashley..she is bomb. I have a font issue and sadly UBB related content looks awful on my blog. Thanks again for answering 🙂
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    Danny 9/21/2013

    I also didn’t like the way it looked on mine which is why I asked her if she would change the style;-)) love it now!!

  4. I’m not the biggest fan of Kiersten White because of her Paranormalcy series. Evie was a so juvenile at times, it was disgusting. But now, for The Chaos of the Stars, I have yet so see a really bad review. I might try it, but your review puts me off a little. The plot doesn’t really sound like much.

    But all the same, great review, Danny!
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  5. I’ve been so excited for this book to come out, but now I’m a little sad that you mentioned being disappointed that the mythology didn’t have bigger role in the overall story, and that you did not connect much with Isa. I’ll still keep my eyes on it because I love Egyptian themes so much. thanks for the fabulous review! 🙂
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