REVIEW: The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Source: Edelweiss via publisher*
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Get it: Amazon | B&N

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.

My Review

I love Kiersten White. I love her writing and her zealous, almost eccentric characters. I love the sweet young love she creates in her books. However, I did not love her latest novel, The Chaos of Stars. 



Let’s start with the sort of good stuff-

Egyptian Mythology


One star of my 2.5 star rating goes to this aspect of the book. It was incorporated into the book in the beginning of each chapter with a little of White’s clever flare and those little mythology paragraphs were interesting to read. I liked reading them and it became the only thing that forced me to finish this book. I also liked the idea of having Isis and Osiris and the rest of the Egyptian gods living around in modern times and having kids. 



Characters: Ry, Tyler and Scott.


The other star goes to these three. Ry, for being a persistent love interest and for trying to knock some sense into Isadora. I liked Tyler the best in this book because she was awkward, silly and a little weird. Her and Scott were the cutest couple. They weren’t prominent in the book, but they sure put a smile on my face when they were on page and made this book slightly better. If they could have their own book or replace Isadora, by all means. 



San Diego setting.


Well, this one doesn’t really count because I’m biased and it’s my hometown, but I liked that I finally recognized the setting and places subtly mentioned in the book.


Now for the bad stuff-



Main character: Isadora.


You know things ain’t looking too good when you loathe the MC of a novel. Isadora was immature and selfish. Most of the book was her complaining that her family didn’t love her, didn’t care for her and used her. She was angry her mother was pregnant, she was angry her brother’s wife was pregnant, she was angry that Ry was making her feel things, she was so angry all over the place she was making me angry! Her angry whining made me want to punch her. Her snark should have been entertaining but I was irritated instead. She does redeem herself (barely) but it wasn’t until near the end where I didn’t even care anymore.  



The Romance.


Ry was ok, but his character was predictable. I knew who he was straight away. His romance with Isadora? Not really a romance. He liked her (why in the world I’ll never freaking know) and she tries not to like him because she fears relationships and love and things ending. He makes a move, she runs away. He declares love, she runs away. They were better off friends, if you ask me. 



Plot.


Nothing really happens in this book besides Isadora moving to San Diego, her warning dreams, hanging out with Ry and Tyler, and Isadora working at the museum. So basically I was pretty bored, forcing myself to just read it and finish it and be done. The conflict or climax of the book that was supposed to boost this book’s interest level was so predictable. I already knew who the bad guys were and what they were planning to do the second they showed up on page in the beginning of the book. I just knew it and when the whole shebang happened, everything was basically whoop bloop there it goes, the end.



The rest of the book was pretty much forgettable. There’s no explanation why Osiris and Isis have human kids every couple of years and every thing else was not really explored. Sometimes I forgot this book had Egyptian mythology in it until I started a new chapter. It just lacked execution and delivery.



In other words, The Chaos of Stars was just not for me. Maybe others will enjoy Isadora and her story. 

*Thanks to HarperTeen for sending a copy for review purposes

I was not compensated for my opinion.