Genre: YA Fiction
Series: –
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 304
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis:
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.
(source: GoodReads)
My Review
Mayhem was quite a ride. I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it, but I can’t say I wholly enjoyed it either. Reading this book really reminded me of a roller-coaster: the beginning was low, then the middle part high and then the ending low again.
The middle part of the book really set it up for me and made me get veery excited. I loved the drug sequence where she discovers the truth about who she and her family are. It was so beautifully written and I felt as though I was there with her, eating the mushrooms and experiencing reality through her clouded lenses. But then unfortunately, the story just couldn’t do it for me.
I felt like both the story and the characters were underdeveloped. There were a lot of things going on, and I quite liked where everything was heading- but in theory. In practice, it fell completely flat. The main conflict was resolved too quickly and neatly for my taste; and all side conflicts were not given enough room to expand.
I would have liked to see more of Mayhem’s relationship with literally everyone. The only relationship which was developed was hers and her mother’s; apart from that the romance was just thrown in there with absolutely no development, her relationship with Neve was forged in literally a day: from being complete strangers suddenly they’re best friends and have this great bond? To add to that Neve’s character in general was such a disappointment. She was so interesting and had so much to give, but was sadly left unexplored. And Jason’s character felt…. useless? Honestly, he added nothing to the story other than being a rushed love interest and an overprotective brother.
To sum up, I liked parts of the story and the overall feel of the small town, as well as the Brayburn farm. It had something eerie and magical about it that I loved. What I didn’t really like was how underdeveloped and rushed both the story and the characters felt. Also I don’t know if the finished copy will have them, but this book really needs a content warning page in the beginning.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
- Explicit descriptions of domestic abuse throughout the novel.
- There is a chapter titled “rape” where an explicit scene of rape takes place.
- Victim blaming in relation to domestic abuse.
- Suicide.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC. All opinions are my own!
Marianna's Corner 