Hi, there! Welcome to the last post of the day š Itās been a while since my last book review, but here we go again š Blame season 7 from Supernatural for sucking my soul on the last three or four days. Todayās book was received from Chapter by Chapter as a preparation for an upcoming book tour in exchange for an honest review. Iām talking about Daughter of Chaos, first book in the Red Magic trilogy, by Jen McConnel! š
The Story
Darlena Agara is one of those people that have deep authority issues, but other than that, sheās your typical teenage witch: problems with the hot ex-boyfriend, a weird best friend, unsure of the path that she will choose to follow with her magic.
Or she was, until no one less than Hecate, the Queen of the Witches, showed up on Lenaās living room and forced her to choose her path there and now. Without a moment lost, Lena chooses the Red path. Okay? Okay.
Except there wasnāt supposed to be a Red path. At Trinityās school, Lena was taught the three big paths: White Magic, Black Magic and Green Magic. Not a single word about Red in all those years of learning.
To make things worse, everyone starts to panic when Lenaās choice becomes public: sheās graciously expelled from her school, her parents are afraid of her, her best friend is envious of her apparently big power (which Lena is still questioning) and her house becomes a point for Goddesses to appear out of the blue. Okay? Okay.
There is just one little thing that Darlena would really like to know now: what the hell is going on with her life.
The Analysis
Just remembering that those were my thoughts and opinion as a reader š
Iām a goner for paranormal/fantasy romances, Mythologies (especially the Greekās one), witches and a good rebel character. Daughter of Chaos accomplished almost all things, expect that I couldnāt connect with Lena not one single time. I donāt know if Iām getting old to read YA (PLEASE, DONāT BE IT, I LOVE YA) or if we just didnāt hit it off, but I couldnāt. The fact that the book was first person narrated from her point of view just made matters worse and I caught myself rolling my eyes all the time š¦ On the other hand, this book had itās magical world really well constructed and I loved the way that McConnel portrayed the Gods in general (I even liked Hecate!!), so I had a great time on every scene that Lena was snapping at a God. Overall, it was a good start for a trilogy and kept my interest high enough at the end for me to anticipate reading the next volume, so three stars š
As I said, the narrative was first person styled from Lenaās point of view only. After a good wave of really nice first person narrated books that made me bite my tongue, I was sharply remembered by McConnel why I donāt really like this kind of narrative style. Lena and I just werenāt meant to be and I couldnāt have a break from her. I canāt deny that she grows up during the book, but she didnāt manage to convince me to like her until the end of this volume. Letās see if she will keep growing on Gods of Chaos, haha! Before I write a whole paragraph for Lena, letās talk about the plot.
The plot on this book is disguised as simple, but surprised me deeply. On the moment that Lenaās life exploded into chaos [haha], I couldnāt see where the story was going. I wonāt say that everything got me by surprise, especially when it involved the characterās destiny, but the directions of the plot always made me widen my eyes and that felt very good! McConnelās writing style isnāt remarkable and there are a few edit issues, but nothing compromising. Lena made the book lose two stars all by herself, haha!
And speaking of Lena.
We started the book with the wrong foot. As soon as I learned why she broke up with her boyfriend, Justin, I rolled my eyes and knew I was dealing with a spoiled child. It was amazing how Lena could be dense, ungrateful and a bitch. It was a good thing that I wasnāt inside the book with her or she would have permanent purple eyes. I canāt deny, she got better towards the end, as she grows up, but Lena still has a long journey until she impresses me.
As a matter of fact, all human characters on this book annoyed me. Well, except Dennis, I guess, but I canāt talk much about the poor kid. Spoilers and everything, sorry. It was too obvious what was going to happen with Justin and then with Rochelle, the best friend. On the other hand, I loved every single God mentioned and presented on this book. My favorites? Hades and Persephone. Hades was the coolest and cutest (yes, you read it right) God ever. I really hope he gets to appear more, Iām in love ā¤ Never mind that this is the third time that I fall in love with a Hades representation in a book. Hades alone won a star for Daughter of Chaos, haha!
Also, can we please praise this cover? Iām in love.
Overall, this is a nice read to pass the time and I canāt wait to see what comes next in the Red Magic series. If you like awesome Gods, good hot guys, badass witches and mysteries, give this book a go!
Thatās it, thank you for reading! Also, thanks to Chapter by Chapter team for providing me this series, I had a good time with the first and am already reading the second volume š
Ps: you can see my post for the release blitz of Triumph of Chaos here, the last book of the trilogy!
Ā This post is a preparation forā¦
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 