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A review by lbarsk
The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
3.0
Aw, this was good! Wish I could give it a 3.5, or really even a 3.75. A really fun look at mythology, A+ Supportive Lady Friendships, diversity!
What kept this from being a 4 or above, for me, was actually The Romance: I liked that the main character had harmful thought patterns about herself and loneliness that had to be unlearned, but I didn't LOVE the fact that the thought patterns were kind of unlearned through a boy. I also liked Isadora's gradual warming to Ry and the fact that Ry thought Isadora was Literally The Best Person instead of being like, dumb and aloof and Cool Boy, but THEN the "big relationship reveal" was SO RUSHED! Not to spoil anything, but if you have something THAT EPIC it probably shouldn't just unfold in like two seconds. There were hints here and there throughout the book but SUPER TINY ONES, ones way too small to be able to call them like "substantial buildup to the reveal." They actually made me think Ry was a Bad Guy instead of like this WILDLY EPIC LOVE SITUATION.
To put it in perspective, this book is kind of Tumblr Famous because a quote is used on lots of shippy gifsets: "I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you." SUPER GOOD, RIGHT? Fifty million fanfic authors were like "ugh dammit that's so good why can't I use that now" because of how like Sweepingly Romantic it is. But that quote, and the reason some person says that quote, happens during SO MUCH OTHER CLIMACTIC STUFF that it just felt overshadowed. Which was sad!!
Also, the ending just happened SO fast. Like, BOOM RESOLVED. After like, a LOT of character growth and self-examination that maybe could've been rehashed or addressed? If a central conflict of the book is "families are tough," ending the book with "WELP we're all totally cool now" falls a little flat.
ANYWAY I guess if I were the beta of this fic (lol) I'd say it needed a solid like, two more chapters of writing at least, to give a little more weight to the Seemingly Epic Romance and to make the ending a little less "they all immediately totally lived happily ever after." BUT at the end of the day the book kept me engaged, after the first couple chapters I was compelled to finish it, and I had fun doing so.
What kept this from being a 4 or above, for me, was actually The Romance: I liked that the main character had harmful thought patterns about herself and loneliness that had to be unlearned, but I didn't LOVE the fact that the thought patterns were kind of unlearned through a boy. I also liked Isadora's gradual warming to Ry and the fact that Ry thought Isadora was Literally The Best Person instead of being like, dumb and aloof and Cool Boy, but THEN the "big relationship reveal" was SO RUSHED! Not to spoil anything, but if you have something THAT EPIC it probably shouldn't just unfold in like two seconds. There were hints here and there throughout the book but SUPER TINY ONES, ones way too small to be able to call them like "substantial buildup to the reveal." They actually made me think Ry was a Bad Guy instead of like this WILDLY EPIC LOVE SITUATION.
To put it in perspective, this book is kind of Tumblr Famous because a quote is used on lots of shippy gifsets: "I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you." SUPER GOOD, RIGHT? Fifty million fanfic authors were like "ugh dammit that's so good why can't I use that now" because of how like Sweepingly Romantic it is. But that quote, and the reason some person says that quote, happens during SO MUCH OTHER CLIMACTIC STUFF that it just felt overshadowed. Which was sad!!
Also, the ending just happened SO fast. Like, BOOM RESOLVED. After like, a LOT of character growth and self-examination that maybe could've been rehashed or addressed? If a central conflict of the book is "families are tough," ending the book with "WELP we're all totally cool now" falls a little flat.
ANYWAY I guess if I were the beta of this fic (lol) I'd say it needed a solid like, two more chapters of writing at least, to give a little more weight to the Seemingly Epic Romance and to make the ending a little less "they all immediately totally lived happily ever after." BUT at the end of the day the book kept me engaged, after the first couple chapters I was compelled to finish it, and I had fun doing so.