Really amazing read. The story behind Mayhem and how her and her mom thrived against her stepdads abuse was crazy. This has become a favorite read of mine,

I love the 80s so I am hypercritical of books set in this time period. Of all the 80s books I've read, this one didn't hit home with me. There are other books of this genre and time period that I have enjoyed more.

Ok right off the bat, I wanted to love this book because of the comparisons....did I love it? Nope, didn't even like it. Too much of unneeded content thrown in that didn't sit well with me. Thank you for the early opportunity though!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Do I like science fiction? No. Did I like Wilder Girls, which was in the comp titles? No. Did I love the cover? YES.

I should have known better getting myself into this, but I just really want to like a book like this, but I keep getting cheated each time. Largely more my own fault probably.

There was just too much going on with this book for me to fully focus, and I’m someone who arguably can have a short attention span, so this book was difficult for me.

Mayhem and Roxy recently moved in with Elle and her foster kids. Roxy promised never to return to Santa Maria, but Mayhem has no idea. She is ignorant about Brayburns. A familial legacy, secrets to ourselves and others are discussed in this book.

“3.” Lyle aided. That's it. I thought the image of a child growing up in a violent household was spot on. Throughout the novel, I felt Mayhem's sorrow as the abuse damaged her and her mother. That life didn't automatically improve after the abuser and victim were physically separated. The abuse was not glamorized.

And she sobs. We don't. The fact that we don't speak of it makes it go away. It was so powerful that I had to reread and comprehend some of it. “Don't allow people's views confuse truth,” I'll always remember. Hearing anything forces you to admit something else, shattering your self-contained storyline.

The story's business names were great. ‘Why didn't I think of that?' I'd stop reading to exclaim to a friend. A comic shop. Brilliant! That left the story's omissions. During the magic moments, I wasn't always sure what was up. I couldn't always see what was going on.

A few paragraphs later, I found out what happened in one scenario involving the killer. I expected more page time for the killer. Their story point was resolved far too quickly.

Were we the only ones who didn't always grasp it? Many critics have linked this story to "The Lost Boys." Were you able to see the movie? Some of the story's most magical components seemed to be crafted so that a film-goer would grasp them without extra explanation.

In particular, I was intrigued by Neve. She barely gave a few glimpses into her life before Elle. We're safe from them, Neve whispers gently. “Reasonable.” I've never enjoyed insta-love, even if it grows on you. Nope. And despite having many aspects I should have liked, the plot never clicked for me. I found the story and some of the characters shallow. The magic worked, but I could only explain it hazily. I felt like I got a taste of everything but not the whole thing.

I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

Right off the bat, let's get the content warnings out of the way. Domestic and child abuse. Extreme violence. Kidnapping. Murder and off page suicide. Having read a book about SA, I was sent a copy of this book from the publisher (thank you Wednesday books!) Given the subject matter though, I wasn't in the right head space and put it off until this year's weekend of reading.

Imagine my surprise to find out the book takes place where I went to high school. Good ole Central Coast town of Santa Maria. Santa Maria - where your BBQ is tasty, your Future Farmers are on the rise, and there is no beach in sight. Because it's not on the coast. It's inland. I was disappointed when I was reading about Santa Maria's great beaches, and it felt like the author had never stepped foot there.

Putting that aside, I was excited about the Lost Boys and Craft mash-up elements that the book promised to have. But...it's basically the plot of the Lost Boys verbatim but instead of vampires, it is magic more in line with The Craft. No new takes. Just straight from the movie.

While Mayhem is a character that you can root for, the kids that are living in the Brayburn house were not as well fleshed out. I felt nothing for them and didn't care about their being in the story at all. I was curious to find out who the kidnapper was, and what would happen with Mayhem's stepfather, but that was it for me. Nothing else held my interest, and I found myself skimming through the book.

What an interesting story! Told in a few different timelines and POVs, this story was fairly easy to follow and become engrossed.

Mayhem Blackburn is no ordinary girl, well none of the Blackburn girls are ordinary. Royalty to the citizens of Santa Maria, they hold onto a deep run, unspoken yet widely known secret.

This story is a great read with a bit of angst, trepidation, wonder, and love.

Give it a read!

When I read the title, I figured I had to read <i>Mayhem</i>. The definition of the word mayhem is the gruesome crime of deliberately causing an injury that permanently disfigures another. There was some pretty bad things happening in the book. Mayhem was subjected to abuse, as well as her mother. Her mother finally had enough and returned to her hometown, a town from which she ran away. Weird happening, family secrets, and murders of young girls, are included in this story. Like Eleanor Roosevelt once said "A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water". This book will be going into our classroom library.

3 stars. I liked that this one is a fun love letter to The Lost Boys. I love that movie, but the plot of this one wasn't always the most fascinating or gripping. I did enjoy the character exploration of trauma and overcoming it as well as finding oneself. It's a good magical realism, but it's not the best magical realism YA out there. Glad I read it. Review to come.

I think the author got lost in the The Lost Boys and tried to rewrite that. I’m very sorry, but I was not a fan of this book at. all. There’s not much I else I can say about this one. Thanks so much to the publisher for giving me access a copy of this book.

This was sold as ‘the lost boys meets wilder girls’ and that is my ideal book! This did not disappoint. This was beautifully written but beware of trigger warnings before reading.

I gave this a three out of five star. I enjoyed it but not a lot. It was a decent read. I liked the story but didn’t really love any of the characters. I thought this was going to be a new favorite book but it didn’t sadly.

This book was absolutely insane! I never thought that I would be so into a book this short and I had no idea what the book was about from the beginning. If you like thrillers where there is a child involved this is it! Trigger warning for: sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence, drug, and alcohol abuse though!

Enjoyed this book. Went in blind, not knowing much about it, other than I loved the cover and the title! Was easnatly surprised with how quickly I finished it. Writing flowed nicely.

Described as a YA feminist mashup inspired by the films The Lost Boys and The Craft, “Mayhem” had so much potential to be oh so good. Sadly, I found author Estelle Laure’s novel left me wanting more nostalgic inspiration and less almost exact retelling.

The plot reach much too familiar to me in relation to “The Lost Boys” including specific events, brother characters, locations, and even descriptions of the characters fashion sense”. Add this to a slower paced plot and some uneven style, I was left with a somewhat sour taste in mouth when finished.

I’ve never seen The Lost Boys, which this has been compared to. I know! Shocking, since I’m an 80’s kid. I have seen the craft though, and can’t say that I saw any similarities.

It has become a pet peeve of mine when a book is often compared to a movie or an original story/classic. It usually comes off as a rip off, bordering on plagiarism with just name & gender changes. Or it’s not even close to said movie/book, that you wonder why it was even compared in the first place. Having said that, it makes for a disappointing read.

I’m an impatient reader! Especially when it comes to supernatural stories and thrillers. I need them fast-paced and this wasn’t. But I did appreciate the creativity and writing style, and thought it was good overall.

The premise of this one was quite interesting, but it just didn't quite work for me.

This book deals with a lot, and weaves in a bit of magic to do so. Mayhem comes from an abusive step-father, and the story starts right after they've escaped back to her mother's hometown. However, this hometown has secrets, and the women in her family inherit a certain type of magic that they use to protect the town. Mayhem is wrapped into this magic, and learns how to use this magic alongside hearing rumors of a serial killer in the town.

One of my friends said that this book could have benefitted from being longer, and I have to agree. There were a lot of interesting parts of the story that simply didn't get enough time to grow, especially regarding the magic. The magic of this family is wrapped in so much history, and it feels like we're given a crash course in it, rather than really seeing the depth of this history and the hold it has on this family. I feel like the ending also didn't interrogate the role of this magic and family in the town as much as it could have, and leaves the morality of vigilante justice sort of up in the air, even though this discussion is started at a few separate points. Overall, if more time had been spent here, I could've found myself really enjoying this book.

Another issue that is common with magical realism is that it often can feel sudden and jarring, rather than blending seamlessly with the story. While there were some aspects of the magic that felt like it blended well with the rest of the story, the switch to having a story with magic was very sudden, and it took me a second to catch on to what was going on. It wasn't clear at first if there was actually some sort of magic involved or if these kids were just, insanely high on drugs.

Overall, this wasn't my thing, though I do wish I had enjoyed it because the concept itself was quite interesting.

Mayhem sucked me in right from the start and didn't let go. Mayhem and her mom are on the run from an abusive stepfather and they land at the family home in Santa Maria. Here Mayhem learns that she is not an ordinary teen. She comes from a long line of female witches that kill anyone that threatens their family. The story follows Mayhem's adjustment to this new normal. It was suspenseful and full of action. 4 stars. Thanks NetGalley for the eARC.

Beautifully written, fillled with emotions and the premise of a great journey! The feminist version of TheLost Boy. Although I loved what the author was trying to say with this story, I found some part a bit cringy,