I enjoyed the premise of this book but feel like it needs some tidying up. Everything happens a bit too fast, and supernatural things go on without much background or setting up. Too much blind acceptance of massive life changing events to be believable. Ok, it’s somewhat based in fantasy/magic but there wasn’t enough done to make me believe in the world of Mayhem.
I still enjoyed reading it and love the idea of this story, but I think it needs revising and elaborating on.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

This book is set to the backdrop of 1987, which was refreshing. I think it was well-written, the pacing was a little slow but I liked the plot and the characters arcs. The cover is beautiful too, so I think I'll have to buy a physical copy!

It's not bad, but I quite honestly do not have the nostalgia for the 80s. That seems like a prerequisite for this book, especially considering the homage to The Lost Boys, all of which went right over my head. So if someone had an immense love for that particular movie and time period, absolutely they will love it.

Coming from someone with no point of reference to the apparent source material, I have to say I genuinely enjoyed this. Many of the other reviews pointed out that there seems to be a fine line between retelling and inspiration, but unfortunately I don't have the authority to make that judgement. Standing on its own, though, I absolutely loved this book. There's something about it that grabbed me from the start and it just kept going in a way that I had so much fun with. Lauren's voice for the characters is one that stuck with me, feeling so full and different from anything I've read recently.

The characters are probably the catching point for me, though. While Mayhem was awesome, and I loved Kidd, the rest of the characters seemed to try too hard to push a specific viewpoint. Jason was probably the most likeable to me out of the side characters, but the constant hammer from Elle, mixed with Roxy and Neve, the butting of heads was enough to make me find it annoying. I won't say they're terrible, it's just something I don't enjoy out of these kinds of books. There always has to be the moral quandary character and in some cases it gets a little too much.

That being said, though, I guess I'll have to go watch the movies this book is apparently similar to. I don't see why we can't have a few retellings here and there, and the author does reference them in her blurb, but we'll see. Maybe there'll be a sequel, maybe there won't be, I'd be intrigued to see one, honestly, because this has such a weird energy about it. It was fun!

I had to DNF this one. I didn’t enjoy the execution and it was so hard for me to pick it up between sittings. I’m sad that this book didn’t work for me.

This book was okay... I enjoyed the characters but I found the plot quite confusing and hard to follow at times. However, I do still think it is worth the read because it was quite unique and will leave the reader thinking.

Mayhem ended up being a DNF for me. Definitely a case of the book just wasn't for me, but I could see others liking it.

Good aspects:
1- A killer cover
2- A killer concept
3- good writing

Challenging aspects:
1- This book had my most hated pet peeve of all time when it comes to modern writing: an excellent first chapter but a down spiraling plot from thereon.
2- I don't have to like the characters, but I have to feel them or at least understand their motivation; I couldn't do either in this case.
3- I'm not sure I got the "feminist " concept of the book. it was more like a feminist caricature rather than actual feminism.
4- The link between motive and action was lost on me.

I feel really bad for not finishing this book, but it just wasn't for me. Fans of the movies this book is compared to might think otherwise. But I just did not feel invested enough, or at least curious, to hang in there till the end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to review this book.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦; 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

It's 1978, Mayhem and her mother are fleeing across the country, away from her abusive stepfather. They end up in Santa Maria, a costal beach town where her mother grew up. A place that has the answers to all of the questions about her estranged family, and why her mother left.

I went into this one with medium expectations, thinking it'd be another YA book with a pretty cover and not much else. Well I was wrong 💁🏻‍♀️ This book was everything I want from a young adult book, it had darkness and magic. It was full of heart and self discovery. It is a murder mystery, a fantasy, a generational story.

I can't believe I'm yet to see this book grace my feed. It definitely deserves more hype than it is getting. I loved Mayhem, the main protagonist, and the whole emotional journey she went on. The magical realism elements were done so so well, think in the vein of Rory Power or Anna-Marie McLemore.

If you're looking for a weird YA book, that is on the darker side and includes hunting down a serial killer then you need this book💃🏻

(TW rape, addiction death, drug use, emotional abuse, loss of a parent, mental illness, suicide, physical abuse)

This was a beautiful, lyrical, phenomenal novel. It dealt with so many important topics through a surrealist lens. I really enjoyed this book! Mayhem's character was really unique and I loved the magic system that was introduced. I did feel like certain things with Neve's character were wrapped up very quickly and some things could've been explained more clearly. It was so beautiful though and I did not mind that it was a little ambiguous at times! Excited to read more from this author.

DNF - Did not Finish. I decided not to keep reading this young adult title. Thank you, publisher and NetGalley for the early copy!

This was an atmospheric, creepy summer story centered on Mayhem, a girl coming of age and learning about her family history. I really enjoyed the pace of the story and definitely got The Craft vibes throughout. I liked the balance of family history in the form of journal entries, and Mayhem’s own thoughts and feelings as things unfolded. The mystery element was two fold, one for Mayhem and her family, and another for a local crime spree. I would have enjoyed a bit more of the killer on the loose storyline, but ultimately it was an enjoyable read that I’ll probably be thinking about for awhile.

California, 1987: Mayhem Brayburn and her mother have never been like everyone else. May can see it in her mother Roxy's constant pain, her pull to the water, the gaping hole of her father's absence in the wake of his suicide years ago.

When her step-father goes to far, Roxy and Mayhem make their way back to the beach town--and the family history--that Roxy left behind when May was a baby. Santa Maria is everything May always hoped it would be. She meets her aunt's foster kids, finds the family she always wanted and, amazingly, discovers her own connection to the Brayburn family's long line of magic.

But not everything is magical in Santa Maria. Girls are going missing. Soon, Mayham's own efforts to find the culprit draw her into a strange world of vigilante justice and revenge as she learns more about the town--and her family's--darker secrets in Mayhem (2020) by Estelle Laure.

If this standalone fantasy sounds a lot like the 1987 film The Lost Boys, that's because it is. While Laure imbues Mayhem with its own magic and world building, the story stays close to the original plot of the classic vampire film complete with brief appearances by the iconic Frog brothers. Laure also brings more diversity to the cast in her update--the Brayburns are white but May's farther was Brazilian and Jason and Kidd are biracial (Black and white).

Questions of why this story had to be set in 1987 instead of modernized are also inevitable and not well answered by any authorial choices.

How you feel about this book might depend on your familiarity with the film and your feelings about it. Mayhem includes a lot of nods to the original film but shifts in surprising ways to make space for the Brayburn's family history as seen in a mysterious diary Mayhem finds upon exploring her new home. Unfortunately these two storylines don't always mesh well feeling more like two separate stories than one, cohesive plot.

Mayhem is ideal for readers who like their witches fierce and their vampire references vintage.

Possible Pairings: The Wicked Deep by Shea Earnshaw, Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis, The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman, Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand, The Lost Boys

I wanted to love this book but I found it a bit hard for me to get into. I just didn’t really connect with it and sync into a rhythm when reading. But the premise and characters are excellent, and I know that it’ll resonate with many still!

I really wanted to love this book but I couldn’t. There were too many lines taken directly from Lost Boys. I didn’t feel like I was reading an original story. The author could’ve done so much more here. Making her characters unique and changing the story to her own rather than other peoples words.

For the most part I didn't really like this story. I didn't really like the main character and found the plot itself to be lacking. Nothing really happened for the most part and the main character acted like a brat a lot of the time. There were a couple of secondary characters that I liked but it was still a struggle to finish this book.

I received an eARC via Netgalley; all opinions are my own.

*Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the complimentary copy for my honest review*

I loved the premise of this book, a female version of The Lost Boys (one of my favorite movies ever) sign me up! I obviously had very high hopes for this book but unfortunately I wasn't huge fan. I see what the author was trying to do but this book just ended up being super strange and confusing for me. I really liked the beginning of this book but then towards the middle I didn't quite understand what was going on and I don't feel like the ending really alleviated my confusion.

I seriously loved Mayhem! It’s a wonderful blend of a coming of age story, a little bit of a mystery, and magic! I was getting serious Practical Magic vibes the whole time I was reading it.

The way Estelle wrote Mayhem was brilliant. I was rooting for Mayhem from page one. She’s such a spunky, passionate, and curious character. I absolutely fell in love with her.

If you love magic and coming of age stories you will love Mayhem!

This book was SOOO GOOD! I love books like these that make me feel like I'm traveling back in time as a teen. This book is a great coming of age story for any teen.

I really enjoyed this book. Mayhem and her mother are fleeing an abusive relationship and wind up back at Roxy's (Mayhem's mom) old home where she grew up. Mayhem finds that her family name holds a lot of power and she start to unearth some of it's magical details. I saw in other reviews that this was compared to Lost Boys and The Craft...I didn't find it all that similar except that there are some supernatural elements to the story. I would recommend if you are looking for a quick YA read and are interested in the supernatural and family bonds/legacies.