3.5/5 ⭐️ for Mayhem by Estelle Laure. First, I want to say a huge thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for early access to the egalley and also sending me an ARC for review!

TW: mention of abuse, drug addiction & violence; the book itself comes with trigger warnings for rape, assault, murder, drug addiction & magic addiction.

Something that Mayhem did very well was create atmosphere...both of the era it takes place in (1980s Santa Maria) and also just the vibe of the whole story in general. The language, writing, and imagery the author used really helped the book come to life! There’s a typewritten letter at the beginning of many chapters from various generations of Brayburn women that came before Mayhem that are really effective in the world building and vibe of the book. Mayhem is living in a small Texas town with her mom & stepdad. Although she’s the heard bits and pieces about her Mom’s life and family, there’s a lot that her Mom seems to be hiding, but not be able to deal with. Plus, they’re fighting her Mom’s drug additions and her stepfather’s abusive behaviour. After a particularly scary incident one evening, Mayhem and Roxy (her Mom) hastily pack up their car and head back to where everything started: the Brayburn house in Santa Monica where her aunt lives with her foster kids. As soon as they arrive, Mayhem realizes that not everything is as it seems ~ the whole town seems both reverent and and fearful of the Brayburns. With some meddling from her foster cousins, she is introduced to the magic and special “role” the women in her family play in the community. Combine this with a serial killer on the loose disappearing young girls from the beach, and it makes for quite the story.

I thought the whole magic system was really unique and interesting! For the most part, it made sense and was very well integrated into the story, but also it contributed well to it! I do, however, think it could‘ve been explained just a bit more in depth. It wasn’t super problematic, but there were scenes where I found the magic a bit confusing. I will say though that overall it made for a great read, and added excitement and tension with the lore behind the magic system.
Something I especially enjoyed about this book was the family dynamics between the Brayburns (blood & non-blood). Even though they aren’t all exactly related, and each person has their own issues, secrets, and demons they’re facing, and not everyone is blood related, they stick behind each other like family should. They work together to help each other with their problems, protect each other fiercely, and love each other.

If you’re looking for a book with some nostalgic vibes, a magic system that is cool & creepy, and a story of a family with thriller vibes and feminist energy, definitely check out Meyhem!

I really liked the premise of this book however I was not able to really get into it. I'm not sure what exactly was lacking for me but it just couldn't hold my attention. I do appreciate NetGalley and St. Martin's Press providing me with an ARC copy.

I feel this book wasn’t the best book about supernatural powers. It lacked in details on certain key events. It was a lot like the lost boys the movie. I wouldn’t recommend this book to my friends.

Love the genre-bending nature of this book! It has very strong nods to the Lost Boys, so if that's your jam, I strongly suggest picking up Mayhem.

2.5 stars
Mayhem is a story about a girl finally discovering more about her family and her mother's past after finally fleeing from a traumatic abusive situation. I actually did like Mayhem well enough. It was engaging enough for me to read it in essentially one sitting because I wanted to keep turning the page. The story just didn't grip me the way I wanted unfortunately. I think this story will work for some people, it just wasn't for me. I always like reading about families and I liked seeing Mayhem reconnect with her mother and learning about her family history. I also really liked the connection between Mayhem's mother and her aunt. I think my biggest issue however is just that this was such a short book so every plot point was resolved too quickly for my liking. The issue of the stepfather wasn't as big of a confrontation or resolution as I was expecting and even the confrontation with Neve didn't feel as satisfying as I would have liked. There didn't seem to really be a climax to the story, the plot just moved along steadily and then it ended.

"I don't know why people always want to put a blanket on a person after trauma."

First of all, thanks to Estelle Laure, Netgalley and Wednesday books for this E-ARC. Note: I haven't read The Lost Boys or The Craft. My review is purely based on what I thought while reading Mayhem, like the world building, characters, storyline and concept.

This book was sort of a slow burn but the overall concept of abuse was incorporated well by the author, combining it with a sort of old witchy tale running in the Brayburn family. The story revolves around Mayhem and her mother at first as they are finally moving away from Texas because of how abusive her step father was. They move back to Santa Maria, which is essentially their hometown. Mayhem and her mother Roxy are trying to adjust in their new lives with Roxy's sister and her three adoptive children.

Basically, this book revolves around the themes of women abuse, family, women passing on their family's legacy and the importance of hometown. I loved the element of old family letters passed on to upcoming generations and how it focuses on women as a whole, insinuating the fierceness present in them. Even the characters were pretty interesting.

Overall, it was a goodread for summer season.

Much thanks to Sarah from Wednesday Books / St. Martin’s Press for sending me a copy for review and for inviting me to be a part of this tour. This review is voluntary and opinions are fully my own.

📚 Series? No.
📚 Genre? YA Fantasy Thriller
📚 POV? First person.
📚 Cliffhanger? No.

⚠ Content Warnings: Drug addiction. Murder. Assault. Rape. Domestic Violence.
⚠ Book Tags : Magic. Feminist. 80s.

The book is about:
Mayhem is a book set in the late 1980s about its lead character, Mayhem, and her family. At the start of the book, Mayhem and her mom rush to Santa Maria, California to escape her mom’s abusive partner. They live with her mom’s sister and the group of misfit kids that she lived with. Aside from this, Mayhem discovers that magic runs in her blood, and she weaves these skills to understand more about her life and fight against the abuse they endured.

What drew me in:
I was attracted to join the blog tour of this book because of the enticing blurb. Though it was pitched as Lost Boys meets Craft, I have no idea about both and was coming in blind. I loved the first few chapters and the author’s writing style drew me in.

Characters & connections:
I felt deeply connected with Mayhem and her mother. Their pain resonated in the book, especially since they sprung from the abuse they went through. Though it has elements of fantasy, this book can really hit where it hurts.

Everything I liked:
I liked the vibe of the book. All the references to the late 80s were a good addition. I especially love the homage to 80s horror styles and I also adored the diary entries scattered throughout the book that gave me a closer look at the story.

Overall thoughts:
Mayhem delivered a unique meeting of a youthful mind with some really dark themes. The pacing slows at some point but was a great read overall because of the connection you get with the characters, as well as the magical factor of the story.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4*
Pros: You know that queasy feeling you get when a shadow flutters by you too quickly or when mystical sounds follow you at night, that leaves you with a bit of fear, but also a lot of adrenaline from standing on the edge of something unknown? That's what reading this book feels like. It is odd, mysterious and eerie, and it will grip you in its claws until your turn the last page. Talks about trauma, survivor's guilt, dealing with loss, surviving sexual assault, domestic violence and abandonment. Empowering, but with many layers of complexity. Showcases a different and greedy kind of magic.
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Cons: Mostly one-dimensional characters, in the sense that they had only one focus and you didn't get to know their passions, hobbies, likes and dislikes. Too-descriptive at times. Rushed ending.
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Trigger warning: Rape, domestic violence, trauma.

2.5

I feel like this book could have been so much more. I was intrigued by the description; a cross between The Lost Boys and The Craft with a female lead sounded like it would be amazing. However, the book fell totally flat, and it was almost an exact rip-off of The Lost Boys at times, which made for a really frustrating read. I wanted a book that was inspired by The Lost Boys, not one that basically copied it. The whole conflict with the kidnapper felt like it was wrapped up way too easily, and how it was taken care of was extremely disappointing after all the hype of the magic. Same goes with the conflict with Lyle. It was this huge buildup with a lot of backstory, and then it was over in a couple of paragraphs. I think this book could have been great, had a few things been changed, and had it been more original instead of borrowing so heavily from other sources.

“Seems like I may never have a person wrap himself around me, care about me the way I think is possible for some. The water is the closest I get.”

⭐
Rating: 1 out of 5.
This book is about Mayhem Brayburn and her return to her mother’s hometown of Santa Maria, and discovers a family and a life that was hidden from her. When she realizes that there are more secrets in Santa Maria than grains of sand and a killer on the loose attacking women on the beach, she has to consider whether the cost of revenge is worth it or not.

So in all fairness, this book definitely had an interesting concept. And The Craft meets The Lost Boys sure does sound cool. I just feel like the book doesn’t really deliver on anything it promises and ultimately felt like a jumbled mess.

The book deals a lot with different kinds of pain, particularly kinds felt by women. I thought certain aspects of this were interesting at times. Mayhem compares her pain to her mother’s and to those of generations of Brayburn women. I thought it was a good emotion center to the book, but it just wasn’t at all enough to make the book compelling.

The thing I struggled with the most was the story. I just felt like not an inch of it was fleshed out. The water does weird stuff- why? No one knows. Why does it affect her family? No one knows. What exactly does it do? No one knows. It just vaguely gives them weird powers. Plus, the plot only really starts like- 60% of the way into the book. The rest was build-up, but really boring. And then the plot was not at all satisfying.

I also didn’t like the characters, not for any specific reason. I just feel like I didn’t have a reason to like any of them. I couldn’t connect with them or feel much of anything. Except slightly annoyed at the dialogue.

I do feel like there is a version of this book that could have worked really well. If the focus had been in other places. Less time trying to build up a plot and more time exploring the mystery of the water and investing a killer. Even more time with Mayhem grappling with her new powers. Everything remotely interesting felt rushed in exchange for long scenes of dialogue where characters just express how they “have a secret” but can’t say the secret.

TL;DR: Wasn’t my cup of tea. I just felt like not much got fleshed out and it doesn’t really deliver on its premise.

I was looking forward to this book, but read about 1/3 before putting it down several days ago, and have no desire to continue. It isn't badly written and it'll find its audience (though I'm not sure how much actual teenage readers would care to read a book set in 1987). Me, I found it bland and boring and didn't connect with anything at all.

I started this but unfortunately ended up DNFing it. I found the writing style wasn't something I could get into. I am hoping to try again with the audiobook at a later date because I am very interested in the story.

I was really looking forward to this because of the premise, and I can appreciate what the author was trying to do. However, this book fell flat for me and ended up being kind of weird.

I am still not totally sure how I feel about this book. Some of it I liked and some of it I didn't like. I felt like the whole story was all over the place. I just found that I wasn't very interested in the story the more I kept reading.

5 simple words to immediately pique my interest: “inspired by The Lost Boys.” Now, young adult books aren’t something I’d typically reach for (sadly I think I’ve just aged out of the genre, for the most part), but you tell me you have an 80s feminist coming-of-age horror/fantasy inspired by one of my favourite movies, and I’m going to get on board. Very glad I took the time to check this one out, Mayhem is a breath of fresh air compared with some of the other YA genre novels I’ve read recently.

This is not a light and fluffy read. Within the first few chapters, we know that Mayhem Brayburn’s father died when she was a baby, and her mother, Roxy, is now in an abusive relationship with a man named Lyle. When things finally hit a boiling point with Lyle, Roxy and Mayhem return to Santa Maria, where the Brayburn name is gold, for reasons Mayhem doesn’t yet understand.

While the subject matter in Mayhem is undoubtedly dark, I found it to be handled very, very well. The author doesn’t sugarcoat it or dumb it down to be more palatable for a teen audience. It’s sometimes a bit brutal, but never excessively drawn out or played as purely plot fodder. Compared with my last YA read which threw all kind of awful subject matter at the reader without ever stopping to really make it feel like an important part of the story, in Mayhem this topics are handled with a sensitivity and honesty that can be lacking in some YA books that try to tackle difficult subjects.

Mayhem is definitely the star of this novel, and I thought she was portrayed in an authentic way. Her reactions, her interactions with her new “family,” her relationship with her mother, all felt very believable and realistic given her history. She was a compelling main character and I eagerly followed her journey. However, some of the other characters felt a bit lacking, especially Neve who doesn’t get much of a backstory. It didn’t pull me out of the story, but I would have been able to invest even more deeply had the secondary characters shared Mayhem’s depth. I also found myself wanting more of the Brayburn history and more detail on how, exactly, the Brayburn powers worked. This is one of the few cases where I finished a book and immediately wished there were a sequel, because I felt there was so much more of this world and these characters to be discovered!

And of course, I have to talk about the connection that initially grabbed my interest with this one – The Lost Boys connection. I noticed a couple other readers mention this connection was a bit heavy handed, but I found it to be just enough to keep me eagerly looking for the next Easter egg. I loved the idea that Santa Maria and Santa Carla are one and the same, and the character cameos were great without being over the top. Plus I’m always on board when Sexy Sax Man gets a mention! The plot itself never veers anywhere near the movie plot, so it didn’t feel at all like a rip-off – more of an homage via some fun nods and a couple quotes.

I think this one will definitely appeal to fans of YA horror who like a dash of fantasy in their reads. I can guarantee that if there IS a sequel for Mayhem in the future, I’ll be all over it! I really loved this story and these characters, and I’d be more than happy to spend more time with them.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

A YA feminist mash-up inspired by The Lost Boys and The Craft. That's the first line of the description of Mayhem by Estelle Laure, which meant it was a book I just had to read. It was later changed to describe it as The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls. I am glad I saw the earlier description because I probably would not have been so eager to read it.

When Mayhem Brayburn and her mom flee from an abusive stepfather/husband and return to Roxy's family home, Mayhem hopes to discover her mother's secrets and more about herself. What she learns is magic runs through the female lineage in her family, and the Brayburn women are responsible for keeping the town safe. Now, it is her generation, Mayhem and the kids who live with the Brayburns, to find the serial killer responsible for the missing girls.

Many reviewers rated the book low because it resembles The Lost Boys. Mayhem does pay homage to it. The Frog brothers make an appearance, and a few famous lines from the movie are included. However, Mayhem stands on its own.

Mayhem contains adult themes including rape and should be read by older YA readers.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 7/16/20 and updated on 8/24/20..

Oh my goodness. I loved Mayhem way more than I thought I would! I was expecting a witch-y type of story and while that's not exactly how I would describe it, there are some elements there.

While I did enjoy the writing and the story itself. It's really hard to tell what the plot was truly about. We have a "cult" -- for the lack of a better word -- of teenagers, with Mayhem being the leader . . . without truly knowing her own powers. They're on a mission to find someone who has been kidnapping young girls who have gone missing.

Okay. That's great. Then there's this mysterious powerful water element that I'm still not sure of, even after it's been explained. It helps them maintain their magic? It's a drug? I'm not following. It's important, apparently.

The lack of a fleshed out plot didn't keep me from enjoying this book, though.

The book itself definitely straddles between the genres. It has a little bit of contemporary, some fantasy, and a lot of mystery and thriller tossed in. It had everything it needed to make a great book. Even had an [almost] all female cast of characters.

Mayhem and her mom Roxy are fleeing her abusive step-father and in order to do that, they decided to go back to Roxy's hometown. Being back in Roxy's old hometown also means they will be living with her aunt and the children that she has adopted. While Roxy is trying to get over her soon to be ex-husband we see Mayhem get to explore the town and become close friends with the kids her aunt adopted.
The kids her aunt adopted take her on an adventure of sorts, one that ends up connecting her with her family's past and changes her life forever.

Overall I liked this book and enjoyed reading it. I had to know what Mayhem and her new friends were going to get up to next and if they could all make it safely or if history would repeat itself. Mayhem's character was one that we see grow into herself and learn to become independent away from her mom and take charge of different situations all while learning about who her family was and what that made her be. I definitely got the lost boy vibes while reading this book and it did make me enjoy it more because that used to be one of my favorite movies.
The group of kids her aunt has taken in are ones that were lost and needed a home, but more than that they needed a purpose it seems and they took up what this family's purpose appears to have been made to be a long time ago. While Mayhem and Roxy coming back threw a bit of a wrench in some things, it also makes things be discovered and showed how a family can be not only those your related to but those that you choose as well.
I did enjoy the flashbacks as well through the Diary that Mayhem found that helped her discover her family and showed why they were doing the things they did and what caused it to be possible in the first place. Definitely had some family elements while also giving me a little bit of vampire/demon vibes with what they were able to do.

This book had me feeling the tightness and hurt in my chest. So emotional and such a great book! I was turning pages quickly.

To be a Brayburn is to be a legend, something Mayhem Brayburn is finally about to learn

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Mayham by @estellelaurebooks and I really fell in love with it from the moment I started reading. It's set in the 80s and brings with it a ton of charm from that era. Taking inspiration from the movie The Lost Boys which I am in love with (bleach blond bad-ass Keifer, yes please) but still has it's entirely own story. If you have seen the movie and expect Mayhem to be another vampire story, it is NOT so don't go in expecting that, but the easter eggs sprinkled in does make if fun if you're a fan. What you are going to find is suspense, mystery, a gorgeous atmosphere, love, and an amazing MC