Mayhem by Estelle Laure is a send up to the 80's with a story about femanism and powerful versus powerless. This story is a mash up of plots from 80's and 90's movie plots Lost Boys, Sleeping with the Enemy, and The Craft. The results should be amazing but instead a lot of formulaic plot with with ideas on feminism throughout that only take root at the end. The powers are all over the place with some history to back it up but not enough. I was really thrown off about the author having two fictional characters of the Frog Brothers from the movie the Lost Boys inserted in the plot to do nothing other than make you think the plot was going to be about vampires, which it is not. I feel I would have liked this story more if it wasn't about gaining special powers and it was about a girl finding her internal strength to stand up to abuse. Thanks to St. Martin Publishing for sending me a copy for review through Netgalley.

The Plot: Mayhem, a 16 year old girl, also referred to as May, is traveling with her mom, Roxy, to Santa Maria looking for a fresh start, after taking years of abuse from her husband, Lyle. Lyle turned his abuse from Roxy to Mayhem, which was the final straw. They end up moving into the Brayburn home with Roxy's sister Elle who has three adopted kids of her own, Neve and Jason are Mayhem's age and Kidd is 9. Roxy fears something but May can't pull it out of her, May thinks this is for the best and wants her mom safe and to detox the drugs she has been taking to cope with the abuse out of her system. Mayhem loves the small costal town of Santa Maria, the beach the ongoing carnival, but there is a dark side, women have been banishing on the beach night after night. Mayhem feels sorry for them and feels something more a feeling she has never felt before she has to swim to get rid of it, and feels herself drawn to something in the water. The adopted kids take her to a cave with a deep history rooted to the Brayburn's Mayhem drinks the sacred water and develops powers.

What I Liked: I loved the character of Kidd how she balances sweet with ferocious. I liked reading about the Brayburn history, I felt this section could have been expanded. The cave and the water and the origin surrounding it were really interesting. Marcy and the video store called VHYes. I liked the majority of 80's references. Mayhem as a character before the water I liked a lot, after the water I was a little lost more on the power than emotional aspect. I liked the thirst for the sacred water making them vampire light. I like where Neve's character ended up, I would've liked to see her character progress this way the whole book, and not at the final moment.

What I Disliked: Having the Frog Brothers not do anything, if you bring iconic characters into your world have them do something. The powers were not explained well at all.

Recommendations: I will not recommend this one, I feel there are plenty of original Young Adult that take this story and make it original. There are some bright spots in the ways of speaking about a woman's power, but they were few and far between. I wanted to like this one a whole lot more, just didn't work for me. I Rated Mayhem by Estelle Laure 2 out of 5 stars.

Mayhem is a book full of feels and feminism. As mayhem traverse the world of Santa Maria, California, she discovers the world of her Mother, Roxy. They say it is based on The Lost Boys, and mostly some scenes of the book are adapted. But I haven’t read that book. I Love Mayhem and I know this is an extra ordinary story of a girl with an angst with touch of magic and horror.
Mayhem is a unique read. Her journey is written with mysterious vibe and fantastical touch. The struggles and pain of her mother is intact with the story. The youthful years of Mayhem and the Adulthood of Roxy is a great choice of theme in storytelling because there is more to tell about these two characters. This is a engrossing story to share with a bit of dark madness in it.

I'd give this title 3.5 stars, rounded up because I was not as turned off by the movie comparisons as some other readers.

The book jacket bills this as a mash-up of The Lost Boys and The Craft, but I think readers will enjoy it more if they don't compare it to either. It's not really anything like The Craft and it is maybe a little too much like The Lost Boys, but mostly in ways that I didn't think mattered. It's been at least a decade since I watched the movie, so a lot of what the author plunked down into the book went beyond my notice. Except the Frog brothers - their cameo had absolutely no purpose in the story and came across as cringey and out of place.

The central story is about Mayhem Brayburn and her mother Roxy who have recently run away from her abusive stepfather and back to Roxy's family home in california which she has avoided for the 13 years since the death of Mayhem's father. Mayhem learns very quickly, and in spite of her mother's wishes, that the Brayburn women have magic - a magic that has been a bit of a blessing and a curse to them over the generations. And she gets the opportunity to choose this magic for herself right at a time when she wants and needs to feel powerful, safe, and in control of her life. But there's always a cost, and she has to accept that her desire for family and teenage normalcy may not be compatible with the Brayburn legacy.

I liked Mayhem as a character and the atmosphere of the story, which was a tad creepy, mysterious, wistful and beachy, buy quite a long shot from horror in my opinion. You may recoil in certain moments, but this story won't keep you up at night. This book also deals with a lot of violence - domestic violence, rape, murder, suicide - and the struggle to deal with the anger, sadness, and powerlessness that follows without being consumed and destroyed by it.

Mayhem has never felt like she belongs in the small Texas town her mother fled to after her father’s death. When her new husband raises his hand to Mayhem, they pack the car with everything they own and head back to Santa Maria, California and her mother’s family home. Mayhem feels the pull of the water and spreads her wings to finally discover herself along side the other Braeburn women.

I loved the reading the story from Mayhem’s singular point of view. It made the mystical, magical coming of age novel more believable and realistic. Overall, this was an imaginative and entertaining read.

This was a very enjoyable read for me! It was something that I was able to get through quick and I was engaged the entire time. I haven't read either story that the book was based off of, but the setting of 1987 was wild, reckless, and so much fun.
There were definitely areas for expanded worldbuilding and clarity. With any sort of magical realism, it's always nice to give the audience a little extra backstory so it doesn't feel hazy. Although it was a fast read, I almost wished it would slow down and take it's time with character and plot development.
The thread of pain and abuse throughout the novel was heartbreaking and real, but may be triggering for readers who have direct experience with abuse.

This book was so interesting. It was such a unique way of blending the fantasy of magic with contemporary. I ended up picking up the audio to read this one and I am so glad I did because I was able to binge it.

Although there were trigger warnings regarding domestic and child abuse, violence including murder and serial kidnapping, and the mention of suicide I didn't feel the heaviness that normal accompanies such darker topics. I felt that it was well done in the way each of these instances were described and I was appreciative that none of them were truly on the page. I think that it was realistic in the way it portrayed each one without causing emotional harm I would have expected.

Mayhem. I found the MC's name to be a curious thing when the book first began but over time I really gained an understanding of it. Mayhem and her mother may have escaped an abusive household but now they are dealing with the aftermath. Roxy, Mayhem's mother, doesn't know how to cope with the abuse she faced for years by her husband and has never really gotten over the death of Mayhem's father, the man she truly loved.

Mayhem has found local friends who show her who she really is. She had no idea the world her mother took her away from would be so magical. She also didn't realize that the magic that runs in her blood, in her lineage, could be as dark as it is. When she finds herself on the trail of a serial kidnapper and murderer she really starts to understand just what her gift can do. Among all the chaos of the world around her she's able to build strong friendships with others and learns to stand up for herself.

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure in the beginning how I would feel about having so many trigger warnings but I feel like it was very well done and I really enjoyed it in the end. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a dark ya fantasy/contemporary read! It has a great balance between the darkness and light.

I liked the way that abuse and poor parenting was dealt with in this book and I definitely found the discussions around revenge really interesting. Full review to come

3 STARS


This book is anything but a walk in the park.


Opening with Mayhem and her mother fleeing Mayhem's abusive stepfather, Mayhem is not the fluffy late '80s coming of age story you might be expecting. It is, however, every bit the embodiment of that sundown energy radiating from the cover. More than that, it's a book about finding the power to confront your past, and to change the future.

And what the costs of accomplishing these things might be.


As a Brayburn, Mayhem has a magical, powerful inheritance.


Santa Maria is the seat of Brayburn power, thanks to a violent history a few generations back. Since then, the Brayburns have been the arbiters of justice in the area, taking matters into their own hands without ever appearing to lift their hands in the first place. It's a powerful and almost sinister magic that they wield, and I really appreciated that it was a magic with heavy consequence. Not just anyone can withstand the Brayburn legacy. Even Brayburns have to face the consequences of carrying such magic in their hands.

On the one hand, I loved that this magic has enabled Brayburns like Mayhem to take the power back from their abusers. They no longer feel like they have to flee or even endure further abuse. Even better, they sit secure in the knowledge that their abusers have to reckon with the violence they've dealt. In Santa Maria, Brayburns deal not in mercy, but in justice.

On the other hand, I'll admit I had some reservations about how Brayburn justice works. As much as I love to see vile characters stripped of any power they used against those in no position to defend themselves, a quick death in the dark or the like isn't always justice. This is especially true considering the Brayburns aren't always doling out justice for themselves, but the Santa Maria community at large. Where's the closure, running around after sunset, righting wrongs where no one will ever know? Who benefits from danger disappearing with no real confirmation that it's gone?

In hindsight, maybe this works well to comment on how dangerous that much power can be. Where do you draw the line while playing god? Where should you? But I still found that the way Estelle Laure shaped that plot line was a little shaky.


The plot overall, in fact, had some unsteady roots.


If Mayhem had been a slightly longer book, maybe this wouldn't be an issue. Maybe the author could have included all the plots she'd set up. But as it is, I felt like I was staring down too many disparate plots that had to rush to resolve themselves together. The romance arc felt weak and disjointed, especially next to the more complex (and far more interesting) relationship between Mayhem and Neve, and smashing those points together with family history, current abuse worries, a serial killer, and questions about the Brayburn family magic ultimately seemed like too much at once. 

I do believe this book is best as a standalone (I don't feel any itch for a sequel in this case), but it needed some room to breathe and fully explore.


Mayhem hit shelves a week ago!


If you want to see justice come down on the heads of those who most deserve it, Mayhem might be for you! This is especially true if you also like powerful magic that takes as much as it gives. More than that, the author comps it to Wilder Girls, The Lost Boys, and The Craft! I can't really back the Wilder Girls comparison, but I'm hearing it lives up to the other two in spades, if that catches your eye.

And if nothing else, maybe you want a 1980s summer sunset murder story in your life. Who am I to judge you for that? Certainly not a Brayburn (thank goodness).


CW: suicide, rape, domestic abuse, violence (including gun violence), alcoholism, underage drinking, smoking, loss of a love done, drug use, addiction

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 10am EST on 7/21/20.]

When I first signed up to be on the blog tour for this book it was tagged as a mash up between The Lost Boys (one of my 80s movie favorites) and The Craft (another movie I enjoyed) although now the publisher's blurb is saying The Lost Boys and Wilder Girls (on my TBR list) and a feminist YA novel. Since I have not read Wilder Girls I can't comment on that, but definitely the setting is totally The Lost Boys with the California town of Santa Maria in the book modeled on Santa Clarita in the movie and of course Santa Cruz in real life. There are vampires--although we really manly hear mention of them, a few movie lines sprinkled in, and even the vampire-chasing characters The Frog Brothers--who look, dress and act the same as they do in the movie. They don't play a role in the story so I think it is just mainly a homage to the movie and if there are no copyright issues, I have no beef with them being there and like what they add to the setting. The book is set primarily in 1987, and I love the era and having spent a little time as a tween on vacation in Santa Cruz in the earlier 80s, the California beachy boardwalk setting is perfect for the book and its magic and darkness.

There are a lot of potential triggers in the story from domestic abuse, drug use and abuse, sexual assault and crimes against women. The author addresses these triggers in her forward and said she wrote it so girls who feel powerless could imagine being invincible and a bit as a healing salve for her own past. The main character, Mayhem, and her mother Roxie return to Santa Maria from Texas after more than a decade of Roxie running away from the pain and life there after her love and Mayhem's father's tragic death. Mayhem knows little about her family, the only father and grandparents she knew were her stepfather, Lyle, and his family and they aren't good experiences. Lyle abused Roxy, and it isn't until he starts on Mayhem that the two flee back to the Brayburn family farm that Mayhem's aunt runs. There Mayhem meets the three foster children her aunt has taken in and is getting ready to adopt, and she begins to learn the family history from a journal started by her great-grandmother and added to over the years by other Brayburn women. The journal, the odd behaviors of the community toward her family (gift baskets at the front gate in tribute), the constant presence of crows, and other weird things begin to put the puzzle pieces in place for Mayhem to discover she comes of a line of very powerful women with supernatural powers. Mixed in with the family drama, there are missing teenage girls in Santa Maria and it is suspected they are the victims of a serial killer, that Mayhem and her new family try to identify. I don't want to go too much into the details of what happens, as if you are going to read this book, it's best to let the story unfold, which it does quickly, picking up pace and tension as it does.

Overall, Mayhem was a good, dark, nostalgic escape. It's a fast read at just over 300 pages and I would have liked a bit more development for some of the characters and a less abrupt end. There are a couple parts of what happened that I am still unclear about--perhaps left purposefully vague. With the subject matter, I would say it would be better for older teens and young adults rather than younger. If like me you are a Lost Boys fan and love your 80s with a good dose of female empowerment thrown in, you should enjoy it.

Mayhem was supposed to be a mix of The Craft and The Lost Boys. I didn’t get many vibes of The Craft, but it was a slow paced story involving a family, a weird pull of something otherworldly, and a beach. I’ve never seen The Lost Boys, so I can’t say whether it pulled in elements of that story.

Mayhem was good, both beachy and gothic, slow and lyrical, and ultimately an enjoyable book. I feel like some parts of it dragged a bit, but I was always wondering what would happen next while reading it.

I can’t put my finger on what I didn’t like, but I felt as if something was missing the entire time I was reading it, like there was a disconnect or something. The era was definitely something right up my alley, but the characters seemed young and better identified with by younger readers. I don’t know that younger readers would connect with the setting as much, though, so it just feels like it sits in between, not really for either age group.

I do still recommend reading this one and ultimately enjoyed it.

It was my first time reading any Estelle Laure's books but honestly? I am kinda impressed. I joined Mayhem's blog tour just because of curiosity because premise sounded interesting. And I was right about my gut feeling.

Mayhem is not only a story about family bonds, feminism, magic and crime but also about some serious issues such as domestic violence or drug abuse. It is also set back in 80s which is not a time most of YA authors usually picks. I have no problem with magical realism and I must say I loved the way author implemented it into the story. Magic that Laure Estelle uses is very beliavable and feels kind of natural. It also goes well with whole crime investigation.

Character building is one of the most essential things to the story. Estelle did wonderful job in their slow but steady development. Mayhem Brayburn is not your typical average YA heroine. Mayhem Brayburn is not your typical average YA heroine. She suffered a lot in her life and all she wants is for her and her mother to leave their abusive stepfather. I loved Mayhem and her development. You might ask if there's some romance... and YES, there is. Not gonna tell more though! Let me just say it was very nice.

To sum this up, Mayhem is a book that definitely hit a right spot. I was surprised by how much I loved it because honestly? It's not something I'd pick up myself, probably. The whole concept of one family and its magical heritage, being praised as some local gods, serious topics that are handled here... Just wow. Reading Mayhem was a very unique experience and I'd love you to try it as well. I can't sum my feelings very well into the words but let me say this. This is one of the best books I've read this year so far. READ IT!

Have you ever heard of trauma being passed down generation to generation? This has been a topic of discussion for those whose ancestors were slaves in the US, in the Nazi concentration camps, indigenous peoples from around the world, and so many other people who have endured extreme and terrible hardship. The idea is that the suffering and trauma those people experienced did not end with them and have been passed down. Some theorize that the trauma and suffering has been wired into their DNA itself, and others think that it is more of a social, emotional, and mental impact of being raised knowing what your ancestors or elders endured and survived and what your mere existence represents. I mention this concept because what really held me riveted with Estelle Laure's Mayhem is how it takes this idea of passed down trauma and uses it to construct the basis of a magical system. Mayhem Brayburn, the main character, knows so little of her family and its history. She has been raised by her mother in Texas for the past 13 years with a stepfather she cannot stand, who is also incredibly abusive to her mother. When the stepfather strikes out at Mayhem for the first time, her mother packs them up in secret and they make a run away to Santa Maria, California, where the Brayburn family is rooted--returning to her mother's roots and the secrets she ran from. It is there that she learns of the violence her great-great-grandmother endured, and how that violence mixed with just the right factors resulted in a family magic that can't quite be explained but packs a powerful punch in helping protect their local community and, ultimately, the Brayburn women themselves. But this power is rooted in the idea that her ancestor experienced a trauma that forever changed her, to the point that it forever changed all of the women who follow in her footsteps in generations to come. This power brings them great strength and speed, but there is a catch: only Brayburn women's blood can handle the influence of the power, leading to disastrous results for those who aren't Brayburns.

However, as much as I was enraptured by the complexity of this magic and its origin, I really wish that the influence the Brayburns have in the community was more fully developed. While I can get behind some magic that isn't completely explained, I felt there was a disconnect to the Santa Maria community and how they intuited what the Brayburns can do and what they do to protect everyone from predators. There really wasn't a good explanation as to how non-Brayburns would know of what they do to protect everyone, resulting in almsgiving of sorts when people leave gifts and thank yous at the entrance to the Brayburn farm driveway. I didn't need the magic to be fully explained to me, but I did need that explanation and it wasn't there. Why would the community not push back to have this same power themselves, like Neve (another character) questions? Why does the community not zero in on the Brayburns as vigilantes? I was left with many questions when it came to this aspect, and if it were more fully fleshed out, the necessary connections made for this aspect to click, this would have been a solid book all around for me.

Overall though, I really enjoyed Mayhem. The writing is like morsels of sweetness and the lyricism is bound to have you highlighting favorite lines where the phrasing is *chef's kiss* perfection. Laure does an amazing job bringing Mayhem and the crew alive, and she really does a gentle job of depicting assault and how people deal with it in the moment and in the aftermath. As a survivor of assault myself, her touch of care is something I really appreciate. However, please keep in mind your limitations and tread cautiously if you are a survivor--better to be safe than sorry, and I do not want you to end up sorry.

If you are looking for some other books that have some of the same vibes, please check out:
-Elana K. Arnold's Red Hood
-Leslye Walton's The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavendar
-Kiera Cass's The Siren

Estelle Laure's Mayhem gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars and I 100% guarantee this will be a book I reread in the future. I feel like there are bits I missed, and even if I didn't, the writing is gorgeous and clear. It is everything I strive to do myself as a writer. Now to check out her other books, because I need more of her writing!

HMM. This one is hard to review. Tagged as a feminist mash-up of The Lost Boys and The Craft, I knew I had to read this. Those are two of my favorite cult classics. And it turns out its easy too see the resemblances…. Wayyyyyy to easy. Like, identical in many ways to The Lost Boys.

IT FEELS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT YOU WILL PROBABLY LIKE THIS BOOK MORE IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THE LOST BOYS.

Im not going to go back over the plot since its stated above, I am just going to jump into my thoughts.

The first almost half of the book felt slow, so when things started happening, it all seemed pretty rushed. I understand what the author was trying to do and why she let these movies inspire her. She wanted girls/women to read something that gave them a feeling of power, the feeling that they could take back the night. And that’s fantastic. But I am not sure I like how it was executed. I might have actually liked this book more if it wasn’t literally ripped right off the screen.

At one point there was a reference by two characters to vampires in town (which, of course, the characters and the line are straight from Lost Boys) so I wondered if the story would go in the direction of vampires, but it did not. Unless they are vampires who can feed on souls and try to use their powers for good. Powers include: using your mind to travel at an exorbitant speed, see peoples past, read peoples intentions, finding people/things, soul sucking… and it is all stemmed from fancy water that is drank in a fancy hideout club cave off the side of a cliff at the beach. So really, why even bring up the vampire thing anyway, since literally nothing came of it? Was that just placed there to remind us what movie this is based on?

And if they are trying to find the kidnapper/murderer of these young girls, why were none of them saveable? Like, some were found alive instead of them all ending up dead and in pieces? They could have used their powers of finding people to find some of the girls.

As far as The Craft goes, the only time I really got a likeness is when Neve (a side character, the main character is Mayhem….) goes completely off the rails for no good reason other than the addiction to the magical water messing up her body. She went crazy with power, a la Fairuza Balks character in The Craft. While we are on the topic of Neve… wait I just realized something as I was typing. There is an actress in The Craft named NEVE Campbell, so there’s another connection…. Anyway, I feel like Neve’s storyline just like, got lost on the way to the end of the book. Really, I feel like a lot of things weren’t properly wrapped up. Things brought up and not followed through on…. I don’t know. I feel like my review has turned into a rant as I started processing all my feelings.

I normally love to read books inspired by some of my favorite movies, but typically the story has its own plot and does something to spin or twist the film it was inspired by. In this case, the only twist seemed to be that the main characters/heroes were girls/women. The history of the women in the family is one of the things I really liked in this book. It gave me Practical Magic vibes. I also like how they were so rooted to their town, and the town cherished them instead of harassing them or being frightened of them.

Overall, I think the likeness to The Lost Boys took this book down a notch for me. Outside of that, the magic and the water are unique, the history of the women in the family is interesting and helped add to the explanation of of their powers. It does give you a bit of that “take back the night” vibe, and hopefully this book can help a girl to maybe not be so afraid of what lurks in the dark.

I was sold the first time I read that it was like The Craft (which is one of my favorite movies tbh) I don’t quit get The Lost Boys reference as I haven’t watched the movie yet (I am sorry please don’t hate me). So most of my review comes from not noticing the Lost Boys references and just for the novel itself.

I quickly dove in and fell in love with Mayhem. She’s strong and she tries to look out for her mother, Roxy who was abused by her husband. Mayhem was able to get her mom out of her stepfather’s grasp. What I liked about how Estelle Laure wrote is that she made them into diary entries which gave Mayhem a chance to finally let the readers know what she’s experiencing and how she’s coping with finding this new information about her family. I loved how Mayhem was able to full grasp her powers and how it made her question her morals and her own truth. With her being a vigilante she started to question about who she truly was and if she was ready to take revenge from people like if they really deserved what is coming for them despite oh whatever sick thing they’ve done. It comes with how we question the worth of human life and I think Mayhem for her age was able to get a few things right with her own truth and how she’s going to move forward.

The entries of the Brayburn Women before Mayhem helped explain what their powers are and how it affects their lives in those times. It offers great help to Mayhem and to the reader to understand how this affects a person and how they have chosen to deal with such responsibility. It showed how most of the Brayburn women accepted their gift and showed how Roxy tried to run away from hers and the effects of her trying to hide who she was.

I only wished there was more pages about what happened to Neve (one of Mayhem’s friends) and how she turned out that way (no spoiler spoiler?) I’m invested in her story and I just want to know how she became a spunky girl who lived by her own rules.

Thank you for letting me be a part of the Mayhem Blog Tour and I truly loved the book.



TL:DR It has badass women, vampires, magic, and some great 80s nostalgia

4.5 out 5 stars (coz I want more of Neve lol)

Resembled The Lost Boys a little too much for me. I really loved what the author was trying to do but it felt more like The Lost Boys fanfiction at best.

I went into Mayhem with no knowledge of the book, and as a primarily YA rom-com reader/reviewer, I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this book. I thought the heavy topics were engaged with well and with purpose. Each character bloomed to life the deeper I got into the book, and I felt there was so much to connect with each of them, to the point that Mayhem wasn't even the main character, but they were all telling their stories. I thought the ending wrapped up everything nicely, yet gave questions for the readers to ponder after the last page.

When I heard the premise of this one (a feminist, female-fronted retelling of the Lost Boys? SIGN ME UP) I was SO excited. I had clearly had pretty high hopes for this one, but this book ended up being really weird and honestly just.. underwhelming? The writing itself was great, but the story as a whole felt like it was all over the place and it didn't work for me the way that I was so hoping it would. I'm interested to read more from Estelle Laure after finishing this, but I don't think that <i>Mayhem</i> was the book for me.

TW: domestic abuse, slut shaming, rape, drug use

Many thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

TW: domestic abuse, drug abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, murder

"Mayhem" was widely publicised as a “YA feminist mash up inspired by The Lost Boys and The Craft”, but I haven’t read or watched either of those, so I went into this book with a very blank slate.

The story is basically Mayhem and her mom, Roxy, running away from an abusive stepfather to Santa Maria, Roxy’s hometown. Mayhem meets her extended family (including her aunt’s adopted kids), and soon discovers a family secret that changes everything.

I’m gonna start off with the characters. So, we have Mayhem Brayburn, the main character and narrator of the whole story. I wasn’t a huge fan of her because I felt she lacked depth as a character. There was more focus on her family history than actually herself and what makes her, her. Even her mom, Roxy, didn’t really catch my interest until around the 70% mark of the book, but I still found her more interesting than Mayhem herself. I’m still a bit confused about the story behind the aunt, Elle; she was more of a “fairy godmother” persona, which didn’t really make a lot of sense to me. The characters that really hooked my interest were Elle’s adopted kids: Jason, Neve, and Kidd. I loved Jason and Kidd as siblings: their dynamic was interesting and they had more personality than even Mayhem. Neve’s character had so much more potential, and I expected so much more from her, but her storyline sort of fell flat at the end.

Laure’s plot here was very interesting. The Brayburn heritage was full of mystery and magic, and I was really interested in figuring it all out along with Mayhem. At the end of the story, I was still not completely sure what the Brayburns are - Witches? Vampires? - but it was a very different take from the superhero version of vigilante justice. One plot point that I felt could have been executed better is the side-villain, the Sand Snatcher. Cool name and MO, but once again I felt like the storyline fell flat once again. Did we even really need this villain when we had the abusive stepfather on the loose? I liked the overall plotline, which was interesting, but maybe it was a bit too heavy for a standalone?

Although I enjoyed the process of finding out about the Brayburn family secret along with Mayhem, I feel that multiple POVs could have benefitted this story a lot more and made it way more interesting. Since Mayhem was confused and clueless for the majority of the book, so was I! Laure really nailed the secretive and mystical mood of the story, as well as a curious tone since we’re seeing everything through Mayhem’s eyes. But, I really think "Mayhem" would have done better with a little more focus on the characters rather than the story-building focus.

"Mayhem" tackled some heavy themes throughout, but the ones that really stood out to me were abuse and ‘murder versus justice’. Roxy’s journey throughout the book was coping in the aftermath of being in an abusive relationship and drug addiction. She went through stages of recovery that were very nicely depicted, but way too fast - the whole book was a bit too fast-paced, in all honesty. But I was also intrigued because Mayhem, being a third person, had already understood and anticipated all of Roxy’s stages of recovery. That was a nice little touch. The ‘murder versus justice’ discussion enters in the second half of the story. Not everyone in the story agreed on this debate, and everyone had their own view on it. That was a nice touch since it made it a bit more multifaceted rather than everyone agreeing on “yes, vigilante justice isn’t the same as murder”.

Overall, "Mayhem" had great potential, but the story went by way too fast and there wasn’t really much time to flesh out the characters and the plot. I enjoyed it but I might have loved it as a series with a good pace to the story.

A magical, unsettling step back to 80s beach culture.

Mayhem doesn’t know what it means to be a Brayburn. She only knows that her mom ran from an idyllic beach town and a loving family, ran hard: to small-town Texas, an abusive marriage, and a cascade of alcohol & pharmaceuticals.

When the pair finally return to California, Mayhem discovers a long history of powerful Brayburn women: women who move too fast, who know dark secrets, who kill with their lips and hands and breath. Brayburn women are the stuff of legends. Living, terrifying, town-guardian legends.

I adored the mythology, drawn from a collective conscious of campfire tales of witches, vampires, sirens, and succubi. Smalltown legend and a beautiful, terrible truth.

I did struggle with underdeveloped social elements. The world felt oddly white. I read 2 kids as Black Latinx, but this felt superficial: they used bad Spanish at a taco truck and that was as far as this identity extended. Mayhem acted like she’d never heard the language; which is hard to believe in TX and California.

There was solid queer rep: a witchy lesbian aunt and a pansexual friend. I wanted Mayhem to be queer too!

TWs: abuse and trauma, physical assault, gaslighting, and rape. Victim-blaming, addictions, and prominent police presence.

I didn’t feel that all these threads resolved. Many questions were left open by design, though I wish the author acknowledged lingering red flags.

I adored the magical world of the story, but despite the “vintage” setting, I‘d have liked to see it tackle identities and oppression in a way that better addresses modern readers. ...what that means this year is a moving target, and unfortunately I think we are in for a few years of publications feeling out of sync with our experiences and ideals for social justice.

For me this is definitely a before-times book. I’ll be excited to see more from the author’s incredible mind for myths and magic, especially as publishing is able to catch up to after-times.

Mayhem Brayburn’s mother fled her home in Santa Maria, California, after her husband Lucas died, cutting all ties and marrying again to another man in a small town in Texas. The tradeoff she’s made is that her new husband beats her, and in avoiding the reality of her situation, she has become an alcoholic and addict. When Mayhem’s stepfather turns against her, her mother finally realizes the situation is untenable, and having nowhere else to go, she flees with Mayhem back to her sister Elle and childhood home in Santa Maria.

As Roxy tries to recover from her destructive relationship and her addiction, Mayhem develops relationships with Elle’s foster children: Neve, Jason, and Kidd. The three of them take her to their “hideaway”, a difficult-to-reach sea cave with a freshwater spring, and tell her that to truly be one of them she must drink from the spring, but once she does, she won’t be able to leave Santa Maria. After drinking the water, Mayhem can see the hidden secrets in other people’s minds. Her aunt explains that generations of the women in Mayhem’s family have drunk and developed an addiction to the water, dating back to the rape of the first woman in their family to come to Santa Maria. The water in the “hideaway” gives the Brayburn women the power to see secrets, but the price is that they must identify predatory men, drain their souls, and kill them. Elle tells her that the Brayburn women are the only ones able to preserve their sanity after drinking the water, so the people of Santa Maria are at risk if Mayhem doesn’t step up. A serial killer, the Sand Snatcher, is on the loose, and Mayhem’s first assignment is to find him, drain him, and kill him. And then there’s the problem of Mayhem’s stepfather, who isn’t ready to let go…

Interleaved with Mayhem’s story (which takes place in 1987) are journal entries and documents Mayhem has discovered by the Brayburn women who have come before her, beginning with the first, Julianna, and going through the generations: Julianna’s daughter Billie, Billie’s daughter Stitcher, and Stitcher’s daughter Roxy (Mayhem’s mother). While short, these express the individual personality of each woman effectively, and lead Mayhem to understand her part in the community of Santa Maria.

It is refreshing to see a new kind of monster show up in the horror genre. Elle’s best guess is that the Brayburn women are similar to the sluagh, but while the author may have taken inspiration from their legend, it’s been transformed into something different. The Brayburn women are monsters who must be fed, but they’re also saviors for the girls and women of Santa Maria, and while it may not be openly discussed, the town knows it. The Brayburn women exact a terrible kind of justice on predatory men that the law cannot, and for many girls and women this may be a cathartic, if disturbing, read.



Contains: Murder, torture, rape, violence, suicide.