Book Review
Title: Mayhem
Author: Estelle Laure
Genre: YA/Family/Occult
Rating: ****
Review: Mayhem has been on my radar for a while as the synopsis really caught by eye and when I got the chance to review it, I jumped at it. The opening letter of Mayhem introduces us to the Brayburn family as Roxy leaves with her daughter after what seems like the suicide of her partner, Lucas but there seems to be something also going on with someone named Elle, who might be Roxy’s sister. Roxy is taken Mayhem and leaving Santa Maria despite her family’s wish for her to stay close because she feels it is the best thing she can do for her daughter at that moment in time. The opening to Mayhem certainly was gripping and made me ask a lot of questions and I can’t wait to find out what the answers are as the novel progresses.
We jump forward to when Mayhem is older, most likely in here mid-teens as she and her mother flee from Mayhem’s abusive step-father, Lyle who has beaten her mother for years. However, Roxy is extremely on edge about returning to California even though the only member of her family still alive is her twin sister, Elle. We get some clues about something larger going on in the form of Roxy’s mysterious illness and Mayhem sharing the pull to water that her mother mentioned in the letter to her grandmother in the beginning of the novel. Elle and Roxy couldn’t be more different, Roxy is controlled while Elle is a free spirit and Mayhem is a bit uncomfortable as she is introduced to Elle’s foster children but she is glad to be away from Lyle. Mayhem is also very curious as Elle tells her she looks like her grandmother, combined with her mother’s stories of her children here she is eager to find the answers to the questions she has about her family and her father and instinctively knows that they are hidden in this house.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Mayhem is trying to learn more about herself and where she came from beside what her mother has told her but we also see a tension between Roxy and Elle. Obviously, something happened in their past, something that Roxy hasn’t never forgiven Elle for bur we don’t know what it is. As Mayhem settles into her new life alongside the other kids, Neve, Jason, and Kidd, she comes across a diary that might have been written by her great-great-grandmother; Julianna and might hold the key to what it really means to be a Brayburn and why her mother left in the first place. Mayhem is learning that there is something strange going on in Santa Maria as girls are going missing and that everyone treats her like royalty. However, through observing Elle’s children she realises that there is something more going on here but doesn’t get to ask question as she is taken to the police station with her mother to make a report again her step-father. The officer, Boner, is a friend from Roxy’s past and is the person who takes the report, upon returning home both Roxy and Mayhem are emotionally exhausted and Mayhem decides to continue reading Julianna’s journal. Here we learn of how Julianna feel in love with her eventual husband but before that she was raped and found herself pregnant. After the rape, she prayed for the destruction of the man that raped her and found herself with powers that she didn’t have before and she attributes it to witchcraft. This part of the journal does make sense and matches up with the strange things happening around Mayhem and why everyone looks at her strangely.
As we the cross the ¼ mark in the novel, things aren’t turning out how Mayhem imagined them. After making the report Roxy has retreated from her daughter which seems to be quite common leaving Mayhem alone as Elle works and the children basically ignore her for the majority of the time she has been there. By the time she manages to coax Roxy out of her shell again, she begins to form a bond with Kidd, who seems to have the ability to see into the past as she knows things about Mayhem that only she knows and Kidd also recognises that Mayhem is someone who has been abused and controlled for most of her life, like them before they came to Elle. She does hang out with the children on one occasion where they go to the beach but she later learns there is a reason behind Neve, Kidd and Jason being so distant and it all centres around the Brayburn family. I must admit that while not much has happened in the way of action or drama, Estelle Laure definitely knows how to write characters and relationship and these are some of the most believable relationships I have seen written in quite a long time. We finally get to see the mystery behind the Brayburn family starting to come together but I have a feeling that there is a lot more to be revealed. The children take Mayhem aside after promising Roxy that they won’t go near the beach as there are still girls going missing in the area. Neve gives Mayhem some mushrooms and explains that after she takes them they will be able to show her the truth that they have been a part of since they came into Elle’s family. Mayhem takes the mushrooms and begins to trip but she also begins to understand some of the things Neve has been saying that she didn’t understand before. Despite Jason’s protests, they decide to take Mayhem to their hideout which is an underwater cave, but the cave itself is dry.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, once they arrive at the cave, the children explains that the water there is magic and it will open her to the truth if she drinks it, however, Jason does tell her once she drinks she will crave it the same way they do and that this is her opportunity to turn back. Mayhem doesn’t as she agrees with Neve that people are keeping secrets from her and she wants to know the truth about who she is and drinks. While we don’t know what this means for her yet, we do know that Elle told her children not to bring Mayhem there and to let her find it on her own otherwise Roxy would freak out. However, it is hypocritical that Elle said this and yet the time they went to the beach, Mayhem also swam into it and Elle sent Jason to bring her back to the beach. In the aftermath of drinking the water, Mayhem is more open to the world around her but she doesn’t completely understand it yet but drinking the water also caused changes in her body. When she returns home, Elle pulls her aside and gives her a necklace containing a small amount of the water and she will wear it until a time when she doesn’t need it anymore. Elle explains that by drinking she is now a part of the Brayburn legacy like her and her mother but her mother has been trying to rid herself of her Brayburn blood by moving away and taking pills and Mayhem sees this for herself as her mother appears blurry around the edges, the dullness, Jason called it. For the first time we see Mayhem changes from a mild, meek girl to speaking the truth she has kept inside for so long and turning her back on her mother for hiding all the important things from her but Elle’s children are willing to teach her.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Elle explains more about their family history and how the powers each Brayburn woman has is different using herself and Roxy as an example. She tells Mayhem that their job is dispatching the evil that finds it’s way into Santa Maria as they can find it easily in the dark, and their latest target is the Sand Snatcher, the kidnapper haunting the area. However, before Mayhem can help Neve and the others she needs to get tap into her abilities and be able to control them which is what Elle begins teaching her and unlike Neve, Jason, and Kidd, she is a natural because she is a true Brayburn. Her final task is to find the three children hiding somewhere on the farm and she finds Kidd and Neve easily, but Jason proves harder because of her feelings for him. We know that Brayburn women only have one true love and it seems only children from that pairing are considered true Brayburn children, Roxy, and Lucas as well as her grandparents were all true pairs, Elle is the exception as her true love is a woman named Melissa. I have a feeling that Jason is Mayhem’s true love which is why she feels so drawn to him and is even encouraged by Neve to pursue him even when they have their own thing going on. However, before she finds Jason and kisses him for the first time, she has a vision about the Sand Snatcher and learns that he is a lifeguard which is how he chooses the women he is going to take because he can watch them all day without being confronted as it is his job. It is clear from Elle’s reaction to Mayhem’s revelation that her ability hasn’t been seen in the Brayburn family since Julianna and her sight is obviously stronger and I was very eager to see where the story was going to go now.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Mayhem knows who the Sand Snatcher is even if Neve can’t get a read off him and they return the information to Elle who tells them that when night falls they will go after him and deal with him. Mayhem is worried about having to kill someone but Neve just tells her to follow her instincts and she will know what to do when the time comes and she does. She does it so well in fact, that Jason looks terrified of her and she is immediately hit with the reality of what she has just done despite the fact he kidnapped and killed all those girls. The relationship between Roxy and Mayhem is also dissolving as Mayhem enjoys being a Brayburn and feels powerful enough to threaten Lyle when he calls and knows she will deal with him the same way when he eventually comes for them. However, her mother wants to take her away again but there is no way in hell Mayhem is ever going to leave now, when she finally has everything she ever wanted and more. Roxy finally comes around to what Mayhem has been telling her and decides to detox but things are getting difficult as Neve is showing signs of the madness that affects people who aren’t a Brayburn but have drunk the water. Despite all attempts to get through to Neve, they aren’t working and I have a feeling that like Mayhem’s father she might kill herself or have to be killed in order to stop her. However, Elle does know of a few non-Brayburn people who have survived the detox from the water so they might be hope for Neve, Jason, and Kidd yet. Jason and Mayhem’s relationship is also developing as she confesses that he is her true love and they spend the night together which was a nice change of pace.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, the pieces of the puzzles are finally coming together as we learn the truth behind the Brayburn family and why they were chosen and why outsiders can’t be part of that. Mayhem uses her gifts to save her mother and herself from Lyle but she retains the pure heart she inherited from her father as she saves Neve, Kidd and Jason from the horrid fate that awaited them. Mayhem requires a lot of emotional investment as the first half of the novel is exposition as we are introduced to the characters and the Brayburn family and for me the final part of the novel just didn’t resolve everything in a satisfying manner for me. Overall, I would say it is well worth the read but the ending did require some work and as far as I am aware this is a standalone novel, so it just didn’t quite merit a five star rating for me.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.com
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