The Chaos of Stars

Isadora's family is seriously screwed up - which comes with the territory when you're the human daughter of the ancient Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris. Isadora is tired of living with crazy relatives who think she's only worth of a passing glance - so when she gets the chance to more to California with her brother, she jumps on it. But her new life comes with plenty of its own dramatic - and dangerous - complications... and Isadora quickly learns there's no such thing as a clean break from family.

Blending Ally Carter's humor and the romance of Cynthia Hand's Unearthly, The Chaos of Stars takes readers on an unforgettable journey halfway across the world and back, and proves there's no place like home.

Beth says 2.5 Stars...
I have some very conflicting feelings about this book.  I've read several of White's other novels and thoroughly enjoyed them, so I was looking forward to this one.  The cover immediately pulls you in because it's just flat out gorgeous and by then end of the book does connect back to the story, something that doesn't always happen when the image is so striking.  The plot isn't that bad and I really like the idea of the story.  Imagine that the gods and goddesses of yesteryear are still among us and very much keeping their traditions alive.  It's a similar basis than Gaiman's American Gods had, but this book isn't quite as well realized.  The mysterious plot is highly underdeveloped and the pieces don't fall into some semblance of a place until the very last second.  The little interludes (I call them that because I'm still not sure whether or not they were entirely flashbacks or dreams) at the beginning of each chapter didn't really serve a point.  Most of the plot was spent with Isadora doing nothing of consequence and it dragged.

My biggest issue was in connecting with Isadora, as in I found it impossible.  I found her beyond irritating.  She's entitled, refuses to listen to others, and in general acts like an angsty spoiled brat.  Not who I want to read about.  Of course being sheltered all her life she doesn't realize that she's absolutely gorgeous, although she spurns all advances because of the impermanence of mortal life.  Enter the love interest, Ry, who tries to convince Isadora that she's wrong about love and life.  I liked his character and would have much rather spent time inside his head.  The problem is that everything is filtered through Isadora and her annoyingly pessimistic worldview.  She can't handle happiness and must find problems (or potential problems) in every situation.  I wish that the other characters had more time because I think more deeply developed secondary characters could have significantly improved the novel.

The worst part is that the idea for this book is so fantastic.  I love the thought and would give a book told from a different character's perspective (Ry, perhaps) a chance because I still think there's potential here.  Unfortunately, this didn't live up to my expectations.  Despite the pretty cover, this one's a pass.
ebook from library

Alpha Goddess

In Serjana Caelum’s world, gods exist. So do goddesses. Sera knows this because she is one of them. A secret long concealed by her parents, Sera is Lakshmi reborn, the human avatar of an immortal Indian goddess rumored to control all the planes of existence. Marked by the sigils of both heaven and hell, Sera’s avatar is meant to bring balance to the mortal world, but all she creates is chaos. A chaos that Azrath, the Asura Lord of Death, hopes to use to unleash hell on earth.

Torn between reconciling her past and present, Sera must figure out how to stop Azrath before the Mortal Realm is destroyed. But trust doesn’t come easy in a world fissured by lies and betrayal. Her best friend Kyle is hiding his own dark secrets, and her mysterious new neighbor, Devendra, seems to know a lot more than he’s telling. Struggling between her opposing halves and her attraction to the boys tied to each of them, Sera must become the goddess she was meant to be, or risk failing, which means sacrificing the world she was born to protect.
from goodreads.com

Beth says 3 Stars...
I really like the idea of this book.  I'm not particularly familiar with Hindu mythology, so the idea of learning something through the novel was exciting.  Granted, I do know more now than I did when I started the book.  I know it's common, but I really wish that the end notes that actually described the gods, goddesses, and other parts of the philosophy and mythology would have been at the beginning.  I probably would have been less confused and had a lot more fun while reading it if I'd known more about the different gods, goddesses, and other mythological players.  I had an issue with the pacing of the book and its distribution of information.  Although the plot summary makes it seem like the book moves quickly into the main action, that isn't the case.  It took (for me) too long for Howard to explain the basics of the plot; we spent far too much time with Sera attempting to figure out what's going on with her.  Once the action finally got going the book pulled me in, but it just took too long.  Had I not been both a compulsive book finisher and given this for review, I might have put it down.

Sera handled the situation pretty well.  I kind of liked her as a character and thought that she did have a bit of depth.  However, I couldn't muster up really strong feelings for her even when she was in danger.  I didn't emotionally connect with her or her journey.  There is, of course, the requisite love triangle putting our magical heroine in between two extremely different, yet still amazingly hot, guys.  The different heros vying for Sera's attention do make sense, but I sometimes get irritated with how overused the plot device is.  Of course, one guy appeals to her light side and the other to her dark side like romantic duct tape.  I actually want a story about Sera's parents and more details about how they ended up together because that would be juicy.  I guess that's telling; I found the vaguely detailed romance of the main character's parents more compelling than the central love triangle of the book.

The book was just okay.  I feel as though this might be the set up of a series and I'm a bit torn as to whether or not to continue if Howard does.  On one hand I now have a better grasp of the mythology, but on the other I don't find the main character particularly compelling.  This might be good for someone who's really into Hindu mythology, but I've heard a few things about some inaccuracies.  Regardless, this one was just okay.
ebook from Publisher