Before I dig into sharing information about Mayhem and its lovely author, Estelle Laure, I want to take a second to thank Wednesday Books for reaching out to ask my interest in doing this blog tour, and I want to send another thank you to Netgalley for proving the e-ARC that allowed me to deep dive into this spellbinding tale in advance. From me to you, much thanks!
Now, onto all things Mayhem!
The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls in this supernatural feminist YA novel.
It's 1987 and unfortunately it's not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy's constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem's own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren't like everyone else.
But when May's stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem's questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good.
But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.
From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and saying when enough is enough.
Accompanying this story is a letter from the author at the beginning to warn of triggering content, and in this letter she also addresses her personal connection to the story. I really appreciate when authors preface their story in this manner. Not only does it help to warn of situations that could take a reader into a bad mental space if unprepared, it also always draws the author nearer to me and makes them seem more real, concrete and not just a concept.
Dear Reader,
Like Mayhem, I experienced a period of time when my life was extremely unstable. I can still remember what it was like to be shaken so hard I thought my head would come off, to watch the room vibrate, to feel unsafe in my own home, to never know what was coming around the next corner. I wanted to run. I always wanted to run.
I ran to friends, but also movies and books, and although girls were more passively portrayed in movies like The Lost Boys back then, that feeling of teenagers prowling the night, taking out bad people, being unbeatable . . . that got me through it.
I guess that’s what I tried to do here. I wanted girls who feel powerless to be able to imagine themselves invincible. And yes, I used a rape as the seed for that fierce lineage, not without thought. For me, there is nothing worse, and I like to think great power can rise up as a result of a devastating trespass.
Please know I took none of this lightly. Writing this now, my heart is beating hard and my throat is dry. This is the first time I not only really looked at my own past, the pain of loss, the pain of the loss of trust that comes when someone puts hands on you without permission, the pain of people dying, the shock of suicide, and put all of it to paper in a way that made me feel victorious, strong, and warrior-like. It is also terrifying. I know I’m not the only one who had a scary childhood, and I know I’m not the only one who clings to stories as salve to smooth over burnt skin. I am so sick of girls and women being hurt. This was my way of taking my own vengeance and trying to access forgiveness.
Thank you for reading and for those of you who can relate, I see you and you are not alone.
Estelle Laure
The following is my honest review.
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!
If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please visit here.
ESTELLE LAURE
If you are inclined to acquaint yourself with Estelle Laure and her other works--which I hope you are!--please read on to learn more about her and places you can interact with her.
Bio
Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.
Social Media
Twitter: @starlaure
Instagram: @estellelaurebooks
Bio
Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.
Social Media
Twitter: @starlaure
Instagram: @estellelaurebooks