Mayhem, by Estelle Laure, tells the story of Mayhem Brayburn, who grew up in a small town in Texas with her mother and her abusive stepfather. When the stepfather lashes out at Mayhem, her mother runs away with her. They go to Santa Maria, California, where their family had lived for generations and where Mayhem had been born. While there, Mayhem meets her aunt’s foster children and begins to learn about their family’s magic while grappling with what that means for her morals and whether it is worth the cost.

This wasn’t necessarily and action-packed book, but I really enjoyed the story. It starts slow, but there’s a lot of action towards the end. There were a few points where scenes felt rushed, or certain plot points felt glossed-over, but it was overall well structured. It is a more character-driven than plot-driven story, and revolves heavily around Mayhem learning about her family’s history and legacy.

I know there are people who thought the plot was too close to that of The Lost Boys, which the author cites as one of her major influences for the story. I can’t speak too much to the similarities, having never seen The Lost Boys, but from what I can tell from reading a summary of it, the setup is the biggest connection between them is the setup, and the plot and magic system and everything are very different. All the vampire references in the book do make more sense to me now that I realize they’re allusions to the movie.

I really liked all of the characters in this book. They’re all a little broken, some more than others, but they’re all doing their best.

Mayhem Brayburn is the protagonist. She spends most of the book struggling with learning about her family history and what that means for her, as well as figuring out her newfound independence from her mother now that they’re not in the middle of an abusive situation any more. I really liked her; it’s a period of instability for her, and she is trying to cope with all of the changes.

Roxy Brayburn is Mayhem’s mother. I didn’t love her, but I understood why she did everything she did. She fled Santa Maria with a baby Mayhem after her husband’s death, and only returned when she had too, even though she wasn’t necessarily ready. She spends most of the book struggling with drug addiction, and trying to get back on her feet after escaping a situation she thought she would be in for the rest of her life. I don’t think she is a very good mother to Mayhem, but she does try her best in the difficult situations she is put in, and I think she does improve by the end of the book.

Lyle is Mayhem’s stepfather, and though he is not physically there for most of the book, his presence is still very much felt. He is abusive and terrible, and that’s really all I can say about him.

Elle Brayburn is Roxy’s sister and Mayhem’s aunt who they move in with. Her character isn’t explored very much, but I liked her, and I especially enjoyed her relationship with her sister after they hadn’t seen each other for over a decade.

Neve is one of Elle’s foster children. She and the other foster children introduce Mayhem to the Brayburn magic, which they are also using despite it having negative effects on them, since it isn’t meant to be used by non-Brayburns. I liked her for most of the book; she’s unstable, but it is mostly the effects of the magic on her rather than actually reflective of her character.

Jason and Kidd are the other two foster children, and they are biological siblings. They were my two favorite characters. Kidd is only 9, but she was sweet and funny. Jason is Mayhem’s love interest, and I really liked him too; he’s struggling with guilt over his parents’ deaths and over having gotten himself and his sister involved in magic that he knows will start affecting them negatively, and doesn’t really know what to do about it. They’ve both been through a lot, like Mayhem, and they help her to deal with what happened to her.

The world building of this book was really interesting, though I feel like it could have gone a bit more in depth regarding the Brayburn family magic, as some aspects of it were kind of glossed over. The writing was gorgeous and lyrical, which definitely added to the overall tone of the story. The plot was intriguing and the characters complex, and it was overall really well-done. I’m giving it 4 stars; I would have liked for the world building and plot to be a little more fleshed-out, but it was overall a really good book.