The Chaos of Now

The Chaos of Now

Author: Erin Jade Lange

Published: October 4th, 2018

Pages: 352

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Publisher: Faber Faber

Received an advanced copy from NETGALLEY in return for my honest review!

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Goodreads Description: 

When Jordan Bishop set himself on fire at Haver High school as a result of internet bullying, it triggered a nationwide crackdown. New laws empower teachers to become cyber snoops in case of abuse on social media.

For teen hacker, Eli Bennett, the laws put fundamental freedoms at risk. And he’s not alone in thinking this. Approached by two mysterious hackers, Eli is recruited into a group that wants justice for Jordan the way Jordan would’ve wanted it.

But what starts as a bit of fun to rile the cyber snoops soon spirals out of control. Revenge on Jordan’s bullies could be classed as bullying itself…

At best, Eli’s school career is in jeopardy, at worst, once more lives are at risk.

Things I enjoyed about this book: 

I love the fact that Erin Jade Lange tackles such a prevalent topic bullying. Anti-bullying is my jam so I was super excited to pre-read this book! I also enjoyed that coding was the a main concept in this book, it’s not the norm to have some as “nerdy” as coding in a novel.

The Things I Didn’t Enjoy: 

The Chaos of Now had so many parts that felt far-fetched. It was hard to believe every twist and turn. There were times when it was hard to connect with the characters. I couldn’t tell if it was because of ME or because of the writing.

MRS BIRDS WORDS REVIEW

Erin Jade Lange deserves 3 out of 5 bird feathers for her novel The Chaos of Now. I truly wanted to give this book 4 feathers, but the lack of reality really pulled me back. The plot felt slow in  a few places. I truly loved that The Chaos of Now was littered with coding talk. I appreciated the hard subjects tackled including suicide and bullying. I think these are subjects that need to be talked about. The one relationship that I did love was the main character, Eli and his father’s girlfriend. For some reason, I was excited every time they interacted. I don’t often read a book and think, ” I’d definitely recommend this for a boy.” I do think many boys would find it interesting. With that said, I think girls would enjoy it too- perhaps just more relatable because of the three male protagonists not because its about coding… Girls should code!  Overall, I’d recommend it but would be prepared for some literary stretching.

Parent’s Guide:

Swearing, sex, crime, and suicide. It would make a great conversation starter to read with your teen and discuss!

©CLVB2018