Tour Stop: Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel

- April 08, 2014

Title: Daughter of Chaos
Series: Red Magic #1
Author: Jen McConnel
Publisher: Month9Books
Genre/Age Range: Young Adult, Paranormal
Release Date: March 25, 2014

Purchase Links:
Goodreads / Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle / B&N / itunes / Bookdepository / Kobo

Blurb

Witches must choose the path they will follow, and Darlena Agara is no exception. She’s been putting it off long enough, and in her case, ignoring it has not made it go away. In a moment of frustration, Darlena chooses to follow Red Magic, figuring she had outsmarted the powers that be, since there’s no such thing as Red Magic. But alas, Darlena’s wrong (again) and she becomes a newly declared Red Witch.
Her friends are shocked and her parents horrified by the choice Darlena has made. As a Red Witch, she now governs one third of the world’s chaos. She is the walking personification of pandemonium, turmoil, and bedlam, just as the patrons of Red Magic would have it to be.
But Darlena believes there must be more to Red Magic than chaos and destruction, and she sets out on a journey to achieve balance. Only doing so puts her at odds with the dark goddess Hecate, who simply will not allow Darlena to quit. She encourages Darlena to embrace who and what she is and to leave good magic to the good witches. If only Darlena could, life would be simple, and she would not be the Daughter of Chaos.
DAUGHTER OF CHAOS is the first in the RED MAGIC paranormal YA trilogy.

5-Star Review

Wow! this book is AMAZING! I loved it and I think its one of a kind, refreshingly original story about a witch who chooses a path she doesn't even know exists. When the Queen of Witches- Hecate appears in Darlena's house and demands that she chooses her path, Darlena does exactly that but wait. what has she chosen? Why is everyone freaking out over her choice?

"Will you walk the White, the Black, or the Green?"

But she doesn't choose any of these. She chooses Red. She wasn't ready to make her choice but now that she has, she must live with it. And as it turned out it was not an easy path, which she had chosen. Red magic is the magic of chaos, destruction and disaster. Darlena is now one of the only three Red Witches in the world. And suddenly she is the center of attention. all goddesses want to control her, and through her the power of Blood magic. But what does Darlena wants? she doesn't even know what the Red magic exactly is or how it will affect her and people around her. Anyhow she is going to find out soon. And....

"......there is more to it,"

"Red Magic had changed me in ways I wasn't prepared to deal with."

But it was her burden now and she must deal with it because it was her choice. She can complain all she likes but the truth remains, she chose it with her own free will. After meeting Hecate, Presephone, Pele and Kali she end up vowing to Aphrodite. Who only wants to teach her Love magic. But was that the right path for her? That remained to be seen...

"Energy is never good or evil: it just is."

After facing many difficulties in the end she finds her purpose and she knew that she had made the right choice. Being a Red Witch was one thing she will never regret. She may not be able to find love, as she couldn't possibly put Justine into harm's way but she will find a way to balance the forces of Chaos. She will learn to minimize tragedy even though she can never eradicate it completely.

A beautifully written book which will leave you craving for more....more magic. For the fans of mythology this book is a must read. As you learn more about Red Magic and Darlene, you'll meet many goddesses and know little about them along the way. Although part of a trilogy, this book can be read as stand alone as there was no cliffhanger (thankfully, otherwise I may not have been able to wait for the next book. Its going to be difficult enough now ;)). One thing I have noticed and loved about Jen's work is that, in a very subtle way, she always touches the hard truths of life and our world. While talking about chaos and mayhem, she tries to portray a bigger and clearer picture of the way the world works How we don't need good or evil, dark or light, but a perfect balance between the two. This, more than anything, makes her books timeless. Although its a young adult novel but I think that it can be enjoyed by people of any age who like paranormal and myths. Its definitely a 5-star book.

About the Author

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).
She is also a former reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and a proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.
A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. She's a graduate of Western Michigan University, and she also earned her MS in Library Science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.
Follow Jen on Twitter @Jen_McConnel, and visit www.jenmcconnel.com to learn more.