Son of War, Daughter of Chaos: an enemies to lovers, teen paranormal romance

I just adore this book. It pulled me in and didn’t let me go. I tried to put it down but then picked it right back up. Such a fun read!!

Interesting premiseNot quite your usual overly dramatised YA fantasyEnjoyed the Egyptian angle

Definitely different from Rallison's previous offerings, this book has a much darker feel to it than what she usually writes. But her trademark humor does occasionally show itself and the concept itself is really interesting. 2 warring factions that can trace their origins back to ancient Eygpt continue their battle today, hidden from the eyes of the general population. Set, the Egyptian god of Chaos, is associated with one group while the other group follows the ancient Egyptian god Horus. We don't see any actual worshipping, rather the focus is on the conflict that has existed between the 2 groups for thousands of years. Each has special, superhuman abilities and they would both like to wipe out the other. Aislynn has grown up in a family that descends from these groups, although as a Senior in high school she has no idea that they even exist. But she soon finds herself pulled into a war that she really wants no part of. Especially since she knows and cares about people on both sides of the conflict.Things I liked: I liked Aislynn for the most part. She was definitely worth cheering for despite some poor choices made (in my opinion). I liked the Egyptian historical & mythological tie to the groups. I liked Aislynn's solution to her own personal conflicted feelings (although we didn't see it until the end of the book). It is definitely risky, but shows her good desires and her strength of character (which earlier on in the story I was questioning as she stayed with a particular group that preyed on regular humans & justifies the behavior as something good/doing society a favor by removing these poor excuses of humanity). I liked and respected her strong feelings of love and loyalty to her family and her conflicted feelings about the people she cared about. Sometimes we can love & care about people that do terrible things, but we can't and shouldn't condone their bad choices and decisions. She had a hard time walking that line and I could respect that (even though I didn't like and was frustrated awhile at her lack of action. I felt that even though she didn't participate specifically in those wrong activities, she was still condoning it by staying with those people. Thank goodness she came through in the end).Things I didn't like: The romantic love triangle. Yeck. The speed at which Aislynn was willing to kiss a guy (or guys) that she was just barely getting to know. Again, yeck. But she started to make up for this towards the end of the story. And how long she stayed with the group that was murdering people for personal gain (refer back to last comment in the like section).The book does come to a conclusion, but there are open threads to the story that could lead to a sequel someday. I didn't mind it (a few open threads--life is messy) and I did like the book overall. It definitely captured my attention and held it through to the end.

This book had the normal romance and humor that are typical of Rallison, but there was also some suspense more like the books she writes as C.J. Hill. I was never gripping the edge of my seat or biting my nails, but that's not what I was looking for in this book. I wanted something with some action, some suspense, some romance, some humor, some conflict. I got it all. I felt for Aislynn who was forced to learn some very uncomfortable and disturbing things about her family and herself. She didn't agree with the actions of so many she cared about, but she stilled loved them and couldn't convince them to behave differently. Her feelings were more closely aligned with those she learned belonged to the enemy she'd been warned about her entire life. But she knew she couldn't trust the enemy with her own life let alone the lives of those she loves. I loved the conflict and I loved how she resolves that conflict in herself. She starts out as an ordinary teenager, but she becomes a strong adult.If you're into the dark YA books that are popular right now, this might not be the book for you. When people died in horrific ways, we learn about it, even stand on the fringes, but Rallison did not give the gory details--something I'm grateful for. I've been a Rallison fan for years, and this is book was no exception. In fact, it's already on of my favorites of her books.

I really enjoyed this one. I’m glad I was able to snag a copy while the author temporarily had it up on Amazon. She is in the process of updating the cover and making a few other changes before going live. I will read anything Rallison writes, but I was especially looking forward to this one because of the Egyptian mythology angle (I actually liked the Mummy movies and love learning about Egyptian history). It seems like so much focus is going towards Greek mythology and I thought this was a fun change.I’m still trying to figure out how to write this without giving away any spoilers. The book opens with Aislynn starting at a new school, but this move is different than the rest. This time she finally starts to believe that her father’s paranoia over “the enemy” may actually be true. I liked Aislynn, she was easy to relate to and you could understand how she was so torn. I liked her perspective on things; she was literally right in the middle, which made her able to see the good and the bad from both sides. (I know, this is really vague, but its hard to go into specifics without giving away too much.) I like how she finally takes charge and thought she was brave for what she ends up having to do.I loved the romance in this, there is a lot going on so it’s not really the main focus, but I loved it. I was worried there for awhile, but I loved how everything wrapped up.I think this is my favorite of Rallisons paranormal series, it was original and fun. I liked the take on Horusians and Setites (especially the Setites, that mythology seemed so much more believable and I wish I could write more about it.) Overall, a really fun read. BUY a copy as soon as it’s released, you won’t be disappointed. There HAS to be a sequel, I want more of Aislynn and Dane!