All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan
Rating: 
Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.
Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.
All Hail Chaos was one of my most anticipated reads for this year, and if you're too impatient to read the review, the short thing is that it did not disappoint. You can read my review of Long Live Evil before this one if you're interested in it. I am going to try my best to avoid big spoilers for this book because I think getting to the last few chapters and making those discoveries is an experience you can only get once when you read it and it's not worth spoiling. This does mean I will be writing one of those insane reviews that are a bunch of nonsense. I mean the title is all about chaos, so we might as well embrace it. All Hail Chaos! We left Rae engaged to her favourite character, the Emperor, whom is not whom she thought actually was. And she is afraid. Being the villainess was fun when it you think that it's just characters and not people like you, but once you cross the line, it becomes harder to make villainous decisions and things are a lot deadlier. Rae is trying her best to survive and for that she needs to continue her villainess chaos and to continue trying to not be predictable, and to challenge things. And at the same time she wants to free the Emperor and to free herself from the mess that has become. She also has Cobra trying to discover secrets and preempt some of the plot that they know happens, trying to make changes. And there's also Emer and Lia, who have escaped simply to stay in the town and start stoking a revolution. There's indeed a lot of chaos going on here, but the main thing they all have to grapple with is that there are constants for this story, and this plot, and they can try to change things, but they will come to happen one way or another. And sometimes the bargains, the fake engagements, the bravery, they backfire into something you can't predict or that maybe you hoped would not be the case. That part of them all trying to understand what the plot wants, how much they can push and pull at it and bend it to their will, and where it just won't budge was super fun and really cleverly done. This adds tot he twists and turns, and you know that there are going to be many, but they turn in on themselves as you hope something will happen and boom, something else ends up becoming the plot because it just won't bend that far and the bounce of trying to make it do things it just won't gets interesting. Navigating these many plot points and what the "original" plot was versus the many variations that slowly unravel, the butterfly effect of it all is a lesson in how to be a master in writing, and Sarah does it amazingly well. Another part of this was that as I read this, I kept thinking a lot about a phrase I live by, which is that you either become the person you needed most during a crisis or you become the villain and closer to those that caused you harm than the other way. And that at the end of the day, what you do, is a choice you make. All Hail Chaos is full of those moments where each character has to face the music and realise that the choice they are making will impact more than just this moment but also they only have a moment to decide. There is still a lot of sadness in this book, but whereas the first one was marked heavily by grief, here the grief has shifted more into vulnerability and pain. And in this book that pain makes some beautiful and beautifully ugly things. My recommendation is to definitely read this book and enjoy the ride, then despair because the third book is not out yet and you will need it immediately after you finish reading this.