Chaos Unleashed by Barry Hoffman

Summary Provided by Goodreads:

ONE GIRL MUST LEARN THAT BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF IS ONE OF LIFE S GREATEST HONORS.

Nothing is as it seems in a world where the living mingle with the dead and dreams can turn into frightening reality. Chaos is beginning to spread across the land and Dara is all that stands between the salvation of her beautiful homeland and its total destruction.

Together, with friends from past journeys and new allies who may not be what they seem, Dara must build an army to confront Chaos. But as she and her army prepare for the final battle, Dara realizes that the only person she
can really count on is herself . . .

My Thoughts:
Chaos Unleashed is an action pact book, with a fast-paced plot, and awesome characters. The heroin, and main protagonist, Dara, was my favorite. At only 17 years old, she is someone that young girls can look up too. She is smart, strong, loyal and brave. She demands respect, speaks her mind, and will not allow someone to keep her down.

In the third installment in The Shamra Chronicles, Dara travels to Stone Mountain, where her people, the Shamra, originated from. She meets a new group of Shamra that she never knew existed, ones that she herself directly descends from. She feels at home, for the first time in her life. But for Dara, life can not stay peaceful, and she must go and fight Chaos, a monster who hasn’t caused trouble in the past two hundred years.

Dara, along with the people she grew up, the family she originates from, and old and new friends, decides that they will fight Chaos and his army, and learn everything they can to be able to win. At the same time, there are many changes occurring in Dara’s life that make her question her past and her future.

The best part of this book for me was how fast-paced the plot was. Something is always happening and there was never a dull moment. Sometimes I notice in books a scene will just go on and on, just because the authors feel like they should. But Hoffman has a way with words that doesn’t feel forced or rushed. Because of this, the plot kept my attention the entire time.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an adventure. I think it would be especially perfect for middle school kids, and what is great is even though the main character is a young women, I think boys and girls alike would enjoy her story.

I read Chaos Unleashed without reading the first two books in the series, Curse of the Shamra and Shamra Divided, but I never found myself confused because everything was explained. I cared about Dara and her story, and will definitely be reading the first two books!