Review--Seasons of Chaos by Elle Cosimano

 

Perfect for fans of Holly Black and Victoria Schwab, this enthralling duology follows Jack and Fleur, star-crossed lovers trapped in an endless cycle of death.

As immortal Seasons, Jack and Fleur wielded powerful magic in their roles as a Winter and a Spring. Yet there wasn’t magic strong enough to keep them apart, and they risked everything for their love, for the freedom to live their lives as they choose—together.

That choice came at a cost. Jack sacrificed his Winter magic—and his immortality—to ensure their survival. Although he’d do anything for Fleur, he can’t deny the emptiness he’s felt since. Or the fear that his choice to give up his magic may have doomed them after all.

The world they thought they left behind is still dealing with the fallout of the rebellion they started. With Professor Lyon as the new Chronos, Seasons are free to do as they please. But not everyone is happy with the change in leadership. When an old enemy seeks revenge, the world’s most powerful magic runs wild and unchecked, creating global chaos.

Thrust into the middle of a new war, Jack and Fleur are faced with the aftermath of their choices. But are they strong enough to save the world from a storm that’s spinning out of control.

 

Seasons of Chaos brings an end to Elle Cosimano's Seasons of the Storm duology! I was excited to dive back into this story, wondering what was going to change things since things seemed relatively happy at the end of the first book, and hoo boy this one was a doozie!

I started the book already shocked to find that Doug was getting his own point of view for this one! I still kind of wished that we could've gotten more from Julio and Amber's perspective but I guess in the long run, this was always Jack and Fleur's story! Getting back on track, Doug, the nemesis of Jack gets a lot of page time in this book because he's public enemy #1! He was not at all happy with the regime change when Lyon became the new Chronos. He'd never be Doug's Chronos and Doug is ready to set things right...i.e. making everything go back to the way his Chronos was running things.

Meanwhile, Jack and Fleur are living mostly happily ever after! They are living in Mexico where Fleur can flourish. Jack is now her handler and mostly human--or I guess as human as the handlers ever were, but still immortal to a point where they can continue to protect their season. So that is what he does, he protects Fleur. Until the unthinkable happens and she is kidnapped, along with Jack's previous handler, Chill.

Now Jack is going to do whatever it takes to get Fleur and Chill back. He teams up with Amber and Julio and another surprising face joins him as well with a plan of their own. I feel like I am leaving a lot out of the plot, but I really don't want to spoil things for you, if you happen to be reading this! Major things happen fairly early on, I'd say in the first 1/4 of the novel and these are big life changing events. It basically sets the course for the rest of the novel. Despite the events happening early, I decided to refrain from divulging into the meat of them! Big things happen, I'll leave it at that!

Getting Fleur and Jack's point of view pretty much gives us eyes on the entire playing field, as well as Doug's point of view, because whoa! I always find it odd to read from the point of view of the villain. Sometimes the author can almost make the villain endearing to the reader, but I can honestly say that this was not the case for Doug. I did not like him one bit and kept hoping he'd fall flat on his face! Lol.

I felt like I did better with the pacing of this one. Things were a bit slow in the beginning but once I got past that 1/4 mark, things got a little more intense as the story moved along! I will say that I was a bit sadden that Amber and Julio weren't in the book more. They took awhile to show up in person, and even after that point, Jack ditches them to save them and they were theoretically gone again! I don't know why I felt so invested in these side characters, but for some reason I did! They had their own story to tell and I felt like we never really got to know them beyond the basics. Like I would have loved to know how those two fell in love.

Another thing that continued to throw me in this series was how the teenagers who represented the seasons died. I get that they came back and weren't really being killed, but the whole process was confusing to me. When you watched one die but then they popped back up in a stasis chamber...but I think they needed to be wearing one of the ear pieces that allowed them to communicate with their handler. As I said, I probably missed some of these details in the first book as when I saw a character die, but then 50 pages later they are alive and kicking was a little mind boggling to say the least!

The story ended in a nice way! I have to say I enjoyed this ending a bit more than I did the previous one. Perhaps because I knew there was another book to come I wasn't really sold on the first one's ending, but this one definitely took the cake! I was sadden by the losses that occurred once again, but overall I felt like there was a bit more happiness to this story. It was a good ending all in all! If you've ever wanted to read a book that explored the changing of the seasons and mystical explanations of the weather, this is the duology for you!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars