While the rest of the world was looking forward to the festive season, all I cared about last December was the Boxing Day release of Daughter of Chaos, the second in Sarah Rees Brennan's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina novelisations. I'm coming to this book with a whole lot of love.
How much love is too much?
Warning: the word love is used thirteen times in the paragraphs below and I didn't even bother to try use synonyms. Proceed with caution.
I've loved the whole Riverdale / Greendale universe since I was a teenager so it was no surprise that I loved Riverdale and was in love with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina before it even came out. I especially love Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina and Ross Lynch as Harvey and the whole dark, rich, colourful, delightful show.
I was delighted to discover Season of the Witch, the first of Sarah Rees Brennan's CAOS novelisations and I absolutely love her writing. I listened to this first book on audiobook and I really loved Jesse Vilinsky and Nicol Zanzarella's narration.
This is going to go one of two ways, both of them extreme and I'm happy to say it's extreme love. I loved Daughter of Chaos and while the rest of my world will be looking forward to my birthday on 5 May, all I care about is that Path of Night, the third book in the series, will be released that day. My friends and family better not throw me a surprise party! (I'm kidding! They love me disappearing into audiobooks during social gatherings!)
In Daughter of Chaos, Harvey and Sabrina have broken up and Sabrina is trying to navigate the murky halls of the Academy of Unseen Arts. But something is amiss in Greendale and it appears to be a much greater threat than a simple bad luck demon conjured by Sabrina. It takes a coven to dismiss a supernatural enemy and this time Sabrina will need every single one of her friends.
How do I love thee, Sabrina? Let me count the ways...
There was so much to love in this story and like Season of the Witch, it was delightful and wholesome in parts, but decidedly darker in others. Without divulging spoilers for those who may not have seen The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina part 2 yet, I will say that I loved Theo's origin story and the beginnings of his identity acceptance; I loved the Harvey and Nick Scratch bromance; I loved that Prudence was humanised in a way we don't see on the show; and finally, I loved the friendship between Roz, Susie and Harvey and how they realise they can still continue once Harvey and Sabrina break up.
It will surprise absolutely no one that I give Daughter of Chaos a superb five out of five stars and especially recommend the audiobook as narrated by Jesse Vilinsky and Nicol Zanzarella. If you've ever loved Sabrina or Archie, magic or fantasy, young adult or fun fiction, then give this one a chance.
★★★★★
