Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory. Nic Stone. 2023. Crown Books. 288 pages. [ARC provided courtesy of publisher via NetGalley for an unbiased review.] Nic Stone earned stars before I read the first line of the book. The transparency of her author’s note (I never read those, but read this one) and content warning was so endearing and a testament to who I imagine she is in her everyday life. Yes, she wants you to read her work but the reality of her acknowledging and ensuring you know this may be a mirror riddled with triggers was so-selfless. After swooning for a few moments, and taking the time to send a few “omg, I got it … you need to preorder this … the content warning was OMG,” messages I dove head first into Shelbi and Walter (can I call him that or will I get some random email that says “Andy to you”?). I always love Stone’s use of text messages in her books – it puts you fully in your YA mind and becomes a subtle reminder that in this day and age, that is the bulk of many peoples communication style. The characters were amazing, fully developed, with tons of Life…