Review: The Chaos (Numbers #2) by Rachel Ward

Adam has more than inherited his mother's curse: When he looks in someone's eyes, he not only sees the date of their death...he feels the searing, shocking pain of it, Adam lives by the sea with his great-grandmother, Val. But when rising tides flood the coast, they return to London. The city is an alien, exciting, frightening place. Most disturbing of all, Adam can't help but clock how many people's numbers are in January 2027; how many are on New Year's Day. What chaos awaits the world? Can he stop a catastrophe? Or is he, too, counted among the "twenty-sevens"? (Amazon)

If you are looking for a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat than I highly recommend reading The Chaos by Rachel Ward.  I loved the first book in the series Numbers, but I definitely think the author out did herself on the sequel.  The entire time I was reading this book I was fighting the urge not to flip to the end to find out what happens. The tension that builds throughout the book is what makes it an awesome read, but I felt like I needed to know NOW how it was going to end!!  I consider reading the end of a book first to be cheating, so luckily I was able to fight the urge and actually wait until the end to find out what happens. You do not necessarily need to read Numbers in order to understand what is happening in The Chaos, but reading The Chaos first will ruin the end of Numbers.  Therefore if you have not read Numbers and you plan on doing so, STOP reading this review right now and go read Numbers!!!!!!!!!

            You’re still reading my review?  Ok, well I warned you, so don’t blame me for ruining Numbers for you!!  The Chaos takes place 16 years after the end of Numbers. Adam, Jem and Spider’s son, is now 15 and living in Weston (the town by the sea that Jem and Spider were trying to escape to) with his Nan, Val.  Things on earth are changing and the sea is staring to reclaim her land. As the book opens Adam and Val are being evacuated due to massive flooding. Wait! What happened to Jem?  I could tell you . . . but I won’t!!!  Adam is not happy about leaving and blames Val for everything wrong in his life.  He panics when he thinks he forgot his book, which luckily is in his pants pocket.  What’s in the book!?!  Ok, I’ll tell you!!  Adam has inherited his mother’s gift for seeing numbers.  Every time he looks someone in the eye he sees the date of his or her death flash in his mind.  He knows from experience that the numbers are never wrong.  He knows from his mother never to tell anyone about the numbers.  That is why he feels the need to document every number he sees in his book.  As if seeing the numbers isn’t bad enough, Adam can actually feel how each person is going to die.  Two things torment Adam:  1) He has no idea what his own number is, and 2) The majority of people he sees will die on 01012027.  He knows that something horrible is going to happen on New Years day and he has no idea how to stop it. 

           

            One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book is that Adam is not the only narrator. Sarah, a 15- year old girl with secrets of her own, narrates every other chapter. What are her secrets!?!  If I told you, it would ruin the story!  One thing I will tell you is that when Sarah enrolls in a new school and sees Adam for the first time she recognizes him as the boy from her nightmares.  She has been dreaming about him for months, and none of the dreams have been good. When Adam sees her number and feels her death he needs to know exactly why she is so utterly terrified of him.  Throughout the book Adam has two goals:  figure out how to save the people who are going to die on New Year’s Day and find out why Sarah is so terrified to be around him.

The story also has a minor character named Mia and I only mention this because the next book I read, Gayle Forman’s Where She Went, has two characters named Adam and Mia.  Kinda funny how things like that happen.  If you enjoy dystopian fiction and you love a great roller coaster ride then you absolutely need to read Rachel Ward’s The Chaos.  You will not be disappointed!!!!