[Audiobook Review] Chaos Theory by Duckie Mack

Publisher's synopsis: Valentine’s Day is a day for lovers and dreamers. But not for Jon. For him it's the day when anything that can go wrong, will.

This year is no exception, until he meets Archer, whose curiosity is piqued by the man who seems to be a magnet for disaster.

Why did Jon have to meet the perfect guy on February 14th? He doesn’t know what he can trust on this cursed day. Can he really find his Valentine in the midst of chaos?

Chaos Theory is an insta-love stand-alone Valentine’s Day novella with an HEA. 

My thoughts: Chaos Theory was a short and sweet absolute calamity for our main character, Jon. I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook of this novella, and Kevin Earlywine did an excellent job at narrating Jon's tragicomic Valentine's Day. 

When the synopsis refers to Jon as a magnet for disaster, that's almost taking it lightly. Between almost-accidents, chocolate stains in unfortunate places, and leaving keys in the last place they should be, Jon packed a lot of mishap into an hour and ten minute audiobook. Of course, if Duckie Mack hadn't given Jon problem after problem, he wouldn't have met Archer - the happiest accident Jon will ever have. 

I felt for Archer, I truly did. He was just a passenger on the chaos train that is Jon's Valentine's Day. Thanks to Earlywine's delivery and tone, you can practically feel Jon's exasperation and desperation as each new thing goes wrong. 

Earlywine does bring a lighter cadence to the narration. This was perfect for this particular story. Anything heavier or more somber would have made Jon's bad luck hard to listen to. As it was, Earlywine's narration brought a lightness to everything as it went wrong, making it easy to find humor in accident after accident.

Earlywine didn't do much to distinguish between Jon and Archer's voices, but I had absolutely no problems telling the characters apart. The story was easy to follow and schadenfreude made Jon's horrible Valentine's Day a delight to listen to. 

Chaos Theory was a fun, quick listen that made me realize my luck could definitely be worse. 

A huge thank you to Duckie Mack for sharing the audiobook of this fun novella. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Release date: 6/14/22
Format: Audible audiobook
Audiobook provided via: the author