Review: Beautiful Chaos

Title: Beautiful Chaos
Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series: The Caster Chronicles #3
Published: October 18th 2011
Rating: 5

Cursed lovers Ethan and Lena have returned to their home town, which is now ravaged by swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms. What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself - forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.

Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.

Beautiful Chaos was one hell of a ride. There are so many things that I could say and explain why this book was my favorite so far in the Caster Chronicles; maybe it was Link- the comedic guy who tries so hard or to Lena not being as annoying as she was in the previous book, it could of even been the damn sisters- Ethan's Aunts- who are constantly saying widely inappropriate and always complaining about some small detail. There's a myriad of reasons why that I could list all day but I think the one person who touched me throughout the duration of the novel was Ethan. 

Gatlin is in utter Chaos, with vexes on the loose bringing destruction in their wake and Abraham on the prowl looking for the location of the infamous John Breed, there's only so much a town and person can handle. Ethan is desperately  on the hunt to find this mysterious "The One Who Is Two" who is supposedly meant to save the mortal and caster world after Lena claimed her self both Light and Dark, which consequently broke The Order of Things bringing travesty and promise of destruction to both worlds.   

We finally get to learn some background on Sarafine! Lena and Ethan have visions of when Sarafine was claimed for Dark and her family shunned her leaving her utterly alone and depressed. At this stage she was still herself and was far more the murderous woman we know her by. We see the struggles of which Sarafine went through, forcing herself to stay in the Light to not give in to the Darkness within her. I couldn't help but feel for that past Sarafine- the one who desperately wanted to Light, the one who tried as hard as she could, but in then as we all know Sarafine gave into the Darkness and was lost from all Light.

John Breed also appears in Beautiful Chaos. I have mixed feelings about him, one side of me feels pity for him with what he went through as I child bringing brought up in such a monstrous way. The other side of me though hates his arrogant personality and rule breaker attitude. There are some moments in the book where I felt he really redeemed himself and I was proud of him for that but, I just can't keep that picture out of my mind where he had his hands all over Lena at that dance club, and not to mention turning Link into a Incubus!

Now to the sole reason why I loved Beautiful Chaos so much..Ethan! Just, I don't know *sighs* I felt for him so much throughout the novel. With his town in wrecks and getting burned every time he touched his girlfriend, to  him forgetting things his known his whole life Ethan never once gave up.  Through all that crap surrounding to him, the determination and fierce courage Ethan showed to seek the way and find the answers to save everyone's life even if that meant risking his own? I'm in awe of him and Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl for creating such a strong character, someone who had weakness and was only mortal, but a mortal who could pushes asides those aspects and do what was necessary, I'm in love with Ethan Wate no matter what anyone says. 

And also no need to worry about Ethan and Lena's relationship, their rock solid and it's going to take alot more then Liv and John to get in the middle of them.  

One thing I can promise you about Beautiful Chaos is that there won't be a happy ending this time. The last 20 pages will surely leave you in tears, I can remember the feeling of my heart breaking when I realized what was going to happen and even writing about it right now brings back all those emotions of heart-ache and sadness, but for me, I think that's what made the book, that it brought out such a huge reaction that I wasn't expecting! I highly recommend you read this nail biting installment because I don't want you to miss out on such an extraordinary read, it may be a bit hard at first but when your into the kick of it you'll never look back. I have high hopes for Beautiful Redemption and can't wait to find out what happens next after Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl left us with a cliff-hanger like that!

-Taylor X

Review: Beautiful Darkness

Title: Beautiful Darkness
Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series: The Caster Chronicles #2
Published: October 20th 2010
Rating: 4

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Beautiful Creatures drew me in from the first chapter and I was instantly intrigued in the small southern town of Gatlin and all who lived there,Casters and Humans alike and so I sped through it in a few days. I bought Beautiful Darkness expecting the same but found it difficult to focus on, I kept picking it up and putting it down, Probably on account of the fact that Lena was really pissing me off throughout the book with her stubborn ways  I just couldn't justify  the way she treated Ethan after all the extremes he has gone through because and for her.

The plot seemed rather slow/dull at first and it took a while to get to the climax at the end, it was information overload in the last few chapters. The new characters where a great addition to the series and I believe they helped develop the story and Lena and Ethan's relationship. Liv was unlike any of the characters and she was a great in contrast with Lena I couldn't help but feel for her at times, I think she truly did fall develop feelings for Ethan and in some ways he did lead her on, Lena and Ethan were meant to be though and she did act as a hurdle for them to overcome causing their relationship to become stronger in the long run. If it wasn't for John all of the conflict may or may not have occurred but he did push Lena into most of these events that had me screaming at her in rage. 

It was great to see more of Link and Ridley, They're definitely my favourite characters in the series along with Macon and it was lovely to see Ridley help out her friends in their times of need. Seeing her dedication to help Lena was a great indication of how far she would go to help the ones she loves and to introduce the fact that she's not all as bad as she sometimes seems. I'm looking forward to seeing Ridley and Link's relationship develop in the next two books as its unlike that of Ethan and Lena.

All in all, While there were certain details that annoyed me I did enjoy the second instalment of the Caster Chronicles and look forward to reading Beautiful Chaos and Beautiful Redemption, I have a feeling that the will involve even more action and crazy twists and turns! Fingers crossed anyway! 



-Lily xo

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

• Here are the rules:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share 2 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the TITLE and AUTHOR too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

'I didn't know if it was Lena, or the book itself, but the words appeared on the page in front of me slowly, one at a time.' - Ethan pg 66 'Beautiful Darkness' by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Review: Beautiful Creatures 

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Series: Caster Chronicles #1

Published: December 1st 2009

Rating: 4.5

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Beautiful Creatures is set in old Southern town where everyone knows all your dirty little secrets and appearances are everything! Complete with narrow mind house-wives waving their warm home cooked meals in their southern bell dresses, the town runs accordingly to their wishes.  There's nothing that doesn't conform to their way, that is until Lena Duchannes strolls in and moves in with the town shut in, Macon Ravenwood, that things start to fall astray. Ethan Wate a local boy who's been having strange dreams about a girl who keeps falling inches away from his grasp, realizes that Lena Duchannes, the girl who wears the wrong clothes, speaks her mind and also happens to be Galtin's newest outcast, is the girl of his dreams. Literally. 

The countdown is on to Lena's birthday, the day she either turns Light or Dark, oh and don't forget the 200 year old curse that Lena and Ethan's ancestors caused that now plaque them both. The idea's behind this book are extremely complex, the mythology at times can be hard to keep up with, but I however found the richness of details made the story more compelling. There's a lot of mystery mix up within the novel, with bits of information slowly pieced  out to reveal the complexity.

The romance was insanely adorable, Ethan *sighs*  there are no words to describe how cute and gentle-manlike he was, Ethan really was a true Southern gentleman. Every kiss was filled with the exhilarating feeling of star-crossed lovers and forbidden love that I like so much! As Lena and Ethan's relationship progressed we see the difficulties they have to overcome, and boy, there are some huge mountains they have to climb to be together. The more you read you see just how hard that's ultimately going to be.

Beautiful Creatures is a very enjoyable read, although it may be a bit unnecessarily long, if you power through it I think you'll love it. I recommend it to anyone who's interested in Southern tales filled with a heart aching romance and captivating magic.

-Taylor x