Book: Beautiful Chaos

Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Young Adult
Little, Brown Books / 2011
Hard Back / 518 Pages
Series Caster Chronicles #3

Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: 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.

I picked this book up because Series
What I liked the Most? The supernatural community intersects with the mortal one

What I liked the Least? Once again – it was too long & WTF is up with all those blank freaking pages

Review: This installment was much better than the first two. It’s the end of the world with considerable drama from the heat. Amma’s slipping into the darkness and loosing her grip on reality, Ridley is lost in the land of the mortals, Linkabus is battling himself, and Liv’s lost in the deep south after sacrificing her future.

I’m enjoying the absence of glittery emo-as-fuck vamps & brawn over brains weres, while getting a really good dose of Caster powers.

Recommended to: Fans of the series

Best Quote: Your first kiss isn’t as important as your last.
The math test really didn’t matter.
The pie really did.
The stuff you’re good at and the stuff you’re bad at are just different parts of the same thing.
Same goes for the people you love and the people you don’t—and the people who love you and the people who don’t.
The only thing that mattered was that you cared about a few people.
Life is really, really short.

Book: Beautiful Darkness

Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Young Adult
Little Brown Books / 2010
Hard Back / 503 Pages
Series Caster Chronicles #2

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.

I picked this book up because Series
What I liked the Most? I still say the unique mix of Caster skills

What I liked the Least? The repetition

Review: Ok I’m a bit bored with this pattern - mortal teenager meets supernatural being – instantaneous magical connection – supernatural half fights the connection because “it’s dangerous” - yet against all reason the two become a couple – then can not understand why life is difficult – get real

Recommended to: Ugh – fans of the series

Best Quote: "You belong with someone like you, and I belong with someone like me, someone who understands what I'm going through. I'm not the same person I was a few months ago, but I guess we both know that."

Beautiful Creatures

Book: Beautiful Creatures

Kami Garcia / Margaret Stohl
Young Adult
Little, Brown Books / 2009
Hard Cover / 563 Pages
Series Caster Chronicles #1

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.

I picked this book up because Looked interesting
What I liked the Most? I love the Caster concept

What I liked the Least? The lead (a boy) was too femme for my taste

Review: Well this book has problems, it has good points, it is twisted. I love the whole Caster concept – with all the different types of powers that run through the family. I love all the different characters individually but I must say my favorites are Ridley & Macon, no matter what the out come was.

It’s told from Ethan’s POV but that’s awkward because he’s way too femme for my personal taste, but of course some people are going to adore how “in touch with his feminine side” he is. To me he’s a Mary Sue, totally & completely MS.

I think an editor should have cut this book down (a lot) & should have been able to catch more (read all) of the uh-oh moments. But I’ll read the sequel any ways cause I’m a glutton like that.

Recommended to: Hmmm, any one who wants to take the time to unravel it

Best Quote: “You're incredibly, absolutely, extremely, supremely, unbelievably different.”