Title: Beautiful Chaos

Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Series: Caster Chronicles, #3

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book read from June 14th to July 4th, 2014.)    

Summary:

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.

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

Beautiful Chaos is one amazing addition to the Caster Chronicles! I absolutely loved it, and it's amazing sequel that follow the events in Beautiful Darkness. It's all about the aftermath & the consequences of what happened in the previous book, and all the chaos that followed. Beautiful Chaos - the perfect title. I wouldn't say it was beautiful, but there was lots of chaos, and everything is a mess both in the mortal world & the caster & the supernatural world. So, of course, everyone is trying to deal with it the way they can, and to fix it if they can (or of they want to fix it).

Lots of danger, mystery & darkness surrounds Ethan, Lena, Link, Ridley, John, Liv, etc. Just about everyone is in danger, and I loved the mysterious mood through out the book - it definitely brought a lot to the atmosphere, and I loved every second of it. Most things were predictable, but there were so many things happening in this book, that I didn't mind, and there were still plenty of surprises.

And I adored all the characters, though now my most favorite is Link (can't wait to start his series). But, almost everyone got under my skin, even John (wow, he's one amazing supernatural), and I'm hoping for everyone's HEA (even though I'm guessing that won't be possible).

As for the story, it was one mysterious, danger-filled, entertaining & heartbreaking journey. It was sad, funny, sweet, haunting & unforgettable. Definitely much better than Beautiful Darkness, which was actually a transition book that set up the events for what happened in this one, so it was still good, but it suffered the curse of being a set up book.

And that ending... I knew it was coming, but it was still heartbreaking. And now I'm stuck in that place where I can't wait to read the next & final book to see what & how exactly it will happen, yet at the same time I'm reluctant because it might not be as awesome as I wish it to be.

If you enjoy mysterious supernatural YA stories, I highly recommend the Caster Chronicles!

 

 

 

Challenges:

 

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Title: Beautiful Darkness

Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Series: The Caster Chronicles, #2

My rating: 4 of 5

(Book read from March 15th to March 20th, 2013)

Summary:

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.

My Thoughts on the Book:

I  absolutely loved Beautiful Creatures, so I was expecting Beautiful Darkness to be good, and yeah, it was good, but definitely quite different then the previous book! I guess I should split it into things that I liked & things that I disliked!  

What I liked? Well, once again I quite enjoyed Ethan's PoV, and I still like him a lot as a character. Here we learn a little bit more about his connection to Lena, and more about how exactly he is connected to the Caster world, as well as a lot more about his mom, about the Casters past, about Macon, and a lot more about the Caster world overall. I loved finding out more about their world. Once again I liked a lot Link as a character, and one of the unexpected characters that showed up is definitely one of my favs, and I can't wait to see where his story would go, as well as Ridley's & Link's, too. I guess so many things happened to all of them in this book that changed them, so I'm really interested to see where it will go. Surprising, but I'm more interested in the secondary characters.   

What I didn't like? Lena - she was such a bitch. I really disliked her in this book. I mean, yeah, ok, it happened what happened at the end of Beautiful Creatures, and it was really sad, and of course she feels guilty, but acting the way she does to Ethan, and not telling him what exactly happened & pushing him away, and just acting like a bitch, Ethan definitely doesn't deserve that, so I kinda almost hated her, and I really felt sorry for Ethan. This is my main complaint, but in the end, this was necessary for the story & the way it developed, so I can understand it. 

As for the story, there were actually a few storylines that kinda created one whole story, and overall I enjoyed them. Not, all of them, but most of them. Some were fun, but most of them really sad & heartbreaking, but in the end I was happy of the ending because of you know who :) Also, there were lots of twists & turns, some I saw coming, but some I totally didn't, so plenty of surprises in this book. The ending was great, although I think that Beautiful Darkness was more of a transition book that revealed what has happened in the past & with everything that happened to all the characters, it created set up for the next book in the series, so I'm looking forward to see where everything will go.

So, if you loved Beautiful Creatures, I recommend Beautiful Darkness, because it's a good sequel that will delve you deeper in the caster world!

Challenges:

Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge March 2013

Summary:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

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.

My thoughts on the book:

I loved it! I loved the story a lot & I liked the characters! It was really relaxing, sweet & refreshing book, with a few twists! I just couldn't put it down & I can't wait for the sequel! I highly recommend it!

My rating: 5/5

Challenges:

• The Four Month Challenge, Part 3!
• 2010 Summer Romance Challenge
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• The 2010 YA Reading Challenge 
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• Fantasy Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Care of Magical Creatures)