Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This is the fourth, and final, novel in the Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

My review of #1: Beautiful Creatures
My review of #2: Beautiful Darkness
My review of #2.5: Dream Dark
My review of #3: Beautiful Chaos

WARNING - This will contain spoilers from the previous novels! Continue reading with caution!

Ethan remembers jumping off of the water tower to even out the balance in his world, knowing that he is sacrificing himself and leaving everyone he loves behind. But when he wakes up in the Otherworld and is reunited with his mother, he realizes that he hasn't "moved on" and still has some unfinished business.

Mainly, getting back to Lena. Because Ethan finds out that he wasn't supposed to be sacrificed, but it was written into the Caster Chronicles recently.

And Ethan found out that there is a way to go back to Lena, Link, Amma, everyone he cares about.

But first Ethan has to fight the inner battle inside of himself: does he want to leave his mother again after just being reunited with her? He's missed her this past year and wants to have everyone he loves alive and with him. But he must make a choice, and soon.

After deciding to go back to being alive, Ethan has a very hard task ahead of him. It's not easy becoming undead - otherwise everyone would be coming back to life.

There are certain things Ethan needs. Some are in the Otherworld. Some are back in the plane where everyone is alive. Ethan has to figure out how to get all of the items needed, find the path to the Far Keep, and tear his page out of the Caster Chronicle book. Sounds easy, right?...

When Lena gets a sense that Ethan is around and is communicating with her through the crosswords, Lena is on a mission to get Ethan back with her, no matter the price. Because even though the balance is in order, Lena needs to have Ethan with her in order for everything to be right again.

So when she is faced with the impossible mission to get the Book of the Moon, she starts planning and goes to no lengths to figure out how to give Ethan that book, even though he's in a different universe than she is.

And even though everyone is doubting that it is really Ethan communicating with her, Lena has no doubt and doesn't care what the others say. She will find a way to give Ethan what he needs and will hope that everything will work in their favor to bring Ethan back.

Because without one another, Ethan and Lena will not be whole again, no matter what universe they live in.

But there are a lot of obstacles ahead, for both Lena and Ethan. Can they both overcome the issues to come, or will it be too much to bring Ethan back to Lena? Read the epic final conclusion of the Caster Chronicles series, Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Such a great conclusion to this series! I'm so glad that I re-read them again after they were all published! Now I can say that I experienced this amazing world that Garcia and Stohl created about overcoming impossible obstacles to be with the one you love.

As I've said before in the previous book reviews, I just love the way that the authors made this though Ethan's point of view. It's refreshing from the other novels I've been reading and it's nice that even though Ethan isn't just a normal Mortal, he's still not the most supernatural being in the book.

I did like in this book that we got to read Lena's viewpoint a little bit. Let's the reader get inside of her head and see what she thinks for a change, instead of just Ethan's.

I thought everything was wrapped up very nicely with no loose strings by the end of the series, which is always a plus in my book.

One thing that I'm curious about in regards to the movie that they previously released is how things will go from book to movie for the upcoming novels. There were some things that were different in the first movie that wasn't in the book, which could cause for complications for the next movies if they decide to continue to make them.

I thought that this book was the most serious one, yet I found myself laughing out loud the most out of all 5 novels. I saw a bit more humor than the previous books, so that was a nice touch.

Overall, great novel and great series! So glad I decides to re-read them and was even shocked by some events that came to be in this last novel.

I would definitely recommend this whole series to teen readers and it will be at the top of my verbal recommendation list if any of my teen patrons at the library ask me for my opinion!

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This is the third novel in the Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

My review of #1: Beautiful Creatures
My review of #2: Beautiful Darkness
My review of #2.5: Dream Dark

WARNING - This will contain spoilers from the previous novels! Continue reading with caution!

Ever since Lena made her decision on her 17th moon, things have gotten a bit hectic for the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina.

For one, the water in the lake is all dried up. Another, they haven't gotten rain in forever and now they are having a drought where it's over 100 degrees outside.

But it's not just Gatlin that is getting hit with the strange weather. All over the world, locations are going into an "end of the world" feeling where things that aren't supposed to happen are.

And it's all because Lena chose which Caster she wanted to be: both. She chose to be herself and is now both Dark and Light Caster, making her have one green eye and one gold eye.

Ethan has been feeling weird ever since the night she chose. He has a feeling that someone is following him, but he can't see anything. And he's been having dreams. Not the normal visions he usually has with Lena, but more of someone trying to get him.

Also, Ethan has been forgetting little things. Like his birthday, his home phone number, etc. His favorite meals and drinks no longer taste appealing and he's eating things he used to hate.

Something is wrong with Ethan, and he needs to figure out what it is soon. Because with Abraham and Sarafine trying to keep the Balance out of order, he needs his wits together.

Along with Macon looking for John Breed, Abraham is too, and he thinks Ethan knows where John is. But when Ethan doesn't know, Abraham destroys the town of Gatlin to find him.

Which means that the people Ethan loves is in danger from creatures they can't even see. Now Ethan has to figure out where John Breed is, who the "One that is Two" is so they can sacrifice themselves to balance the order again, and find out what is wrong with himself and why he is forgetting things everyday.

But when everyone finds out who the "One That Is Two" is, convincing them to sacrifice themselves is going to be a lot harder than they originally thought. Because it is going to affect everyone in town, and everyone Ethan loves.

To find out what happens, read Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Garcia and Stohl just get better and better with these novels!

Yeah, I still have to read them slower than I would with other YA novels, but that's because there is a lot of information in these 500 page books. However, I really like them because they are so different than the other YA novels I've read, so I'm okay with going slow.

The way the authors tied everything together was amazing. I did figure out who the "One That Is Two" was before it was revealed, but only barely.

And the ending! Let's just say, I'm extremely glad that I have the fourth, and last, book available to read right away, otherwise I would have been majorly mad!!

I do have to say, though, that Lena and Ethan just can't get a break. They haven't really been together in forever and even when they are, the whole mortals and Casters can't touch thing is going against them. I hope in the end that the authors find a way for them to be happy, otherwise this whole series will be for nothing!

But yeah, I really liked this novel. It was slower than the other novels in the series so far, but every series needs a slower book to get everything in line for the ending.

I would definitely recommend these novels to other readers, and I can even recommend them to guy readers since Ethan is the narrator of the book! No sappy feelings about liking a guy - this time it's Ethan trying to find a way to be with Lena!

However, I would say that everyone needs to read these novels from beginning to end in order because otherwise ya might be a little confused and won't be able to see little hints throughout the series.

Dream Dark by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This is a novella, #2.5, in the Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

My review of #1: Beautiful Creatures
My review of #2: Beautiful Darkness

WARNING - This will contain spoilers from the first two novels of the series! Proceed with caution!

With all of the confusion and chaos that happened during Lena's 17th moon, everyone was oblivious to what
happened to Link, Ethan's best friend. Even Link himself didn't know what happened until it was too late.

Link got bit by John Breed, who is part Incubus and part Caster. And when Link got bit, he turned into a weaker, but still potent, version of John Breed, making Link Quarter Incubus.

Now Link is going through major changes. All of the girls are going to start drooling over him, he has grown into his skin and has definite muscles he never had before, is most definitely strong and fast, can see long distances and hear like a dog, and can smell subtle smells he never thought existed.

And now Link he can stand a chance with the one girl who was out of his league: Ridley, Lena's cousin who is a Dark Caster and stole Link's heart a long time ago.

But with these changes means a lot of things are going to change. Sure, there are some benefits, but Incubus's have a hunger. Not for food, but for something stronger. The Ravenwood Incubus feed off of human blood. But some can feed off of emotions or dreams.

What will happen to Link? How can he keep this big secret away from his protective and crazy mother? Read Dream Dark by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl to find out what will happen to Link in this Caster Chronicle novella!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was a very short novel, just 41 pages long, where the reader got to see what happened to Link in a little bit more detail, which I appreciated because he had the biggest change of all from the 2nd novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was nice to see Link's home life and how hard it must be to live with Mrs. Lincoln and her crazy theories. And I think Link needed a change in his life with all of the Caster business going on around him - he was bound to get caught up eventually.

Not much to say about this because it was so short. I'm glad I got it, though I think $1.99 is a little much to pay for a 41 page novella... That's just my opinion anyway.

It isn't needed to be read in order to appreciate the series, but I do think readers will like reading Link's side of things for a change of pace of Ethan's.

So overall, good, but not as good as the Beautiful novels in the series!

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This is the second book in the Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

My review of #1: Beautiful Creatures.

WARNING - This book will contain spoilers from the first novel. Proceed with caution!

Now that Lena's 16th birthday has passed and she wasn't forced to choose between being a Light or Dark Caster, Ethan thinks that everything is going to go back to the way things were.

Except it isn't. Not by a long shot. In fact, the more Ethan tries to hangout with Lena, the more distant she becomes. She won't even Kelt with him - talk to him with her mind. She is completely cutting herself off from Ethan and won't tell him what is going on.

So Ethan decides to give her the space she seems to want and gets a job at the library to work with Marian and learn more about Casters and Mortals.

While at the library, he meets Marian's new "intern", Liv. And she is an intern, only she's interning to be the next keeper of the Caster Library, not the Gatlin library.

Things look bleak for Ethan, though, when he sees that Lena is hanging out more and more with Ridley and a new boy in town, John Breed. And John's not just a summer thing - he appears to be an Incubus, but can walk into the sun without getting burned like a Caster. All Ethan knows is that he doesn't like Lena being around two obviously Dark Casters when she is fighting inside herself if she is light or dark.

But the more Ethan tries to talk to her, the worse things get.

Then other strange things are happening. Ethan is having visions of the past again, only it's not through his ancestor, but through the Ravenwood Incubus's. First it was Abraham, the first Ravenwood Incubus and later he was seeing visions about Macon, Lena's dead uncle.

And somehow Ethan's mother is also in his visions, giving Ethan a different side of his mother that he had never seen before.

Even though Ethan and Lena aren't on speaking terms, that doesn't stop Ethan from trying to help Lena make her decision about choosing the Light or the Dark way. Ethan is definitely a part of her decision, if only he can find a way to get through Lena's defenses and really talk to her.

With Sarafine trying to get Lena on her Dark side and Ethan trying to convince Lena toward the Light, Lena has some tough decisions to make. And Ethan just hopes that he will be able to survive and stay alive long enough to talk to her.

What will Lena decide to do? Will Ethan's feelings about Lena change after everything she put him through? And will other supernatural forces and beings get in the way between Lena and Ethan before he can talk to her? Read Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Even though I find myself drifting throughout some parts in these novels, I'm still blown away by the imagination and creativeness in the books Garcia and Stohl have created!

One thing that I am really enjoying about this series is that it is through Ethan's point of view. Not many YA books are told through a guy's point of view and I'm actually really liking this different narration.

And the second thing I really like and think is unique is that Ethan is the lowly human, the Mortal, in this story, yet we get to read through his point of view. Many times it's through the supernatural character that we read through, so this is another thing I found enjoyable.

I have to give Ethan props. Even when Lena was pushing him away and saying she doesn't want to be with him anymore, Ethan didn't give up on helping Lena. He wanted to show her what she could do with her choice and was very persistent on trying to help her and find her when she was in trouble.

I did enjoy the moments between Liv and Ethan, even though many readers are probably a "team Ethan+Lena" fan. There was just something about the way they acted that had me smiling when Liv and Ethan were hanging out.

I was very curious about John Breed. He seemed possessive of Lena, but it was obvious they weren't together, together. Just protecting each other.

So, yeah, I did like this novel and thought the ending was again vague like the first one, but I have two more books to go through so I won't have to wait long to read what happens next!

I would definitely recommend readers to read this series, but would suggest they read them in order to fully understand the storyline. And guys can definitely read this book since it is 100% through Ethan's point of view.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This is the first book in the Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

Nothing changes in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina. Ethan can attest to that. He can't wait to get out of this traditional town that is more focused on what happened in the past than what will occur in the future.

But the minute a new girl comes to town, everything changes. Gatlin doesn't get new comers. In fact, the last new person was when Ethan was in 3rd grade.

And it's not just a nobody that comes to town, but Old Man Ravenwood's niece  Macon Ravenwood hasn't been seen by anyone in town - he stays locked up in his house. So when Lena Duchannes comes into town and is in Ethan's class, things are about to get interesting.

The Ravenwood family has a unique story, or at least the story that the locals tell. It's said that her whole family are witches and cast curses left and right.

All Ethan knows is that he is fascinated by Lena. She is not like any girl he has ever met before. She dresses differently than the girls at school, she knows all of the answers in their English class because she reads all of the time. And she doesn't try to gain attention from all of the guys, even though everyone can't take their eyes off of her or stop gossiping about her.

But Ethan finds out that Lena really isn't like other girls. In fact, she's extremely unique from everyone who lives in Gatlin.

Lena's family are casters, people who have unique abilities and can cast spells or curses. And on their 16th birthday, they are either casted to the Light or the Dark. But for Lena's family, they don't get a choice of going good or evil, but will be forced to be whatever the moon decides for them.

Lena's birthday is coming up soon. And she is getting more and more nervous about being forced to be Dark. Ethan won't allow that. He will make sure that she will go to the Light. Only Ethan is a mortal, just a mere human who has no say over the caster business.

So the two play a waiting game and try to find a way to not get casted by the Dark.

However, other players are coming into the game. One of the darkest Casters wants Lena on their side, and will stop at nothing to get Lena. Because once she becomes Dark, there will be nothing stopping the two of them.

What side will Lena end up on? Will Ethan be able to keep her safe, even though he's only human? Or will the choice be inevitable for Lena? Read Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I've read and done a review about this book two years ago, but just recently re-read it and decided to do a different review for it. The one I did previously was when I first started this blog and didn't really have a system, so there were spoilers and I wanted a non-spoiler one for readers to read.

Again, I really enjoyed this novel. I did go watch the movie they made, which was another reason I read this again and found the differences from the movie and the book, but both were really good.

One thing that I had forgotten since the last time I read this was that the whole book was in Ethan's point of view. I really enjoyed reading about what the main guy was thinking and how a human would perceive information about a supernatural issue.

I really enjoyed reading about this small, southern town ways. I live in the Midwest and there aren't any traditions that have been kept, so reading about Gatlin and their strange ways of reenacting the battle from over 100 years was interesting and something I'm not familiar with.

I'm also glad that I read this novel again because there are things that are different from the novel that will be more helpful when I read the next 3 novels in the series.

For anyone who is interested in supernatural topics such as magic, along with reading about an old style town that can't get out of the past, this would be a perfect book for you. There are times where it is a lot of description and not a whole lot of action, but overall I really enjoyed it and can't wait to find out what happens next in this series!

Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2009. 563 pages.

      1. A succinct evaluative annotation. Plot: [Conflict] The problem in this story is that Lena, a new girl, comes to a small town and strange things start to happen. Ethan, a local boy in the small town, befriends her and finds out she’s a Caster (witch). Lena is turning 16, which will decide if she is a “good” witch or a “bad” witch, so Lena is dreading her 16^th birthday. [Rising Action] Ethan and Lena try to find a way to break the curse on her family so she could pick her fate: good or bad Caster. They have flashbacks of Lena and Ethan’s ancestors which tell the story of the curse and they try to find the book that created the curse. [Climax] when Lena’s 16^th birthday comes, she meets her mother, an evil Caster, who wants Lena to become evil as well. In the end, Lena hides the moon on her birthday, which changes everything because the moon, at the stroke of midnight, would have determined if she was good or evil. [Falling Action] Lena is then part good and evil, have two different colored eyes (green =good and gold=evil) showing that she is both. [Resolution] After fooling fate, Lena has another year to be “undecided” whether she is good or evil, and she and Ethan have more time to find out about the curse. Theme: The theme of this book is a mixture of Southern Gothic, magic, witches, and mystery. Tone: The tone of this book is very solemn and very serious. It’s getting closer to Lena’s birthday, which she is dreading, and she doesn’t want to turn into a “bad” Caster. Style: The authors’ writing style consisted of lengthy, descriptive background information, but also a lot of dialogue between the characters. It was very casual overall. Characterizations: There are two main characters in this story: Ethan and Lena. Ethan is a small town boy who wants to explore the world and not stay in his small town. He is adventurous, a reader, wants to learn more, and is very helpful. Lena is a new girl, very mysterious, quiet – toward most that is. When she is with Ethan, she a very powerful Caster, open, tells stories, and writes many of her thoughts wherever is accessible – wall, hand, journal, etc. Readability: This book was very easy to read and was a very fast read, even though it was close to 600 pages.

2. My reactions to the book. When first starting to read this book, I was intrigued: the reader doesn’t know what Lena is – only that she is different from everyone else. I was also very interested in the fact that Ethan, the male character, was the narrator – many YA books I’ve read are from the female perspective. Those, I felt, were the strengths of the book. A weakness I found was that it seemed the authors dragged on when they could have skipped a scene, making the story longer than it had to. Many young adults don’t like to read longer novels and that might deter them from reading this book. The writing was amazing; the authors really took their time to write an amazing novel. As for the material, since it’s about witches (or Casters, as they are called in this book) there isn’t too much that can be called accurate.

3. Comment on the cover art. The cover of Beautiful Creatures is very simple but shows the darkness of the book. I think it would appeal to teens because it’s not gender based – both boys and girls could be attracted to the cover – and the simplicity might make the teens want to read the back to find out more about what the story is about.