Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Release Date: 18th October, 2011

Publisher: Puffin

Pages: 516pgs

The Story

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.

The Review

I had a profound love for the author's first book, Beautiful Creatures. There's no denying about that well-known fact. It was adventurous, dark, gritty, magical and a powerful book of words written by two very awesome lady authors. They definitely had a winner there. However despite my confessed love of the first book, the sequel Beautiful Darkness (if you haven't read my review you can read it here) was pretty disappointing and it didn't live up to the much hyped-up debut novel that I loved so, so much. While BEAUTIFUL CHAOS is still in the same boat for me, however I enjoyed it a little bit more than the sequel and there were certain scenes and character lines that were beyond hilarious and it was much darker compared to the first two books which suited my taste in gothic-like literature just fine. And of course, this will please many fans of this young adult series.

Let's just get this straight . . . After the events of the seventeenth moon in Beautiful Darkness, combined with the crazy ordeal Lena had to face concerning the Mortal and Caster worlds, the title of BEAUTIFUL CHAOS suits it perfectly. With the town Gatlin suffering from mass destruction, heat, and deaths with little explaination, not to mention with Lena claiming herself as both light and dark, you can definitely say that chaos is how you would describe this book in one word because as you can see there's a lot going on this time round for the characters. But there's still a question that needs to be answered: How can Ethan, the main character, stop this destruction hitting his town? And trust me, the question that lies here will be answered by the time you finish this book.

Like in the previous two novels, Ethan Wate remains a fantastic protagonist. He continues to face down consequences caused by himself and his troublesome girlfriend, Lena, and he tends to cares about the people around him despite the many things that stand in his way of achieving particular things. If I had a boyfriend of any kind . . . it would be Ethan all the way and no one shall challenge me otherwise! He is perfection compared to most fictional boys I've read in young adult books. Mainly because he can do no wrong. Literally. Lena on the other hand, I loved her in the first book but my heart was stomped on several times in the sequel. She was going off the plot during that time (though I don't blame her because her mummy is evil to the bone and perhaps a little crazy than others) but she made me dislike her in many ways. She was acting weird, she was trusting the wrong people, she didn't care about Ethan nor appreciated him . . . you get what I mean. But surprisingly her character was really likeable in this third installment and a lot of her comments were pretty hilarious, especially when it came to Olivia - a girl you met previously in Beautiful Darkness.

Okay I hate to admit this to you all but I don't care about Lena in the way I care about Liv's (Olivia) character because she possesses the many qualities that every girl heroine should have in them. She's super smart, snarky with enough comebacks to throw out to you that will have you in happy tears and she often cares about people - strangers even - as much Ethan does in terms of wanting to protect them. So my heart is all for Liv and she's one of the few characters I wanted on the scene. Like . . . All. The. Time. Same goes with the character John Breed, the bad boy of the town and one you'd met in the sequel also. John Breed wasn't 'my boy' at first and I didn't particularly like him. But after this book he is one of my boys and it was great to see his character shine in a different light - in a more likeable light I mean. Without revealing too much, let's just say Liv has an unexpected love interest on her horizons and while I didn't agree with Ethan getting jealous over the fact of someone actually being interested in Liv (he has no right to get jealous by the way considering he didn't get with Liv like I wanted him to that bad, bad boy), but I'm sure readers will be giving the green light on Liv's new romance. I certainly have!

Overall, after skimming some boring parts of the book, I was quite pleased on how the events of BEAUTIFUL CHAOS had turned out. And don't get me started on the cliffhanger - one I saw coming but didn't want to actually happen but it kind of did kind of cliffhanger. Anyway, I highly recommend this book to readers who have already read this series so far. While the book had a slow beginning and while it never beats my love for the first book, Beautiful Creatures, but this third installment will entertain readers on all sorts of levels and perhaps will make you cry and laugh a little. Mostly laugh because there's these hilarious comeback scenes between Lena and Liv that was so awesome and they said things to each other that was so true as well and - well wait a second, you'll have to find out for yourselves. *smirks*

The Rating

4/5 stars

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Release Day: 12th October, 2010

Publisher: Little Brown/Razorbill

Pages: 503pgs

The Story

Ethan 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 has 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 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 undeground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

The Review

Shamefully I had this book on the shelf for quite some time since the release of BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS but I never had the chance to read it. You know, since I have and own soooooo many books nowadays. But thankfully, I had some time to settle down and read it. In the first book of the Caster Chronicles series, Beautiful Creatures, I remember how much I loved it and it had become one of my favourite paranormal books in the young adult book department! However, in this sequel, I was very disappointed . . . not in the writing but more so in the way the events unfolded. There were some moments that definitely surprised me, but there were others that left me going, "Oh, come on!"

BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS was quite hard to get into and the only time I felt myself engaged with the book was after the half of the book was read . . . that's when the real action happens. Without spoiling the events in this sequel, I'll just give you a run down what I loved and hated about the book. Okay, what I loved? I loved Ethan's character and in this book he only proved himself to be a real worthy main character, and I love him for it! He remains strong throughout all the Hell-ish things that are thrown at him and he always impresses me in the way he handles things. As for Lena . . . well, I'll get to her later. But when it comes to Liv, a new character introduced to the book series, I just loved her to death! She's funny, a little quirky, and VERY smart! To be honest, I wanted her and Ethan to get together but since that seem beyond impossible . . . that's a reason why I didn't like the book so much. But Ridley earns herself some points! She maybe dark on the inside and a little annoying, but she definitely knows how to make you laugh! Same goes with Link!

Moving on, let's talk about what I didn't like about BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS. First off, LENA! Now in the first book, I loved Lena's character and I could relate to her . . . but in this sequel I lost track of what I loved about her from the beginning because not only does she annoy me, but she depresses me. She has her reasons, of course. Still . . . I was tired of hearing her complain about her choice in turning Dark or Light, and most importantly . . . I hated the way she treated her suppose "boyfriend", pushing Ethan away to "protect him". But if this was "true love" as they say it to be, then I don't believe in it. Another thing I didn't like was John Breed (cause I expected a total badass and got nothing great) and I hated the way things turned out at the ending pages . . . *sighs* MAJOR LET DOWN! I wished I could go into further details about the book but since that would spoil it for those who haven't had a chance to pick this big baby up . . . I won't say another word!

Overall, BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS was still a very entertaining book though I have to warn you: stuff doesn't really happen until you pass the middle half of the book. Despite my dislikes of events here and there, there is certainly a lot of twists and little surprises along the way, some that really surprised me and others that just make me shake my head and sigh. So, if you've read Beautiful Creatures, expect this book to have a very different vibe . . . it's a bit darker and a bit crazier!

The Rating

3 1/2 / 5 stars