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| Photo from Goodreads |
Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Published: October 12th, 2010 by Little, Brown and Company
Plot Summary from Goodreads:
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.
Fiona's Grade: B-
I have some mixed feelings over this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed it- it was a nice read away from school work. On the other hand, some of it reminded me of New Moon, which I did not care for. (In short the whole mythical person goes away against there will part accounted for most of that. Though it was made to look as if Lena had no choice. Then she did. Then the reader understood why.)
One thing I really liked about the book was the fact that Ethan was no longer a Mortal stumbling around in a mythical world. He was given a purpose in "The Order of Things" (actual quote in the book). It made his motives more complex throughout the novel, rather than just "I gotta get Lena back" although it was still one of his driving forces. I also really liked the new character, Liv. I think it will be interesting to see if/how she is incorporated into futures books, though I think her primary purpose (of making Lena jealous) is done.
I really didn't like (although after doing some soul searching, I do understand better) was Lena's angst. Angst, angst everywhere. It was understandable towards the beginning but after awhile it just got to be too much. And though I now understand why, it is still a little irksome.
Once again, I didn't really see the romance between Ethan and Lena. I think the authors are telling us rather than showing us this, because after all, a Mortal and a Caster can never be together (physically, a mortal will die.) So, I guess it's some sort of forbidden romance.
Overall, if you enjoyed Beautiful Creatures, you will probably enjoy this. It didn't go crazy off in some other direction, although there were a few twists you probably won't be expecting, which I for one enjoyed. The lower grade than the first is because Lena's angst really started to grate on my nerves, but once I got past that, it was very enjoyable. I do plan to read Beautiful Chaos, but it may take me awhile because the books in this series are not a short read.
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