BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS BY KAMI GARCIA AND MARGARET STOHL

Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2)

By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Release Date: October 12, 2010

Publisher: Little Brown Book for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 512
Source: Bought

Buy this book: Amazon

Synopsis (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.

I have been waiting to read this one for a while since having read the first in the series Beautiful Creatures. And I must say that as sequals go it did not disappoint. All the elements that I loved about the first book were present in the second. The writing was superb, the atmosphere was well built and the characters as gripping as ever. The pacing of the story was great I found. It was not too slow or to rushed as the story developed and ended at just the right pace. I have to say that I hope that The Caster Chronicles does get made into a movie because there are so many cinematic shots that were running through my head as I read this book. The tunnels (if you read the books you understand) would look amazing on film.

Overall, this book had all the elements to great story telling. It had believable characters, a gripping story premise, great writing and a great back drop for it all to take place. This one is a sure read.

xoDarcy

WISH LIST WEDNESDAY (13)

Beautiful Chaos By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Caster Chronicles #3)

Release October 18, 2011

Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Synopsis from (Goodreads): 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 have loved this series thus far because of the amazing writing and great story written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. So it is only natural that I CANNOT wait until Beautiful Chaos is released to get more of the Caster Chronicles series.

WISH LIST WEDNESDAY (2)

Beautiful Darkness By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Release Date October 12 2010

Published By Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Synopsis (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.

I read and loved Beautiful Creatures which was the first book in the Caster Chronicles series. I am glad to say that the wait is finally over with the recent release of Beautiful Darkness, the sequel to Beautiful Creatures. Things were ended in uncertainty in the first book (for all of you who read it and know what I'm talking about) and so it will be interesting to see how the story develops. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl did such an amazing job with the first book that I spent most of the last months counting down to the release of Beautiful Darkness. I can't wait to hit the bookstore and get my hands on this one.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES BY KAMI GARCIA & MARGARET STOHL

Beautiful Creatures By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 
Release Date: December 1, 2009
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Age group: Young Adult
Pages: 563
Buy this Book: Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

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.

Beautiful Creatures was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The novel is set in the small southern town of Gatlin and narrated through the perspective of Ethan Wate. Gatlin provides no excitement for Ethan until his world is forever changed after meeting Lena Duchannes, the towns newest resident. As it's said in the jacket of the book there is a curse, a girl, and of course a grave. The authors, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, have written a totally absorbing Gothic tale about a Mortal boy who falls for a Caster girl.

Beautiful Creatures was beautifully written. I am not from the south but this book made me want to visit the south. The descriptions were lush and vivid leaping right off the page, compelling you to want to inhabit the world of beautiful creatures. There are also many references to other great literature and poetry which I enjoyed as well.

The story is intriguing, the writing seamless and well done, and above all the characters are compelling. Despite the long length of the novel (563 pages) it is well worth its weight.