Review: The Caster Chronicles (so far) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I would just like to go on the record to say that I was an idiot to have put off reading these books as long as I have. Seriously. I have had Beautiful Creatures on my nightstand since May of last year, and have been putting it off because I really thought it was just going to be another Twilight re-telling. How wrong I was! After I finished it, I had to move right on to the second book, Beautiful Darkness. Now I have to sit and anxiously await the third book, Beautiful Chaos, until October... With that off my chest, I can now tell you why I loved these books.
 

Beautiful Creatures
By Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: December 1st, 2009

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.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Wow. This book was so much better than I expected it to be. I have absolutely no complaints about it whatsoever. That NEVER happens. I was hooked from the beginning, and did not want to stop reading. The writing was great, the characters well-developed, and the story flawless. What else is there to say? If you like a good paranormal romance, but are sick of seeing Bella Swan in every one you read, then this is the book for you. Bonus? It's told from Ethan's point-of-view.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Grade Level Recommendation: The content is pretty clean. I would say wholly appropriate for 5th grade+ (ages 10+).


Beautiful Darkness
By Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 12th, 2010 

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.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Everything I said about Beautiful Creatures applies here, but more so. I was a little reluctant to read Beautiful Darkness (despite the compelling need to know what happened next) because I didn't think it could top the first book. I am happy to report that it did, and then some. The story got a bit darker (in case you weren't clued in by the title), but it was fitting. I anxiously await book three, Beautiful Chaos. There is so much more story to be told and I just know it's going to be amazing!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Grade Level Recommendation: Same as Beautiful Creatures. Ages 10+ (5th grade+).