Beautiful Chaos
Dec 5, 2011
Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date:October 18, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0316123525
Get ready for another big, hearty book in the saga of Lena and Ethan - mortal and....something fantastically supernatural.
Book Description from the publisher:
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.
Idgie Says:
I will state as I have in the reviews for the first two books from the series - these books need to be read in order. If you jump into Beautiful Chaos you'll be lost from the start. The characters are fully established by now and this is no Sue Grafton novel where the first chapter of each book is a recap.
The first book was not as immersed into the level of fantasy as the later books are, it still had much teen angst within it's storyline. But now Ethan and Lena are engaged in an all out war with other supernatural factions and there's no time to be kids. As the infighting continues, Ethan becomes more and more affected by everything surrounding him. He's torn between being afraid that he's losing himself completely and wondering if he needs to in order to save Lena.
In this book, supernaturals lose their power and become mortals and mortals gain other powers to become partially supernatural. There's magic, spells and potions all over this small town... yet at the same time the little old ladies still make their way slowly to church to sing in the choir and the kids still hang out at the Dar-ee Keen.
There is a cliffhanger here that does leave it open for yet another book, and from the positive responses I receive from the YA crowd, I think that could be a good thing.
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First six chapters available through Open Book HERE.
Click on the links below for the Dew's reviews of the first two books in the series.
Beautiful Creatures - 2009
Beautiful Darkness - 2010
