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Caster Chronicles #3
Beautiful Chaos
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.
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.
516 pages, Hardcover
First published October 18, 2011
About the author
Kami Garcia
101 books17.1k followersKami Garcia is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. She is the coauthor of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES series, which has been published in 51 countries and 37 languages, with over 10 million copies in print. In 2013, Beautiful Creatures released as a feature film from Warner Brothers. Kami is a cofounder of the YALLFEST kid lit book festival and the author of five solo novels, including her Bram Stoker Award-nominated novels Unbreakable and Unmarked (THE LEGION series) and The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos. Kami’s first graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven, with artist Gabriel Picolo, is the first book in her TEEN TITANS series for DC Comics and the adult series JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITY, from DC Black Label.
Find Kami online at kamigarcia.com, on Facebook @KamiGarciaYA, and on Twitter and Instagram @KamiGarcia.
Find Kami online at kamigarcia.com, on Facebook @KamiGarciaYA, and on Twitter and Instagram @KamiGarcia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,944 reviews
December 10, 2020
2.5 stars
This Chaos was not Beautiful. It was just Chaos.
All of these plots are blending together - there's hardly any distinction between the books and we keep circling the same problems every time.
To Summarize: Ethan LOVES Lena. Lena LOVES Ethan. But they can't be together BECAUSE REASONS (actually, it's because if they were to bang, Ethan would burn up and die. BECAUSE REASONS. (But they still make out all the friggin time))
To Expand my Summary: Ethan's hometown (Gatlin) is experiencing an absolutely insane summer - locusts, heatwaves, terrible storms - are all condensing on their little town.
Link's mom thinks it's the end of the world - and she just may be right.
In the last book, Lena decided to be a special snowflake and claim herself (opposed to letting either the dark or the light side claim her).
Her decision caused the whole Caster world to be thrown into chaos. Again.
Ethan's dreams are getting crazy. Again.
Lena is withdrawing from him. Again.
They both experience crazy fits of jealousy and love. Again.
Rinse & Repeat.
Honestly, the only thing keeping me going is Link.
I love absolutely everything about this kid. He was just bitten by an incubus and now is a quarter supernatural. He's renamed himself the Linkubus. The Linkubus.
And despite feeding off people's dreams and being a creature of the night, he's still the best dang thing about this series.
But.
Here comes the real question: Is he worth suffering from this level of love?
Audiobook Comments
Read by Kevin T. Collins - he did a pretty good job of it.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
This Chaos was not Beautiful. It was just Chaos.
When I first met you, that's what I remember. I looked up at the sky and thought, I'm going to love this person because even the sky looks different.Its just... everything is SO DRAMATIC all the time. I'm exhausted. I'm drained. I just don't care anymore.
The mortal world is in a state of Beautiful Chaos and destruction, which will ultimately lead to an exquisite end.See? It's all fluff and drama and ANGST.
All of these plots are blending together - there's hardly any distinction between the books and we keep circling the same problems every time.
To Summarize: Ethan LOVES Lena. Lena LOVES Ethan. But they can't be together BECAUSE REASONS (actually, it's because if they were to bang, Ethan would burn up and die. BECAUSE REASONS. (But they still make out all the friggin time))
I needed to touch her, like I needed to breathe.Can you feel my frustration?
To Expand my Summary: Ethan's hometown (Gatlin) is experiencing an absolutely insane summer - locusts, heatwaves, terrible storms - are all condensing on their little town.
Link's mom thinks it's the end of the world - and she just may be right.
In the last book, Lena decided to be a special snowflake and claim herself (opposed to letting either the dark or the light side claim her).
Her decision caused the whole Caster world to be thrown into chaos. Again.
Ethan's dreams are getting crazy. Again.
Lena is withdrawing from him. Again.
They both experience crazy fits of jealousy and love. Again.
Rinse & Repeat.
Honestly, the only thing keeping me going is Link.
I love absolutely everything about this kid. He was just bitten by an incubus and now is a quarter supernatural. He's renamed himself the Linkubus. The Linkubus.
And despite feeding off people's dreams and being a creature of the night, he's still the best dang thing about this series.
“Hey, Ethan."He's my only reason for reading this book. I could care less if anyone dies in this book. (well, except Ridley and that's only cause Link is crushing on her and Link deserves happiness.)
"Yeah?"
"Remember the Twinkie on the bus? The one I gave you in second grade, the day we met?"
"The one you found on the floor and gave me without telling me? Nice."
He grinned and shot the ball. "It never really fell on the floor. I made that part up.”
But.
Here comes the real question: Is he worth suffering from this level of love?
She closed her eyes, and I closed mine, and even though we weren't holding hands, it felt like we were.Honestly. Yes. The Linkubus makes every last word worth it.
“This church picnic ain't no picnic./You're my fried chicken./ Holy finger-lickin'..."Link is my true love.
Savannah yelled at him over the music. "Are you callin' me a piece a fried chicken?"
"Nah. Not you, Slush Queen. Never." He closed his eyes and pounded out the drums on the dashboard of the Beater.
Audiobook Comments
Read by Kevin T. Collins - he did a pretty good job of it.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Want to read
October 14, 2010You know you have a good book series going when hundreds of people add "Untitled Book #3" to their to-read lists...
March 12, 2019
"In the end, the wheel crushes us all."
3.5 ⭐️
I'm finding with this series, that although it isn't good per se, and sometimes the teen angst and the constant fear the world is going to end can get very tiresome, I still find myself wanting to know what will happen next.
Damn if that isn't an accomplishment if these writers can keep me reading despite some questionable plot points!
We are now on the 'eighteenth moon' and once again Ethan is hearing voices and songs in his head. The world order has been completely thrown since Lena claimed herself in Book 2 and all the Caster's powers are messed up, there is a heat wave in December and as expected the Gatlin locals believe it is the apocalypse.
Ethan and Lena are just as sickeningly in love as before their little love triangle malarkey with Liv and John; who have now decided they love each other instead. Ugh.
Full of weird little rhymes that the characters have to decipher - who is the eighteenth moon for? And what will happen next?
Considering the so called apocalypse has happened roughly 3 times in this series, the end of this book meant I must read the next one Just for the sake of it! But I'll definitely skip the spin off series I think. Honestly these story lines are just getting silly now.
3.5 ⭐️
I'm finding with this series, that although it isn't good per se, and sometimes the teen angst and the constant fear the world is going to end can get very tiresome, I still find myself wanting to know what will happen next.
Damn if that isn't an accomplishment if these writers can keep me reading despite some questionable plot points!
We are now on the 'eighteenth moon' and once again Ethan is hearing voices and songs in his head. The world order has been completely thrown since Lena claimed herself in Book 2 and all the Caster's powers are messed up, there is a heat wave in December and as expected the Gatlin locals believe it is the apocalypse.
Ethan and Lena are just as sickeningly in love as before their little love triangle malarkey with Liv and John; who have now decided they love each other instead. Ugh.
Full of weird little rhymes that the characters have to decipher - who is the eighteenth moon for? And what will happen next?
Considering the so called apocalypse has happened roughly 3 times in this series, the end of this book meant I must read the next one Just for the sake of it! But I'll definitely skip the spin off series I think. Honestly these story lines are just getting silly now.
November 25, 2011
You know what freaks me out a bit? That I never finished this book....
I was reading it, and then I wasn't and it was two weeks later and I found it in the back of my closet.
It was just...good. But I there were parts that were so boring I wanted to tear my eyes out. And I have to admit that after three books of action and drama of apocalyptic proportions, I think I was a little tired of it.
I'll have to see what my cousin thinks. They were like her favorite books, and she hasn't read this yet.
I was reading it, and then I wasn't and it was two weeks later and I found it in the back of my closet.
It was just...good. But I there were parts that were so boring I wanted to tear my eyes out. And I have to admit that after three books of action and drama of apocalyptic proportions, I think I was a little tired of it.
I'll have to see what my cousin thinks. They were like her favorite books, and she hasn't read this yet.
November 7, 2011
I am disappointed.
I started reading Beautiful Chaos with a huge smile and ended up with a frown on my face.
After the great adventure I experienced with Beautiful Darkness, I expected Beautiful Chaos to surpass the excitement and thrill of the 2nd book of the Caster Chronicles. Sadly, it just dragged on; and to think that I was really, really eager to see a lot of great things from this book.
There were several elements that bothered me while reading Beautiful Chaos, and they are as follows:
THE PACING. It didn’t bother me that the first book, Beautiful Creatures, started out slow; I get it. There were a lot of things I needed to sink my brain into. Then came Beautiful Darkness that blew me away with such a thrilling adventure, which up until now, I could still not get over by the way. Unfortunately Beautiful Chaos came out slower than the first and just happened to be even less eventful too.
CHARACTER INTERACTION. None of the characters wanted to tell anybody anything. They’ve always been so secretive during the first and second book, and it’s obvious that keeping secrets just gets them deeper into trouble and yet they keep doing so. I really wanted to jump inside the book and slap each character senseless. When will they ever learn???
PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS. Another thing the characters don’t seem to learn or improve at. The constant “I don’t know” and “We need to figure out soon” is really getting old. They keep saying they’ll figure it out and yet ‘till the end, they still haven’t. They keep trying to find a way to solve it fast but then end up with something else to worry about. It’s an endless cycle.
THE NUMBER OF PAGES. 500+ pages of all of talk and worry and not much going on is a pain. There are some chapters that I felt asking myself if they were really necessary to the story or not.
CLIFFHANGERS. Another endless matter. How many moons will it take for anything to actually happen that’ll push me off my seat?
NOT ENOUGH LINK. Seriously?! He turns into a quarter-incubus and that’s when he gets pushed aside? I had seen him in a more significant role as a mere mortal than now when he’s got more power in him. Not cool.
So there. I feel so bad for ranting out but I really had such high hopes for this book. I’m a little skeptical about reading the next after this. I don’t know if it would get anywhere at all.
For more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
The Blair Book Project @ www.theblairbookproject.blogspot.com
I started reading Beautiful Chaos with a huge smile and ended up with a frown on my face.
After the great adventure I experienced with Beautiful Darkness, I expected Beautiful Chaos to surpass the excitement and thrill of the 2nd book of the Caster Chronicles. Sadly, it just dragged on; and to think that I was really, really eager to see a lot of great things from this book.
There were several elements that bothered me while reading Beautiful Chaos, and they are as follows:
THE PACING. It didn’t bother me that the first book, Beautiful Creatures, started out slow; I get it. There were a lot of things I needed to sink my brain into. Then came Beautiful Darkness that blew me away with such a thrilling adventure, which up until now, I could still not get over by the way. Unfortunately Beautiful Chaos came out slower than the first and just happened to be even less eventful too.
CHARACTER INTERACTION. None of the characters wanted to tell anybody anything. They’ve always been so secretive during the first and second book, and it’s obvious that keeping secrets just gets them deeper into trouble and yet they keep doing so. I really wanted to jump inside the book and slap each character senseless. When will they ever learn???
PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS. Another thing the characters don’t seem to learn or improve at. The constant “I don’t know” and “We need to figure out soon” is really getting old. They keep saying they’ll figure it out and yet ‘till the end, they still haven’t. They keep trying to find a way to solve it fast but then end up with something else to worry about. It’s an endless cycle.
THE NUMBER OF PAGES. 500+ pages of all of talk and worry and not much going on is a pain. There are some chapters that I felt asking myself if they were really necessary to the story or not.
CLIFFHANGERS. Another endless matter. How many moons will it take for anything to actually happen that’ll push me off my seat?
NOT ENOUGH LINK. Seriously?! He turns into a quarter-incubus and that’s when he gets pushed aside? I had seen him in a more significant role as a mere mortal than now when he’s got more power in him. Not cool.
So there. I feel so bad for ranting out but I really had such high hopes for this book. I’m a little skeptical about reading the next after this. I don’t know if it would get anywhere at all.
For more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
The Blair Book Project @ www.theblairbookproject.blogspot.com
October 29, 2011
Five stars: This series continues to excel.
Things are not quite right in Gatlin, nor are they right in the Mortal and Caster Worlds. The events that transpired at Lena's forced Seventeenth Moon Claiming created far reaching consequences. A crack splintered through the Order of Things; a slit formed in our world that is slowly spreading, sprawling and decimating life as we know it. Gatlin is plagued by relentless, scorching heat, grasshoppers, a dried up lake and the Baptists led by the intimidating Mrs. Link, waving their signs proclaiming the end of world and reminding all of us sinners to repent. Our friends are haunted by their own torments. For Ethan, it seems that the debt from Lena's Sixteenth Moon Claiming is due. Every night he is trapped in sweaty, terrible, haunting nightmares, filled with visions of falling and death. He feels blurry, out of focus and he is catching glimpses out of the corner of his eye; is something shadowing him? The worst part is that he is forgetting things, losing more of himself each day, it is as if something is gnawing at his mind. Amma knows that Fate is expecting payment and she is tortured by the steep price. She is distracted and frazzled. Her crosswords set aside, pie making abandoned and The Greats aren't answering. Lena, has claimed herself, she is sharp, bright and ready to fight but her Caster powers are misfiring as are all the Caster's powers. Link is dealing with his transformation into Linkubus and moaning over the unattainable Ridley. As each day passes and the apocalypse nears, Ethan once again finds himself in a battle. This time it is different, he is struggling against the Wheel of Fate. The march of the present to the future and into destiny. The Wheel is grinding, chewing through time and pulverizing everyone in her path. No one can escape, she crushes all. Can Ethan avoid the Wheel's path?
What I Liked:
*I am a big fan of this series and book three did not disappoint. In fact this is the best book yet. I "ripped" into the pages and scarfed them down, it was so good. The plot of this book moves away from Lena and onto Ethan. The big boot has fallen and our characters are trapped under the stomp. Chaos and destruction reign. This story is thick. There are so many sub plots trailing the main story of Ethan trying to restore The Order and himself. This book will have your mind whirling, it is deep! Be prepared for anything. It builds and builds to a heart wrenching ending that will have you running to check when the next book is available. You NEED to meet my friends in Gatlin but please start with book one, Beautiful Creatures.
*The characters this time around have grown and matured, Lena especially. At last she has ascended beyond the emotive, brooding, dramatic girl to staunch and determined. I really enjoyed her transformation. Ethan is amazing, for all you Ethan lovers out there, your boy is as always, courageous and endearing. His willingness to sacrifice will shred your heart. Linkubus, provides the laughs and he excels in his new super hero role, he so isn't "lame like Aquaman." Everyone has returned more developed and better. There is one heart breaking loss along the way. Be prepared to shed some tears. I wonder where my friends will go from here?
*This entire series is peppered with many memorable quotes from so many famous people from Dickinson, Poe, Plato, Da Vinci and even Winston Churchill. Any literary connoisseur will love not only the quotes but the references to some great literature. I have decided that Ms. Stohl and Ms. Garcia need to (only after the finale of the Caster's Chronicles as I do not want my wait time extended) publish a Gatlin cookbook and lace it with famous quotable lines.
And The Not So Much:
*I am still conflicted over the John Breed character. As I suspected in Beautiful Darkness, he is an important character. This time some light was shed on why he seemed so flat and "puppet like" in the last book. His character fills out in this installment and I even grew to like him, as does Ethan after he gets over wanting to punch him in the face but I feel that I am still missing something. Hopefully, it will all become clear in book four.
*This is a personal preference but I wanted more Linkubus. I was hoping that with the transformation that Link would be even more prominent than he was in the last book. It starts out with a strong dose of Linkubus but toward the end his presence fades. He does remain a solid, steadfast friend and he rips in at timely moments to save the day. I think to satiate the Linkubus hunger there must be a spinoff series featuring the lovable Link. Plus, I still don't know what he was doing in Amma's basement when he was nine. A burning question that needs an answer.
*As I mentioned previously, this is a complicated story line with many threads that all intertwine. However, I was disappointed that there were so many lines and none of them draw to resolution. Especially with the climatic, tear jerking, and tender buildup ( I am not even kidding about this) and then the heart splitting, jaw dropping ending that will have you screaming...."NOoooo...." Ladies, how can you be so cruel to slap us in the face with that finale and leave us suffering with a painfully, long, length of time to wait!
Book three in The Caster's Chronicles is bigger and better than the first two. In Gatlin, where things never change, it has changed and mostly not for the better. Our friends in Gatlin, transformed from their previous traumatic adventures are trying to evade the deadly, revolving Wheel of Fate, as she crunches through time and devours all. Can our heroes somehow defy her trampling spokes and change the future? Can they bring about a New Order and stop the Chaos? I expect book four to be an epic finale.
Final Quotations:
"That when she looked at me, it was like there was no one else in the world. That when I looked at her, I noticed every detail about her while everything else faded away. That I was only myself when we were together."
"“Books?” Ridley looked disgusted. “Carry?”
"We sat in silence, holding hands until it hurt, until the sun fell away—behind the words, behind the glass and the trees and the river. The night slid across her bed, and I waited for the darkness to erase everything."
"Everyone’s crazier than usual. My mom started talkin’ about buildin’ a bunker again. She’s buyin’ up every can at the Stop & Steal, like we’re gonna hole up in the basement until the Devil gives up or somethin’.”
“Book banners are no better than book burners.”
“Maybe it needed to be broken. Sometimes things have to break before you can fix them.”
" You know vegetablism is one step closer ta a world without panties an’ preachers. That there is a documentated fact.”
"We change whether we want to or not.”
"Same goes for the people you love and the people you don’t—and the people who love you and the people who don’t.
The only thing that mattered was that you cared about a few people.
Life is really, really short."
“Maybe my mom’s right and this is the End a Days. Maybe she’s gonna get a chance to use her wheat grinder and her gas masks and that inflatable raft after all.”
“I’ll love you until the day after forever."
Things are not quite right in Gatlin, nor are they right in the Mortal and Caster Worlds. The events that transpired at Lena's forced Seventeenth Moon Claiming created far reaching consequences. A crack splintered through the Order of Things; a slit formed in our world that is slowly spreading, sprawling and decimating life as we know it. Gatlin is plagued by relentless, scorching heat, grasshoppers, a dried up lake and the Baptists led by the intimidating Mrs. Link, waving their signs proclaiming the end of world and reminding all of us sinners to repent. Our friends are haunted by their own torments. For Ethan, it seems that the debt from Lena's Sixteenth Moon Claiming is due. Every night he is trapped in sweaty, terrible, haunting nightmares, filled with visions of falling and death. He feels blurry, out of focus and he is catching glimpses out of the corner of his eye; is something shadowing him? The worst part is that he is forgetting things, losing more of himself each day, it is as if something is gnawing at his mind. Amma knows that Fate is expecting payment and she is tortured by the steep price. She is distracted and frazzled. Her crosswords set aside, pie making abandoned and The Greats aren't answering. Lena, has claimed herself, she is sharp, bright and ready to fight but her Caster powers are misfiring as are all the Caster's powers. Link is dealing with his transformation into Linkubus and moaning over the unattainable Ridley. As each day passes and the apocalypse nears, Ethan once again finds himself in a battle. This time it is different, he is struggling against the Wheel of Fate. The march of the present to the future and into destiny. The Wheel is grinding, chewing through time and pulverizing everyone in her path. No one can escape, she crushes all. Can Ethan avoid the Wheel's path?
What I Liked:
*I am a big fan of this series and book three did not disappoint. In fact this is the best book yet. I "ripped" into the pages and scarfed them down, it was so good. The plot of this book moves away from Lena and onto Ethan. The big boot has fallen and our characters are trapped under the stomp. Chaos and destruction reign. This story is thick. There are so many sub plots trailing the main story of Ethan trying to restore The Order and himself. This book will have your mind whirling, it is deep! Be prepared for anything. It builds and builds to a heart wrenching ending that will have you running to check when the next book is available. You NEED to meet my friends in Gatlin but please start with book one, Beautiful Creatures.
*The characters this time around have grown and matured, Lena especially. At last she has ascended beyond the emotive, brooding, dramatic girl to staunch and determined. I really enjoyed her transformation. Ethan is amazing, for all you Ethan lovers out there, your boy is as always, courageous and endearing. His willingness to sacrifice will shred your heart. Linkubus, provides the laughs and he excels in his new super hero role, he so isn't "lame like Aquaman." Everyone has returned more developed and better. There is one heart breaking loss along the way. Be prepared to shed some tears. I wonder where my friends will go from here?
*This entire series is peppered with many memorable quotes from so many famous people from Dickinson, Poe, Plato, Da Vinci and even Winston Churchill. Any literary connoisseur will love not only the quotes but the references to some great literature. I have decided that Ms. Stohl and Ms. Garcia need to (only after the finale of the Caster's Chronicles as I do not want my wait time extended) publish a Gatlin cookbook and lace it with famous quotable lines.
And The Not So Much:
*I am still conflicted over the John Breed character. As I suspected in Beautiful Darkness, he is an important character. This time some light was shed on why he seemed so flat and "puppet like" in the last book. His character fills out in this installment and I even grew to like him, as does Ethan after he gets over wanting to punch him in the face but I feel that I am still missing something. Hopefully, it will all become clear in book four.
*This is a personal preference but I wanted more Linkubus. I was hoping that with the transformation that Link would be even more prominent than he was in the last book. It starts out with a strong dose of Linkubus but toward the end his presence fades. He does remain a solid, steadfast friend and he rips in at timely moments to save the day. I think to satiate the Linkubus hunger there must be a spinoff series featuring the lovable Link. Plus, I still don't know what he was doing in Amma's basement when he was nine. A burning question that needs an answer.
*As I mentioned previously, this is a complicated story line with many threads that all intertwine. However, I was disappointed that there were so many lines and none of them draw to resolution. Especially with the climatic, tear jerking, and tender buildup ( I am not even kidding about this) and then the heart splitting, jaw dropping ending that will have you screaming...."NOoooo...." Ladies, how can you be so cruel to slap us in the face with that finale and leave us suffering with a painfully, long, length of time to wait!
Book three in The Caster's Chronicles is bigger and better than the first two. In Gatlin, where things never change, it has changed and mostly not for the better. Our friends in Gatlin, transformed from their previous traumatic adventures are trying to evade the deadly, revolving Wheel of Fate, as she crunches through time and devours all. Can our heroes somehow defy her trampling spokes and change the future? Can they bring about a New Order and stop the Chaos? I expect book four to be an epic finale.
Final Quotations:
"That when she looked at me, it was like there was no one else in the world. That when I looked at her, I noticed every detail about her while everything else faded away. That I was only myself when we were together."
"“Books?” Ridley looked disgusted. “Carry?”
"We sat in silence, holding hands until it hurt, until the sun fell away—behind the words, behind the glass and the trees and the river. The night slid across her bed, and I waited for the darkness to erase everything."
"Everyone’s crazier than usual. My mom started talkin’ about buildin’ a bunker again. She’s buyin’ up every can at the Stop & Steal, like we’re gonna hole up in the basement until the Devil gives up or somethin’.”
“Book banners are no better than book burners.”
“Maybe it needed to be broken. Sometimes things have to break before you can fix them.”
" You know vegetablism is one step closer ta a world without panties an’ preachers. That there is a documentated fact.”
"We change whether we want to or not.”
"Same goes for the people you love and the people you don’t—and the people who love you and the people who don’t.
The only thing that mattered was that you cared about a few people.
Life is really, really short."
“Maybe my mom’s right and this is the End a Days. Maybe she’s gonna get a chance to use her wheat grinder and her gas masks and that inflatable raft after all.”
“I’ll love you until the day after forever."
February 13, 2020
Beautiful Chaos (Caster Chronicles, #3), Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Chaos is a fantasy young adult novel by authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The book is the third entry in the Caster Chronicles series and was released on October 18, 2011.
Beautiful Chaos is the third installment of the Beautiful Creatures saga. In the beginning of this book Ethan and Lena are reunited and back together again.
After Lena's Claiming on her seventeenth birthday with one green eye and one gold, the choice she made wreaked chaos on the worlds of both Mortals and Casters alike, more than ever thought possible before. In the midst of these strange events unfolding, something is happening to Ethan Wate, and it's anything but normal. He is being haunted by nightmares that end up keeping him up all night long, and they aren't Lena's doing.
Ethan is changing in freaky and unexplainable ways. He hates foods that he used to love, he's forgetting names, number and even some memories he thinks he's going crazy.
Amma, his family's housekeeper and his stand in mother figure, knows something of what is happening to Ethan and what it means. She refuses to tell him or anyone, keeping quiet and not acting herself. Ethan and Lena soon discover that Lena claimed both Light and Dark, which has never happened in the history of casters.
As the book progresses Ethan loses more and more of himself slowly as the days goes by. He starts hallucinating, hearing voices, seeing things that aren't there like writings on walls. When he looks into a mirror he no longer sees himself, but another person who he truly doesn't recognize, someone he's never seen before. One day, Ethan enlists the help of his best friend Link, who is half incubus, to stalk Amma in the tunnels under Gatlin which leads them to a bokor man in New Orleans.
After spying on Amma and the bokor they decide to pay him a visit personally as well. The bokor tells them that Ethan had died (in the previous book Beautiful Creatures) and that Lena and Amma revived him, but they used the Book of Moons to do it. They ended up bringing him back to life too soon fracturing Ethan's soul, making him split in half, making one now two. He continues to say that part of Ethan's soul is now in the underworld and as a result or maybe even a punishment for severing his soul he will continue to lose himself with each passing day.
Ethan and Lena work together to figure out how to help the small town of Gatlin survive the storm of unfortunate events that are happening. They figure out that the only way to restore the Order of things, there must be a sacrifice from the person who is “One Who Is Two”.
After consulting the bokor they discover that Lena isn't the one who needs to be sacrificed as they once thought. But the bokor does tell them that Lena is destined to bind the new order of things once the sacrifice is made. They finally narrow it down enough to assume that the “One Who Is Two” is John Breed.
They rush to tell him the news at the water tower which is the place he must die, throwing himself over the edge of the tower. Because of Liv and John's budding romance this is a very emotional move for John to make, meaning Liv would be left behind, loveless.
During John throwing himself over, Ethan hears a voice in his head that says the sacrifice isn't as it should be. And the bokor takes John, Liv and Ethan back to his room and thus saving John before he dies. Later after some visions that the bokor man shows him, Ethan finally figures out that he is to be the sacrifice, he is the “One Who Is Two” one body, two halves of a soul. Ethan tells Lena that he is the one who will fix the order, that he has to die. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و هشتم ماه فوریه سال 2016 میلادی
عنوان: هرج و مرج زیبا: کتاب سوم از سری تاریخ نگاری (حماسه) کستر؛ نویسندگان: کامی گارسیا؛ مارگارت استول؛
پس از ادعای «لنا» در هفدهمین سالگرد تولد خود با یک چشم سبز و یک چشم طلایی، گزینشی که باعث ایجاد هرج و مرج در دنیای مورتالها و کسترها شد، ...؛ ا. شربیانی
Beautiful Chaos is a fantasy young adult novel by authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The book is the third entry in the Caster Chronicles series and was released on October 18, 2011.
Beautiful Chaos is the third installment of the Beautiful Creatures saga. In the beginning of this book Ethan and Lena are reunited and back together again.
After Lena's Claiming on her seventeenth birthday with one green eye and one gold, the choice she made wreaked chaos on the worlds of both Mortals and Casters alike, more than ever thought possible before. In the midst of these strange events unfolding, something is happening to Ethan Wate, and it's anything but normal. He is being haunted by nightmares that end up keeping him up all night long, and they aren't Lena's doing.
Ethan is changing in freaky and unexplainable ways. He hates foods that he used to love, he's forgetting names, number and even some memories he thinks he's going crazy.
Amma, his family's housekeeper and his stand in mother figure, knows something of what is happening to Ethan and what it means. She refuses to tell him or anyone, keeping quiet and not acting herself. Ethan and Lena soon discover that Lena claimed both Light and Dark, which has never happened in the history of casters.
As the book progresses Ethan loses more and more of himself slowly as the days goes by. He starts hallucinating, hearing voices, seeing things that aren't there like writings on walls. When he looks into a mirror he no longer sees himself, but another person who he truly doesn't recognize, someone he's never seen before. One day, Ethan enlists the help of his best friend Link, who is half incubus, to stalk Amma in the tunnels under Gatlin which leads them to a bokor man in New Orleans.
After spying on Amma and the bokor they decide to pay him a visit personally as well. The bokor tells them that Ethan had died (in the previous book Beautiful Creatures) and that Lena and Amma revived him, but they used the Book of Moons to do it. They ended up bringing him back to life too soon fracturing Ethan's soul, making him split in half, making one now two. He continues to say that part of Ethan's soul is now in the underworld and as a result or maybe even a punishment for severing his soul he will continue to lose himself with each passing day.
Ethan and Lena work together to figure out how to help the small town of Gatlin survive the storm of unfortunate events that are happening. They figure out that the only way to restore the Order of things, there must be a sacrifice from the person who is “One Who Is Two”.
After consulting the bokor they discover that Lena isn't the one who needs to be sacrificed as they once thought. But the bokor does tell them that Lena is destined to bind the new order of things once the sacrifice is made. They finally narrow it down enough to assume that the “One Who Is Two” is John Breed.
They rush to tell him the news at the water tower which is the place he must die, throwing himself over the edge of the tower. Because of Liv and John's budding romance this is a very emotional move for John to make, meaning Liv would be left behind, loveless.
During John throwing himself over, Ethan hears a voice in his head that says the sacrifice isn't as it should be. And the bokor takes John, Liv and Ethan back to his room and thus saving John before he dies. Later after some visions that the bokor man shows him, Ethan finally figures out that he is to be the sacrifice, he is the “One Who Is Two” one body, two halves of a soul. Ethan tells Lena that he is the one who will fix the order, that he has to die. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و هشتم ماه فوریه سال 2016 میلادی
عنوان: هرج و مرج زیبا: کتاب سوم از سری تاریخ نگاری (حماسه) کستر؛ نویسندگان: کامی گارسیا؛ مارگارت استول؛
پس از ادعای «لنا» در هفدهمین سالگرد تولد خود با یک چشم سبز و یک چشم طلایی، گزینشی که باعث ایجاد هرج و مرج در دنیای مورتالها و کسترها شد، ...؛ ا. شربیانی
October 7, 2017
2 stars
*Sigh*
The first book in the series was enjoyable. Not perfect or mind-blowing, but it was interesting and it made me want to read the other books. Luckily, I had the second one on hand to read straight away after I finished the first one. It was fine. Very boring, repetitive from the first and everything that happened in it was expected. The questionably good girl gone bad trope was poor. As usual.
But alas, I wanted to see where the story was heading and so I picked this one up and afterskimming reading it, I can safely say that this could have, and should have been a duology. What was the need to extend the series to just fill out a further two books with 500 odd pages full of pointless crap, predictable "plot twists" and questions that nobody wants to answer?
Curiosity makes me want to read the last book to see how it all end. My brain tells me otherwise.
*Sigh*
The first book in the series was enjoyable. Not perfect or mind-blowing, but it was interesting and it made me want to read the other books. Luckily, I had the second one on hand to read straight away after I finished the first one. It was fine. Very boring, repetitive from the first and everything that happened in it was expected. The questionably good girl gone bad trope was poor. As usual.
But alas, I wanted to see where the story was heading and so I picked this one up and after
Curiosity makes me want to read the last book to see how it all end. My brain tells me otherwise.
June 4, 2021
This was even more boring than the second book in the series. That plot is certainly chaotic. That unnecessary love triangle is gone at least. It was very silly the way it ended but I am glad that it ended.
I liked the parts about Ethan a bit more than Lena's in this. I felt they presented a little more depth and intrigue.
Everyone acted really stupid though and they kept on keeping all these secrets from each other. Ohmygod! I just couldn't believe it. It was all just for the length of the book I guess.
This dragged on even more than the Beautiful Darkness and pacing was just inconsistent. There were more parts that I didn't like than I liked. I do love Link though.
2 stars
I liked the parts about Ethan a bit more than Lena's in this. I felt they presented a little more depth and intrigue.
Everyone acted really stupid though and they kept on keeping all these secrets from each other. Ohmygod! I just couldn't believe it. It was all just for the length of the book I guess.
This dragged on even more than the Beautiful Darkness and pacing was just inconsistent. There were more parts that I didn't like than I liked. I do love Link though.
2 stars
May 26, 2012
I have not finished this book. And I need to state that I get quite irritated when I read reviews and the reviewer says they haven't finished the book yet. But, I don't think I can get through the book and I wanted to write about it. Maybe I will skim it just to see how it ends. When I started this series I was pleasantly surprised and thought it was a fresh approach to the teen supernatural genre, especially since the overly beautiful mysteriously powerful love interest was female for a change and the boy in love with her was kind of awkward. It didn't take long for me to get bored with the whole Lena Ethan thing just like the Edward Bella thing. And, I am tired of being told how beautiful Lena is and how deeply in love and connected they are. I don't buy it. I do still like the character of Ethan. At least I did until this third book. Now he has no character. Also, I believe more that he is in love with Liv than with Lena. I know the story tells us he loves Lena and can't live without her but the descriptive details of how he feels about Liv read more like real teen love to me than the hyped up melodramatic feelings he has for Lena. And speaking of melodrama. Every other paragraph in this story is some cryptic melodramatic statement that goes nowhere. They follow Amma around listening to her say cryptic things and go to cryptic places and they find out nothing. Just as in the previous books. The plot reminds me of a convoluted, nearly comical, storyline I might see in a Scooby Doo Cartoon. I am just plain disappointed in this series because many of the characters are great-Ethan, Ridley, and Link specifically. But, as I said too much melodrama and unresolved circular repetitive overblown plot lines.
October 27, 2017
This book left me very conflicted!
NOTE: this review will contain spoilers for Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness.
While I loved all the relationships, characters and the plot, this book went way to dark for me.
Personally I feel that this could have been just as great a book with out all the demonic activity. Yes I get Abraham is dark and evil. Yes I get that he is not so powerful that he can cause this type of destruction all by himself, but really?
And Amma disappointed me so bad, she didn't need to go dark, why???
There were times I felt like it was just too much.
The other thing that bothers me is how convenient everything is becoming.
Let's just say one of my biggest pet peeves is inappropriate resurrection.
This however will not make me stop, I will finish this series.
NOTE: this review will contain spoilers for Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness.
While I loved all the relationships, characters and the plot, this book went way to dark for me.
Personally I feel that this could have been just as great a book with out all the demonic activity. Yes I get Abraham is dark and evil. Yes I get that he is not so powerful that he can cause this type of destruction all by himself, but really?
And Amma disappointed me so bad, she didn't need to go dark, why???
There were times I felt like it was just too much.
The other thing that bothers me is how convenient everything is becoming.
Let's just say one of my biggest pet peeves is inappropriate resurrection.
This however will not make me stop, I will finish this series.
October 31, 2011
I've long felt (particularly with the previous book Beautiful Darkness) that the Caster Chronicles (1) don't need to each be 500 pages long and (2) don't even need to be a series. A book or two could have probably done the job.
But here we are at massive book #3. I do still very much like the series and considering the cliffhanger, am patiently waiting for book #4. Beautiful Chaos has many of the strengths of its predecessors: the rich Southern atmosphere (I practically read this series just for that), the poetic writing and a cast of characters I care about who are both quirky and human. That probably goes a long way to explaining the book's length: the authors just want to watch these characters go about their not-so-normal everyday lives. I really like those segments. If only they weren't mixed in with the "something terrible is going to happen" trick the authors have pulled on their readers twice already.
The "plot" sits in "something terrible is going to happen" mode for about 400 hundred pages. Call it 'the question stage.' Then the reader gets about 100 pages to actually clear up the mysteries ('the answer stage') and then the last 30 or so for the thing you were waiting for to really start ('the consequence stage'). And then the authors cut it short: they end on a cliffhanger. So I can only imagine that book #3 has really just been prologue to book #4.
I spent too much time yelling at the characters, "It's ----!" but didn't get sated until it was too late and the authors wouldn't even let me enjoy the payoff. I was practically cheering the character to his/her death just for the pure pleasure of "something is actually happening!" The main push, of course, is for me to buy book #4 and I suppose it has worked in so far as I might be annoyed but invested enough in these characters to see them through.
I don't know how to solve this "imbalance": between the slice-of-life stuff and the high stakes "our love is destroying the world" stuff. At least, Beautiful Chaos handled it better than Beautiful Darkness.
But here we are at massive book #3. I do still very much like the series and considering the cliffhanger, am patiently waiting for book #4. Beautiful Chaos has many of the strengths of its predecessors: the rich Southern atmosphere (I practically read this series just for that), the poetic writing and a cast of characters I care about who are both quirky and human. That probably goes a long way to explaining the book's length: the authors just want to watch these characters go about their not-so-normal everyday lives. I really like those segments. If only they weren't mixed in with the "something terrible is going to happen" trick the authors have pulled on their readers twice already.
The "plot" sits in "something terrible is going to happen" mode for about 400 hundred pages. Call it 'the question stage.' Then the reader gets about 100 pages to actually clear up the mysteries ('the answer stage') and then the last 30 or so for the thing you were waiting for to really start ('the consequence stage'). And then the authors cut it short: they end on a cliffhanger. So I can only imagine that book #3 has really just been prologue to book #4.
I spent too much time yelling at the characters, "It's ----!" but didn't get sated until it was too late and the authors wouldn't even let me enjoy the payoff. I was practically cheering the character to his/her death just for the pure pleasure of "something is actually happening!" The main push, of course, is for me to buy book #4 and I suppose it has worked in so far as I might be annoyed but invested enough in these characters to see them through.
I don't know how to solve this "imbalance": between the slice-of-life stuff and the high stakes "our love is destroying the world" stuff. At least, Beautiful Chaos handled it better than Beautiful Darkness.
Want to read
March 4, 20112011
Aaaaaaaaaaaawwww the cover's out! And it was black and what yellloooorrrrwwww????!!!!!!! Why?
OMG the title's out, Beautfiul Chaos, I lab it ^^
________________________________________________
Can't wait for this one, Beautiful Darkness pawns...
If Link is going to be an Incubus I wanna marry him ^^
Aaaaaaaaaaaawwww the cover's out! And it was black and what yellloooorrrrwwww????!!!!!!! Why?
OMG the title's out, Beautfiul Chaos, I lab it ^^
________________________________________________
Can't wait for this one, Beautiful Darkness pawns...
If Link is going to be an Incubus I wanna marry him ^^
April 9, 2014
**Since I'm not going to post on our blog anymore, I have decided to put and write all of my reviews here on Goodreads, starting with this book.
Review
It's been a month since I finished reading this book.
Beautiful Chaos continues the story of the Mortal Ethan Wate and his love, the Caster Lena Duchannes. After surviving the happenings in the tunnels and claiming herself as both Light and Dark, Lena and the rest of Gatlin experiences near-apocalyptic events and must find a way to stop this while figuring out the Eighteenth Moon.
The series at its finest! As of now, this is my favorite one in the series. The book isn't that slow anymore, and the story line's just keep getting better and better. The authors did an amazing job on giving more background on supporting characters like Liv and John Breed. There's heartbreaking moments and more action within the book. The cliffhanger was a real shocker for me. It left me wanting, desiring, mad, crazy, insane for more! I couldn't get over with the end. I really hope that the fourth and last book would be more amazing and better than this one.
The characters seemed more attached to me than it ever were. Link's even more cooler with his new Incubus powers. Ridley more evil and seductive in this book. All the Casters have their powers dangerously uncontrolled. The characters bump into a lot more mishap and a lot more chaos. The book also gets an in-depth story on the background of the Caster world, and of course, Lena's history. It's just so wonderful to be back on Gatlin, and feel so much magical? I thought so too. It seems to me that the readers of this book will crave for the fourth one, now that they've read the ending. For me, it just punched a hole into my stomach, leaving me crying and mad.
I couldn't wait for the last book. The authors did an excellent, or may I say, perfect job on creating such a turn of events. I would really recommend this series, not just this book, to all YA fans.
Review
It's been a month since I finished reading this book.
Beautiful Chaos continues the story of the Mortal Ethan Wate and his love, the Caster Lena Duchannes. After surviving the happenings in the tunnels and claiming herself as both Light and Dark, Lena and the rest of Gatlin experiences near-apocalyptic events and must find a way to stop this while figuring out the Eighteenth Moon.
The series at its finest! As of now, this is my favorite one in the series. The book isn't that slow anymore, and the story line's just keep getting better and better. The authors did an amazing job on giving more background on supporting characters like Liv and John Breed. There's heartbreaking moments and more action within the book. The cliffhanger was a real shocker for me. It left me wanting, desiring, mad, crazy, insane for more! I couldn't get over with the end. I really hope that the fourth and last book would be more amazing and better than this one.
The characters seemed more attached to me than it ever were. Link's even more cooler with his new Incubus powers. Ridley more evil and seductive in this book. All the Casters have their powers dangerously uncontrolled. The characters bump into a lot more mishap and a lot more chaos. The book also gets an in-depth story on the background of the Caster world, and of course, Lena's history. It's just so wonderful to be back on Gatlin, and feel so much magical? I thought so too. It seems to me that the readers of this book will crave for the fourth one, now that they've read the ending. For me, it just punched a hole into my stomach, leaving me crying and mad.
I couldn't wait for the last book. The authors did an excellent, or may I say, perfect job on creating such a turn of events. I would really recommend this series, not just this book, to all YA fans.
August 3, 2015
“The mortal world is in a state of Beautiful Chaos and destruction, which will ultimately lead to an exquisite end.”
My favorite cover in the series because YELLOW! LOL!
Like what I said in my review of Beautiful Darkness, the title of this third book of Caster Chronicles are very much suitable to what is happening inside the book. Beautiful Chaos. Like my brain during and after reading it.
Actually, I almost lose my mind because there's a lot of events happened to Ethan, there's a lot of revelations and twists, unexpected, that gave way to another more twists. Overlapped twists, in short. I can't even. There are unanswered questions that I hoped will be answered on the last installment.
New intriguing characters are summoned. Very essential to the plot. And the ending left me o.O
November 17, 2017
I think this is my favorite book in the series so far. Unlike the last book, the plot picks up in this book pretty quickly and the story moves more quickly. I feel like this book had the most plot compared to the last 2(but that could be because I've gotten used to the world and the characters and know so much more know).
Now, we've returned to world where the order is broken and honestly nothing is set right. Amma and everything else is darker than ever before. the Eighteenth Moon doesn't seem to be related to Lena and everything in general seems to be going to hell.
After you read the ending of this book you'll realize the significance of what I mean when I say I NEED TO READ THE NEXT ONE.
Now, we've returned to world where the order is broken and honestly nothing is set right. Amma and everything else is darker than ever before. the Eighteenth Moon doesn't seem to be related to Lena and everything in general seems to be going to hell.
After you read the ending of this book you'll realize the significance of what I mean when I say I NEED TO READ THE NEXT ONE.
June 21, 2018
Before staring this book:
Everyone: Caster Chronicles go downhill after the second sequel.
Me*covering ears*: lalalalala Caster Chronicles is one of the best series evaaa lalala
Progress 0-70%:
Me: This book sucks, nothing's happening, just dumb teenage drama! Why didn't anyone warn me??
Everyone: ...
Finally making it to the last 30% of the book after weeks of trying:
"Would you mind getting the door for an old woman? I'm not feeling like myself today."
"That door?"
"That very one." She let go of the IV stand and nodded at me.
"Where does it go?"
She shrugged. "Can't tell you. Just know it's where I'm meant to go."
Tears, tears, tears.
Started pouring down my face and hardly stopped till the last page.
Never thought this series would make me this emotional.
But it did and now I need a few moments to gather the pieces of my heart and go to the library to pick up the last sequel.
I need a happy ending, please Kami and Margaret!
Everyone: Caster Chronicles go downhill after the second sequel.
Me*covering ears*: lalalalala Caster Chronicles is one of the best series evaaa lalala
Progress 0-70%:
Me: This book sucks, nothing's happening, just dumb teenage drama! Why didn't anyone warn me??
Everyone: ...
Finally making it to the last 30% of the book after weeks of trying:
"Would you mind getting the door for an old woman? I'm not feeling like myself today."
"That door?"
"That very one." She let go of the IV stand and nodded at me.
"Where does it go?"
She shrugged. "Can't tell you. Just know it's where I'm meant to go."
Tears, tears, tears.
Started pouring down my face and hardly stopped till the last page.
Never thought this series would make me this emotional.
But it did and now I need a few moments to gather the pieces of my heart and go to the library to pick up the last sequel.
I need a happy ending, please Kami and Margaret!
October 18, 2019
This was my favourite one so far!
This series isn't something I will probably read again.
The books are long and don't have much substance to them...but by golly are they fun!
Looking forward to seeing how it all comes together in the last book.
This series isn't something I will probably read again.
The books are long and don't have much substance to them...but by golly are they fun!
Looking forward to seeing how it all comes together in the last book.
Read
December 2, 2011I gotta warn ya.... Your going to cry a lot when you read the last about 120 pages of this book. Right now, writing this, I'm still crying... I cried harder and harder as I passed each page. I expect another book to the series.. If not... I'm forming a mob and attacking Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.. But then they wouldn't be able to write... So, yeah I'll think about later.
Ethan Wate is the most absolute thoughtful guy on earth. Iwould fell in love with him in Beautiful Creatures, cared and praying for him in Beautiful Darkness, and fell head over heels for him in Beautiful Chaos. Lena couldn't me more Lena... and my heart seriously beats for John Breed. I prayed for Aunt Prue and loved Amma all the way.
*To Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl*
I love you for writing this wonderful series and for sharing with us the dark elumanitive Caster World. For telling us the tale of the most tender love.
Thank you.
Ethan Wate is the most absolute thoughtful guy on earth. I
*To Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl*
I love you for writing this wonderful series and for sharing with us the dark elumanitive Caster World. For telling us the tale of the most tender love.
Thank you.
January 29, 2015
This was fantastic!
Even better than the two previous installments and it just keeps getting better and better by each book.
I just love how every book seems to be focused on a virtue, like this one that was about sacrifice and doing the right thing when you know it's the only way to help those you love!
Ethan Wate is an amazing dude, I just idolize him. He is a person who would do anything, anything at all, for those he loves and that's what he did in the end of this book!!
And I was left gaping like an idiot and was turning pages to check if it sure was the ending of this book and when I realized it was I started screaming at my iPad. Yeah, well, awkward.
With every book every character seems to be evolved as person and that's what I love about this series because they ALL learn through their mistakes (except, maybe, for Ridley who I love but she keeps making a mess out of everything). But what's important is that you see what family means and what real friends are and how they all stand by you when the time comes.
I am just looking forward to reading the last book in the series although I am not sure I am quite ready to see it coming to an end.. I'm certainly going to miss it, anyhow.
Even better than the two previous installments and it just keeps getting better and better by each book.
I just love how every book seems to be focused on a virtue, like this one that was about sacrifice and doing the right thing when you know it's the only way to help those you love!
Ethan Wate is an amazing dude, I just idolize him. He is a person who would do anything, anything at all, for those he loves and that's what he did in the end of this book!!
And I was left gaping like an idiot and was turning pages to check if it sure was the ending of this book and when I realized it was I started screaming at my iPad. Yeah, well, awkward.
With every book every character seems to be evolved as person and that's what I love about this series because they ALL learn through their mistakes (except, maybe, for Ridley who I love but she keeps making a mess out of everything). But what's important is that you see what family means and what real friends are and how they all stand by you when the time comes.
I am just looking forward to reading the last book in the series although I am not sure I am quite ready to see it coming to an end.. I'm certainly going to miss it, anyhow.
July 8, 2011
I just finished reading an advanced reader of Beautiful Chaos - the tears are not yet dry on my face. If you've read the previous two books, you already know this is about the parochial and sometimes beleaguered southern city of Gatlin. Beautiful Chaos is about love, not just the fun kissy face kind of love, although there is plenty of that, it's about the deep abiding devotion that love can engender. As Ethan Wate struggles to understand his world, he learns that great sacrifices and rewards can come from love of family and friends. This is a big book, just like we expect in this series, full of magic, the titular chaos, and some sweet funny moments - mostly brought by Ethan's best friend the Linkubus! Read this!
January 10, 2020
Real rating: 4.5 stars. Tempted to round up!
October 29, 2011
Waiting one year for this book after reading Beautiful Darkness was absolute torture. October was legit the month where all my favorite original YA series came out. Beautiful Creatures, Hush Hush, well they started my love for YA and a bunch of other genres. And after FINALLY reading Beautiful Chaos...well I have to say that I was not disappointed.
When I first opened the book, I was a little confused with what was going on because it's been so long since I've read the previous two books in the series. But everything quickly came back when the plot picked up. Everything was an absolute nightmare in Gatlin because of the Order being broken. The plot in this book was very exciting and nerve racking, especially with all the drama going on which I loved.
Another thing I love in this book is Ethan Wate! After two books, he is finally without a doubt swoonworthy in this book. He has grown up so much and finally doesn't seem overtly feminine like he did in the last book. My heart just ached for him after all he had to suffer through, right up to the end but I know that he cared for absolutely everyone in the book.
I also liked Lena a lot more in this book. It was nice for a change to see a couple want to be together and fight to be together instead of apart or even better, go through a love triangle. Thankfully, they moved on from this stage. Lena also matured a lot and it was great to see how involved she was in the relationship. So much more than she was from the last book. I could really feel the love this time and it was great. :)
It was really great seeing more of some of my old favorite characters. Amma of course, although she was more emotional in this book than ever before but for good reasons. It made me heartbroken to see her so sad. I also liked seeing Ethan's dad a lot more, especially since he's becoming more of himself. It was a surprise not seeing much of Macon in this book and he seemed more grave about what was to come.
But of course, my favorite character...Link! My dear Linkubus! Holy cow, Link was so so so precious in this book. Watching him going through his changes was strange but he was still Ethan's best friend through it all, beginning to end. And he loved Ridley. At first, Ridley and Link had a cute 'I'm going to make you jealous' game going on but then it got old. And my heart absolutely broke when (view spoiler)[Link said he wanted to take her cross country, just the two of them, because he loved her. I got so mad when Ridley said no. I mean, its so obvious they care about each other that it made me mad when she wasn't willing to go halfway because of her insecurities. (hide spoiler)] But I have a feeling this will be resolved by the end. Fingers crossed!
I was also pleasantly surprised with the twist on John Breed, especially with all that happened in the last book. I also liked Liv a lot more, especially since she only wanted to be friends with Ethan and she had her eyes set on another...;)
Overall, I loved this book so much. The ending absolutely killed me. As it was approaching, I could not stop crying because of the characters who didn't get their happy ending. But at the same time, there's still a chance for a good ending with the way Kami and Maragaret left it. I don't want to have to wait another damn year to get this book but unfortunately, time machines haven't been invented yet. Can't wait to see how this series finally ends.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
March 18, 2021
TW// suicide
-> I was debating about whether or not to include this trigger warning as some may consider it as self sacrifice, but the events surrounding the death were very heavy and can be triggering.
This book destroyed me. There's no other words for what I felt during the last 10% of the book. I knew what the major event was before I started this book, but I was still wasn't prepared for how it would effect me. Hopefully the final book in this series will be a little less heartbreaking.
Overall I didn't hate this book, but it wasn't the greatest. The previous book was slightly better because it had more action, but this one wasn't bad. I have a love-hate relationship with this series. It's slow and slightly boring, so I want to hate it, but I'm so attached to the characters that I love it. I don't know if I'm making much sense, but I'm just so conflicted on my thoughts about this series.
My major complaint about this series is that it's too repetitive. There's an overuse of visions and dreams in this series and the story somewhat follows the same plot line in each book (a song tells them the future, they try to figure out what the song means, they go on a journey, and eventually the events in the song happens). It's a bit disappointing if I'm being honest...
I don't want to hate on this book for my whole review since I still liked it, so I need to mention that my favorite characters had lots of character development in this story that made my heart happy. Ridley and Link are so perfect in every way and I'm glad that so many things happened to them in this story. They both changed so much throughout the course of this book alone and I'm really excited to read the spin off series that focuses on them after I read Beautiful Redemption.
Sorry that this review was a bit of a jumbled mess but I honestly can't decide whether I hate this series or I love it lol
-> I was debating about whether or not to include this trigger warning as some may consider it as self sacrifice, but the events surrounding the death were very heavy and can be triggering.
This book destroyed me. There's no other words for what I felt during the last 10% of the book. I knew what the major event was before I started this book, but I was still wasn't prepared for how it would effect me. Hopefully the final book in this series will be a little less heartbreaking.
Overall I didn't hate this book, but it wasn't the greatest. The previous book was slightly better because it had more action, but this one wasn't bad. I have a love-hate relationship with this series. It's slow and slightly boring, so I want to hate it, but I'm so attached to the characters that I love it. I don't know if I'm making much sense, but I'm just so conflicted on my thoughts about this series.
My major complaint about this series is that it's too repetitive. There's an overuse of visions and dreams in this series and the story somewhat follows the same plot line in each book (a song tells them the future, they try to figure out what the song means, they go on a journey, and eventually the events in the song happens). It's a bit disappointing if I'm being honest...
I don't want to hate on this book for my whole review since I still liked it, so I need to mention that my favorite characters had lots of character development in this story that made my heart happy. Ridley and Link are so perfect in every way and I'm glad that so many things happened to them in this story. They both changed so much throughout the course of this book alone and I'm really excited to read the spin off series that focuses on them after I read Beautiful Redemption.
Sorry that this review was a bit of a jumbled mess but I honestly can't decide whether I hate this series or I love it lol
November 25, 2017
I'm pretty sure this is my favorite book so far in this series. It was just so good from the start and I completely consumed this book. Now I'm really trying hard not spoiling things in books today (with all of the reviews I'm writing) and this one will be really hard. I feel like I should just really talk about the ending because I just can't fully accept that the book ended like that. I seriously need to get my hands on the last book right now! I'm trying to persuade the person who has my book on hold to return it right now through my mind. I hope it works because I need to know what's going to happen!!
Beautiful Chaos is a pretty quick read and has a bunch of twist, turns, and major bombs dropped. Well, it definitely seemed like that happened to me. This book definitely shoves you hard with so many feelings and I have no idea how I can cope today after I finished it.
Beautiful Chaos is a pretty quick read and has a bunch of twist, turns, and major bombs dropped. Well, it definitely seemed like that happened to me. This book definitely shoves you hard with so many feelings and I have no idea how I can cope today after I finished it.
August 18, 2018
Audio #135
Guilty pleasure YA series
Guilty pleasure YA series
March 30, 2020
Like most books I read, Beautiful Creatures was just randomly picked up and looked interesting, so I read it. Plus, I needed some books to occupy me and it was somehow on my to-read list already. I just didn't get the chance to read it over the summer. Call that lucky to be in the library at the time.
I will probably admit, that although I read the entire series, I didn't really like the first 2 books in the series. Except for the ending and the summaries. Which was why I continued reading the series. :) Or maybe there was just something special about Ethan, Lena, Riley, Link, etc that I just can't place a tab on? Or was there a little cliffhanger (which I totally love) that just urged me to read on and give the series another try?
I will also admit that I liked Beautiful Chaos overall. The character haven't changed... although they have. In a way. Ethan is still plain Wayward, just like from Day One. Besides getting "chased around" by his other self, of course. Lena is back to herself again, although she is now a light and dark caster due to the Seventeenth Moon. I didn't really enjoy Lena's distance and major meltdown from Beautiful Darkness, so it's nice to know that we get her back again.
Link has changed majorly in a way, at least in physical and how do you say this? erm, he's developed "Vampire-like" senses after being bit by John Breed from Beautiful Darkness, so he's now one-quarters Incubus. He's still on and off with Once Upon A Siren, Riley, but she's still same old, same old Riley. In Mortal form, yet continues about life Siren Style with no powers.
Overall, Beautiful Chaos is my favorite book out of the series so far. It's more action-packed than the books before it, even if it has quite the sad ending. I will most likely read the fourth and final book in the series, Beautiful Redemption (released already) because I just have to know what happens next to Ethan, Lena and the other characters.
Speaking of which, and I know I'm a bit off-topic, but who's excited for the Beautiful Creatures movie? I know am! The trailer looked awesome...
This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts.
I will probably admit, that although I read the entire series, I didn't really like the first 2 books in the series. Except for the ending and the summaries. Which was why I continued reading the series. :) Or maybe there was just something special about Ethan, Lena, Riley, Link, etc that I just can't place a tab on? Or was there a little cliffhanger (which I totally love) that just urged me to read on and give the series another try?
I will also admit that I liked Beautiful Chaos overall. The character haven't changed... although they have. In a way. Ethan is still plain Wayward, just like from Day One. Besides getting "chased around" by his other self, of course. Lena is back to herself again, although she is now a light and dark caster due to the Seventeenth Moon. I didn't really enjoy Lena's distance and major meltdown from Beautiful Darkness, so it's nice to know that we get her back again.
Link has changed majorly in a way, at least in physical and how do you say this? erm, he's developed "Vampire-like" senses after being bit by John Breed from Beautiful Darkness, so he's now one-quarters Incubus. He's still on and off with Once Upon A Siren, Riley, but she's still same old, same old Riley. In Mortal form, yet continues about life Siren Style with no powers.
Overall, Beautiful Chaos is my favorite book out of the series so far. It's more action-packed than the books before it, even if it has quite the sad ending. I will most likely read the fourth and final book in the series, Beautiful Redemption (released already) because I just have to know what happens next to Ethan, Lena and the other characters.
Speaking of which, and I know I'm a bit off-topic, but who's excited for the Beautiful Creatures movie? I know am! The trailer looked awesome...
This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts.
November 21, 2011
I LOVED IT!!!!!! I think the ending was disappointing if there isn't going to be a sequel. Did anyone else notice the "Nineteen Moons" thing on the back page?
May 21, 2021
2 Painful Stars!
I am still having a hard time reading this series… and an even harder time reviewing it… However, it is over…
Beautiful Chaos(Caster Chronicles #3)BY Kami Garcia
Lissa’s Third Hardest Review Ever
I had stated in my review of book two Beautiful Darkness that I honestly could not wait to see where the authors are taking the story. Well, the authors took me on a long journey that lead to, what I am sure is another book. Just like with the first two in the series I had a hard time keeping myself focused on the book. As the other books book three never grabbed hold of me demanding that I keep reading. I think, mostly, because it reminded me so much of book one. Similar to my reviews of this series, the book three followed the same format as the book one. I almost expected Rid to destroy the dance, when she showed eyes blazing underneath her shades. The intense scene that should have glues me to the pages faltered because I already knew the flame would die out after a few sentences.
Beautiful Chaos was a better story than book one. I think it could have been better had the authors closed up all the details and let the story end. The authors will need a lifeline for book three unless they figure out draw the audience in. That said, I do want to know how the story ends and I think the author can accomplish that in a few more chapters. Which begs me to wonder how much useless information will be in book four. In addition, the authors were keeping with dates for chapters. However, with the book it clicked…The authors decide to date the chapter the way one would with a journal or diary. It took until the final chapter to tie that together as John Breeds birthday was December 22 and the chapter was titled 12*22. It took that long because either the authors were not clear, or I did not bother to make the connection. In closing, it was okay. However, instead of reading the series, I would suggest reading the reviews.
I am still having a hard time reading this series… and an even harder time reviewing it… However, it is over… Beautiful Chaos(Caster Chronicles #3)BY Kami Garcia
Lissa’s Third Hardest Review Ever
I had stated in my review of book two Beautiful Darkness that I honestly could not wait to see where the authors are taking the story. Well, the authors took me on a long journey that lead to, what I am sure is another book. Just like with the first two in the series I had a hard time keeping myself focused on the book. As the other books book three never grabbed hold of me demanding that I keep reading. I think, mostly, because it reminded me so much of book one. Similar to my reviews of this series, the book three followed the same format as the book one. I almost expected Rid to destroy the dance, when she showed eyes blazing underneath her shades. The intense scene that should have glues me to the pages faltered because I already knew the flame would die out after a few sentences.
Beautiful Chaos was a better story than book one. I think it could have been better had the authors closed up all the details and let the story end. The authors will need a lifeline for book three unless they figure out draw the audience in. That said, I do want to know how the story ends and I think the author can accomplish that in a few more chapters. Which begs me to wonder how much useless information will be in book four. In addition, the authors were keeping with dates for chapters. However, with the book it clicked…The authors decide to date the chapter the way one would with a journal or diary. It took until the final chapter to tie that together as John Breeds birthday was December 22 and the chapter was titled 12*22. It took that long because either the authors were not clear, or I did not bother to make the connection. In closing, it was okay. However, instead of reading the series, I would suggest reading the reviews.
November 8, 2011
The cliff hanger. Oh the cliff hanger. How I hate cliff hangers.
The way the story ends... ughhh! I really can't believe it. Never have I read a book with this big of a cliff hanger.
Anywho, continuing on.
I liked Beautiful Chaos a lot more than Beautiful Darkness. There are a lot of secrets and a lot of sleuthing but on the down side, I found this book was very predictable. Well, at least some parts... the most important part.
I couldn't put this book down . I was up to two in the morning bawling in the last what? 50-100 pages?
Towards the end it was so heart breaking. I was crying so hard I had to get up and grab a tissue to blow my nose. Twice.
I quite liked this book but I suggest you reread Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness first because I was a bit confused. I forgot a lot of the details and minor characters mentioned in the first two books but that might just be me.
If you can't stand cliff hangers then you should wait until the fourth book's release date is closer because this one is horrid.
All in all a great book and if you haven't read it yet, then I suggest you get cracking!
The way the story ends... ughhh! I really can't believe it. Never have I read a book with this big of a cliff hanger.
Anywho, continuing on.
I liked Beautiful Chaos a lot more than Beautiful Darkness. There are a lot of secrets and a lot of sleuthing but on the down side, I found this book was very predictable. Well, at least some parts... the most important part.
I couldn't put this book down . I was up to two in the morning bawling in the last what? 50-100 pages?
Towards the end it was so heart breaking. I was crying so hard I had to get up and grab a tissue to blow my nose. Twice.
I quite liked this book but I suggest you reread Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness first because I was a bit confused. I forgot a lot of the details and minor characters mentioned in the first two books but that might just be me.
If you can't stand cliff hangers then you should wait until the fourth book's release date is closer because this one is horrid.
All in all a great book and if you haven't read it yet, then I suggest you get cracking!
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