Double Review: Beautiful Creatures + Beautiful Darkness

Title: Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1)

Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 563

Summary From Goodreads:

"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."

Title: Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2)

Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 512

Release Date: Oct. 12th 2010

Summary From Goodreads:

"Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems."

I decided after reading both of these books that it would be best to review them together because they're so similar (duh, they're a series lol) and because I had the same opinion of both books.

Both books were excellently written although I found them very hard to get into. I found myself struggling to make it through parts of both of the books, especially in the beginnings. But, once the action got going I couldn't put the books down! And, the endings were so great that it didn't even matter what I thought of the first half of the book I needed the next!

I know, I know, I know! A lot of people love this series and it has a remarkable following so you're all probably thinking "HOW COULD YOU SAY YOU STRUGGLED THROUGH ANY PART OF THESE AMAZING BOOKS?!" Really, I think it had to do with the characters. I wrote this paragraph once and deleted it because it came out too bashy and not constructive in any way, shape, or form (not to mention bashing this series should just be a federal crime, it really is excellent). I just wish that the characters were deeper. This is definitely a book that I'd like to see a switch in perspective. I'd even like to see into the bad guys heads so I could get more of a sense for how evil they are. I found myself not liking characters because I didn't feel a connection and understand their emotions enough thus, I wasn't able to get into the majority of the book that was all about the characters.

Toward the end of the books though. Just wow. I couldn't even put the books down once I hit this part. I love the action scenes and the good against evil struggle that takes place both physically and psychologically. The action is just amazing. Very descriptive and it's all very creative. Garcia and Stohl have some awesome imaginations. There's also always some kind of twist or something too in the books that makes it more than meets the eye. Such, with the songs, Lena's eyes, the visions, objects, animals and even the characters. Which is cool to see.

Overall, the books would just each get maybe a three at best with out the endings and I'd say that would be being generous, but the action and the cliffhangerish endings really made the books great so that definitely pushes them each up to a solid four. I would love to get a more indepth look at the characters because I feel, even Ethan who's perspective it's from, is just a bit too shallow.

Rating For Both Books: (Out of 5, Both Books Received the Same Rating of Four)