Beautiful Chaos

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

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. (goodreads.com)

Firstly - let's hear it for my 125th book & completed Goodreads challenge! wooty woot! Last year I read 120 books, so I beat that a lot earlier and I still have two more months of reading ahead! I am curious to see how much I will read between now and then. November isn't generally a big reading month for me, but I'm on medical leave until the 20th, so I don't know. December is when the reading explosion happens.Secondly - I thought this series was a trilogy, therefore my mind was BLOWN by the ending of Beautiful Chaos. I thought, now THIS is the way to end a series! Then, when I went to mark it as read on Goodreads, I noticed that there's a fourth book (still untitled at this point) coming out sometime next year. Hmm.You see, Internet, I am not sure how I feel about this. On one hand - yay! More Beautifulness. On the other, this book ended so brilliantly that I don't want to ruin that feeling by changing or adding or finding out what happens next. I honestly feel that the three books were enough.Of COURSE I will be reading that fourth book, because, well, to be honest, this series is EPIC. Kami & Margaret know how to write a gosh darn fantastic gothic story. I always crave lemonade and porch swings when I read these books. Lemonade I can do, but porch swings in Montreal October just won't happen. Brrr! And to be honest, I could probably do with a new one. My friend recently found a guide on how to choose a porch swing, so I might give that a look when it warms up. Bring on lemonade and porch swings! Anyway, back to the books...Everything about this series is just fantastic. Sure, I get a little eye-rolly when Ethan and Lena get lovey-dovey, but their relationship works for me. It works. It's done well. Other YA authors who want to add romance to their novels should take a clue from the Caster Chronicle books.  Hell, I even love Link and Ridley together (and not together). They have CHEMISTRY. So, so few YA novels give their romantic leads any chemistry these days.There's just so much I love about these books. The Sisters, Macon, Boo Radley, Link (I ADORE Link! Linkubus! HAHA!), Ethan, sometimes Amma (she makes me cranky once in a while). The setting, the dialogue, the mystery and magic. I love love it all.These are hefty, meaty books that are over 500 pages each, and each page is wonderful.I will admit to being slightly confused by the prophecy this time around and all the hoodoovoodoo that went on towards the middle and end, but it was still well written. I just have a slow and simple brain. ;)I would like to spend this last paragraph rambling about how much I LOVE these covers. They are simple, yet stunning. The hard covers are so shiny and eye-catching. I LOVE the type face used for the titles and the brightly coloured text over the shiny black backgrounds just make me swoon. Just realized I have to go out and find Beautiful Darkness in hard cover, because I still only have the ARC that I got at BEA in 2010. Oops. I like my series to match, ok? Don't judge.So, whilst I spend a year wondering if I really want to know what happens next (of course I do, I'll just realize it by next fall), I shall leave you with the links to the rest of the books in the series. Have you read this yet? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!Caster Chronicles

1. Beautiful Creatures
2. Beautiful Darkness
3. Beautiful Chaos
4. TBA - Fall 2012?

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