Little Brown & Co - Fantastic Fictions

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Series Name: Niebla
Volume Number: 1
Genres: Historical, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Supernatural
Intended Age Group: Middle Grade
Publisher: Little, Brown/Hachette
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-316-20606-8
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

It’s wartime, and the Carver family decides to leave the capital city where they live and move to a small coastal village. But from the minute they cross the threshold of their new home, strange things begin to happen. In that mysterious house lurks the spirit of a young boy who died by drowning.

Max and Alicia Carver begin to explore the strange circumstances of that death and discover the existence of a mysterious being called the Prince of Mist—a diabolical character who has returned from the shadows to collect on a debt from the past. With the help of their new friend Roland, the Carvers soon get caught up in an adventure of sunken ships and enchanted statues—an adventure that will change their lives forever.

Personal & Info

I got this book as one of many from a large sale. The cover looks like it has a ghost on it, so I figure it will be a decent spooky season read. There is a Q&A in the back of the book. I will not be reading that. I always skip those unless the book is exceptionally phenomenal.

The series as a whole is a trilogy. The second and third volumes are The Midnight Palace and The Watcher in the Shadows. Based on what I can tell from descriptions, I don’t think the story with these particular characters is ongoing. It looks like each book has a new set of characters.

Characters

Max Carver is the main character. He is thirteen and the majority of the story is in his perspective.

Maximilian Carver is Max’s dad. He’s a clockmaker, and is frequently referred to as “the clockmaker.”

Andrea Carver is Max’s mom.

Alicia Carver is Max’s older sister. She’s about fifteen.

Irina Carver is Max’s younger sister. She’s eight.

Roland is either sixteen or seventeen. He is the adoptive grandson of the keeper of the lighthouse, Victor Kray.

Victor Kray is Roland’s adoptive grandfather and the keeper of the lighthouse. He took up the post after arriving at the town via shipwreck.

Story & Thoughts

This book is a little too normal for my taste. It takes place in 1943 during the war, but the war is more of a setting detail for the time period than anything. The Carver family decides to relocate to a more rural oceanside town. They move into a nice house near the beach that has been sitting empty for years and that’s where the story actually starts.

The description is a bit misleading, so it should really be taken with a grain of salt. As the story progresses, it all seems very normal. The family gradually settles into the house, and the kids start to make friends. The mystery presents itself as a simple intrigue of looking at interesting things on the property, like an enclosed garden of statues, and unlabeled videos. It just has an inkling of it all being a little strange.

Eventually, some paranormal stuff starts to happen, but it’s just some minor eerie things. The house isn’t haunted. This is not that kind of story. There’s something bigger going on, and all the little things are a build up.

My biggest take away from the story is that it makes me think of Rumplestiltskin. That’s about as much as I can say without outright spoiling anything.

Initially I was going to rate it a 2.75, because the story is fine, but a little dull, since it mostly follows the day to day life of Max. But I like the later parts enough that I bumped it up to a three. What it comes down to is, the story itself is good, but it just isn’t my kind of book.

I’m not satisfied with the ending, either. If you want a story with a happy ending, this isn’t for you. I don’t care that it isn’t a happy ending, it’s just not the ending I wanted. At least it ends complete enough that I don’t feel the need to bother with the other volumes, because I don’t have enough interest to want to.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series Name: The Caster Chronicles
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Witches
Intended Age Group: YA
Publisher: Little, Brown/Hachette
Edition: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-316-04267-3
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

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 planation, 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.

Personal & Info

This is volume one of the Caster Chronicles, which is four volumes long.

I read this series back in 2013. Unfortunately, after I read it, I found out there are short stories between volumes that are digital only. This made me feel like I hadn’t gotten the complete story. I didn’t have a kindle or anything back then, either, but now I do, and I have the middle story parts as well. So, it’s time for a reread. I also have the sequel duology that I don’t want to read until I get through my reread with all the little middle stories.

Apparently, I never took any notes or wrote any reviews for my initial read, so this review will be based on my reread opinions only. The rating is an average of my original rating and and what I would currently rate it. It’s been ten years, but my first impression rating should still count for something.

Characters

Ethan Lawson Wate is the sixteen year old main character. He’s six foot two, on the school basketball team, and can’t wait to get out of boring small town Gatlin, South Carolina.

Amarie Treadeau, mostly known as Amma, is the grandmotherly housekeeper of the Wate household. She is barely five feet tall, smart, ornery, and dabbles in voodoo, which is obvious early on in the story. She comes from a long line of tarot readers, which she also does as a side business.

Wesley Jefferson Lincoln, who goes by Link, is Ethan’s best friend since the sixth grade. He has a car they refer to as the Beater. His mother, Martha Lincoln, is part of the DAR, a women’s group that runs the town.

Lena Duchannes (Du-Kane) is the love interest. She supplies most of the paranormal aspects to the story.

Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood is the local shut-in and Lena’s uncle. The townspeople of Gatlin fear him even though they never see him.

Dr. Marian Ashcroft is the head librarian, and the best friend to Ethan’s mother before her accident. She’s not from Gatlin, and is blatantly smarter than almost everyone else in town.

Ridley Duchannes is Lena’s cousin. She is one year older, and they grew up together like sisters. Their current relationship is a bit estranged.

There are tons more characters, but I’m not going to list them here. Most of them are extended family members for Ethan and Lena. The rest are classmates from Jackson High, or parents, with a small sprinkling of other less important people who only appear once or only get passing mentions.

Story & Thoughts

Beautiful Creatures takes place in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina, where nothing surprising or interesting ever happens. The residents of Gatlin follow the negative stereotypes of xenophobia, mob mentality, and prideful confederate heritage. If you are not born and raised in their town, are a little different, or don’t agree with their glorification of the confederacy, they will hate you and try to drive you out of their town. It’s that kind of place.

The book starts off slow. Around fifty pages in, the story only just starts to get interesting after finally finishing the primary introductions to Gatlin and the community. That’s about the time Ethan starts interacting with Lena and weird stuff starts to happen. From there, the book dives into a slow burn romance with intrigue and research.

Lena is a caster, or witch, there isn’t much difference. Her sixteenth birthday is going to be an incredibly important event, but not in the way normal people have sweet sixteens. The problem is, she knows little to nothing regarding what will actually happen, and anticipates having no control over it. No one will tell her or Ethan anything helpful, because of the ridiculous idea of ignorance being safer. So, the whole book revolves around the growing romance between Lena and Ethan, while they stress and try to figure out how to change the possible worst case scenario.

I admit I probably liked this book better the first time around, but I still like it well enough. The writing is enjoyable, so the majority of the story, where it feels like not much is happening, doesn’t feel like it drags. I think the portrayal of the characters helps significantly with that. There are many, but they all seem to be done well. For me, whether or not the characters feel fleshed out or authentic often affects how tolerable any book is.

I genuinely like the story. I have no issues there. Lena is melodramatic, but she has good reason. It’s actually surprising to me that her family doesn’t take her concerns seriously. People don’t bother to comfort her, let alone tell her anything that will calm her down. It’s always just reassuring her everything is going to be fine without doing or saying anything to convince her of that.

My biggest gripe is with Ethan’s dad, Mitchell. I get that he’s grieving, but he’s doing it in a selfish way. He locks himself in the only room in the house anyone can feel close to Lila (Ethan’s mom), and nobody else is allowed to enter. Mitchell isn’t the only one who lost someone. Ethan did, too, but his dad doesn’t seem to care about that fact. They need to be there for each other. They should both have access to the room.

There is one line in the book I found so funny I had to set it down for a moment while I laughed at it. Someone threatened the possibility of a Wal-Mart opening in Gatlin and everyone was so aghast at the idea. I don’t know why, I just found it absolutely hilarious. That was the funniest thing in the whole book to me.