Tag: Little Brown & Co

Beautiful Darkness

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Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series Name: The Caster Chronicles
Volume Number: 2
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal Romance, Witches
Intended Age Group: YA
Publisher: Little, Brown/Hachette
Edition: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-316-07705-7
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

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 has marked Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together Ethan and Lena 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.

Personal & Info

It’s been about two years since I circled back around to this series. That’s way too long in my opinion, and I never intended it to take that long. I reread the first book before reading this one just to make sure everything would be fresh.

I don’t know what’s been going on with me lately, but I got stuck in a slump with this book. I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the mood for it or what. When I first started reading it, I got about halfway through, and then I couldn’t make myself read any more for a long time. After I finally got around to finishing it, I couldn’t make myself type the review. It’s been very frustrating.

There’s apparently some kind of inconsistent detail about Ethan and Link’s friendship. I thought I noticed it before, but I told myself I was imagining it. However, I looked back at my notes and review for the first book, and the detail is written different everywhere. Apparently every time the series mentions what school grade they were in when they first became friends due to the floor twinkie, it’s different. The right answer is probably kindergarten, but the spread is so vast. I swear they said sixth grade, third grade, second grade, and kindergarten. I plan to keep an eye out for this if it comes up again, because it’s really bugging me.

Characters

Ethan Lawson Wate is the main character. He’s six foot two, and his mother, Lila Jane Evers Wate, died in an accident about a year ago. Until he met Lena, he looked forward to the day he could leave boring Gatlin, South Carolina. Now he is realizing Gatlin has never been as boring and dull as he thought.

Amarie Treadeau, mostly known as Amma, is the grandmotherly housekeeper of the Wate household. She is barely five feet tall, smart, ornery, and is considered a seer, which is essentially a type of clairvoyant. To use her skills, she calls upon the powers of her ancestors.

Wesley Jefferson Lincoln, who goes by Link, is Ethan’s best friend. He has a car they refer to as the Beater, and he’s always up for helping Ethan, no matter how dangerous the ordeal.

Lena Duchannes (Du-Kane) is the main love interest. She is a powerful caster, yet to be claimed by good or evil.

Ridley Duchannes is Lena’s cousin. She is one year older, and they grew up together like sisters. Their relationship is a bit complicated, because Ridley was claimed by darkness on her sixteenth birthday.

Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood is Lena’s uncle.

Dr. Marian Ashcroft is the head librarian of both the regular library and the caster library. She is like an aunt to Ethan, because she was Lila’s best friend.

Olivia Durand is apprenticing under Marian for the summer. She is from Kings Langley, north of London.

John Breed, without spoiling too much, is a mysterious, powerful, edgy man, who contributes to the teen drama romance aspect of the story.

Sarafine, is Lena’s mother. She is a cataclyst, a powerful type of dark caster. Her specialty is manipulating fire.

Arelia is Macon’s mother. She’s a diviner.

Twyla is Lena’s great aunt. She is Arelia’s sister, and she lives in New Orleans. Her power is necromancy.

Several of Ethan and Lena’s other family members contribute to the story, but I don’t think they are worth listing here without spoilers.

Story & Thoughts

The book picks up a few days after Lena’s birthday, so there isn’t much of a time gap between volumes. I remember liking this book just fine on my first read a long time ago. My struggle to get through it this time might be adding some bias, but there are several things I don’t like about it now.

My general consensus for every volume on my first read was that all of the books drag a bit, so they feel slow. It still feels that way to me, but this one dragged even worse than I remember, because I had such a hard time picking it back up. At this point, I don’t really like Lena, and her drama actually feels detrimental to the story. The story is basically about her, but I can’t say I enjoy any of the parts that actually have her in it.

For the majority of the story, Lena is grieving. She has family around her, but her grief spirals to absolutely toxic and blatantly unhealthy levels. I can’t help wondering if her family is even doing anything to try to help her. It seems like they just leave her alone to process her own feelings, but that’s clearly the last thing she needs. Her behavior is the kind of teen melodrama that I don’t enjoy. I’m sure Lena’s behavior and attitude would make a lot more sense and probably be more entertaining from her perspective.

On the flip side, I love Ethan’s parts. The group of humans going on a dangerous magical adventure is the best part. Link gets way more screen time than he did before, and the love interest introduced to give Ethan internal conflict is actually likable. I swear Ethan has more chemistry with Liv than he does with Lena. Ethan and Lena are kind of boring together, but Ethan and Liv feel like they have some substance.

My original rating for this is a three. I’m keeping that as the final score, because I might not have been in the right headspace for it during a chunk of the reread. I feel like there’s about a fifty-fifty split of things that I like and dislike about it. Overall, it’s fine, but I really don’t like Lena anymore. I’m more of a Ridley fan. Ridley is way more interesting.

The Prince of Mist

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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

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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series Name: The Caster Chronicles
Volume Number: 1
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
Amazon Barnes&Noble ThriftBooks

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.