This is the first time I’ve tried to do a whole series review as appose to each book separately, so let’s see how this goes.
The first book, Beautiful Creatures, follows Ethan and Lena as they discover each other and the connection that ties them together. We see Ethan plunged into a magical world he never knew existed and Lena escape being claimed. We meet many influential characters, including Lena’s Dark Caster mother, Sarafine. The main characters all bar one survive Lena’s 16th birthday and there are plenty of loose ends to drive you in to reading the second book, Beautiful Darkness.
The second book is non-stop, action packed and improves on the first. In The first book a large chunk of the story was set around Ethan and Lena’s experience at school, where as in the second book it is nearly entirely set in the underground Caster world. We keep all the characters we’ve previously met and more are thrown into the mix; the mysterious John, undead Abraham and adorable Liv, just to name a few. We find out the truth about Ethan’s mother’s death and her involvement with Macon, as well as some secrets about Ethan’s own special destiny.
Set between the second and third Caster Chronicles is Dream Dark, Link’s transformation novella. In this we see Link learning to handle his new semi-Incubus self and taking his first steps solo in the paranormal underworld as an adorable “Linkubus”.
In the third book, Beautiful Chaos, we find out about Abraham’s master plan which has been years and years in the making, to destroy the caster and mortal world. Ridley runs off, John’s trapped, Lena and Liv make peace, Amma goes mad, aunt Prue dies and Ethan has a run in with the wheel of fate. In the end we are left answer-less with a killer cliff hanger ending.
The forth book, Beautiful Redemption is by far the best book in the series. The story is told by both Lena and Ethan, which was a nice surprise as Ethan has narrated all the others. We journey with Ethan through the otherworld. We see him reunited with his mother and aunt Pure in death and we see him fight his way back to the land of the living. We see Lena deciphering the messages Ethan sends her from beyond the grave and together with all the loved ones Ethan left behind they send him the help he needs to defeat the ones who destined him to die.
You know how some last books in a series can be a letdown, Beautiful Redemption was the opposite – it went above my expectations. All my questions were answered and everything felt balanced and whole by the end. It certainly was a beautiful ending.
I read the books over a five-month period with others in-between, rather than devouring them one after another in a binge like I normally would. I’d give the series a four-star rating as a whole. I really liked it, but was capable of not marathon-ing it. I’m happy I read all five, they were well worth the read. I don’t intend on reading the spin off series Dangerous Creatures which follows Ridley and Link’s life after the events of the Beautiful Creatures series, but I am thinking that I will add Beautiful Redemption to my re-read list, yes I enjoyed it that much!
1st book, 4 Stars. 2nd book, 4 stars. Novella, 4 stars. 3rd book, 3 stars. 4th book, 5 stars.
