B is for Beautiful

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

I chose the books this year quite randomly from my Goodreads Want to Read page. Some are quite creatively added to letters.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

You can read reviews for from previous years for this letter here, here and here, and my year-end reviews here, here, here, here and, most recently, here and here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

I’ve wanted to read the books since I saw the movie with Jeremy Irons. Still, they languished on my TBR shelf for ages. And now I’ve read them…

About the Book

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

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.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

Much better than the movie, even with the movie having Jeremy Irons going for it.

The story is told from Ethan’s POV, which means the reader learns things about the hidden magical world as he does.

The worldbuilding is amazing and intricate.

Unlike the film, I can read the book without all the butchering of the English language (which was why I only watched the film once).

I still don’t get why people re-enact the American Civil War – it’s like they don’t get the violence and tragedy of war, IMO.

Ethan and Lena are a cute couple, discovering who they are as they get to know each other.

I liked the themes of distrusting the Other (in this case people not born and bred in the little town), grown-ups believing they know best (keeping secrets, making rules about who may or may not do things, etc.), and how people fear truth most of all.

I liked Boo and Macon the most.

For obvious reasons, the climax and ending leaves one with a lump in one’s throat, even as excitement about another adventure is kindled.

The library is probably the coolest part of the book.

Trigger warnings: death, blood, American Civil War (re-enactment, flashbacks, and prominent Confederate flag), mental health issues, magic, severe weather, bad guys hurting a dog, dealing with death of a loved-one.

About the Book

Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. At least, that’s what I thought. Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin as a place where nothing ever changed. Then mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes revealed a secret world of curses and Supernaturals with terrifying abilities. Lena showed him a Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen. Sometimes life-ending.

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.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

I still enjoy the twist that everything is told from Ethan’s POV and that whatever is going on with Lena is experienced from his perspective – including all the things he does to save her from the Curse and herself.

The cat was my favourite character.

And I just love the library and its tunnels. The things Ethan’s mum was involved in – and his great aunt! Talk about family secrets.

I can’t wait to read the next book, even if the italics in this one messed with my eyes.

About the Book

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 from the Great Barrier, 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’s not Lena — and the mysterious figure is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself — forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn’t know why, and he’s afraid to ask.

Sometimes there’s no going back. And this time there won’t be a happy ending.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

As the title suggests, Ethan’s world is in absolute chaos. Drought, insects eating everything, Link’s mum and her ilk brandishing signs about the apocalypse, Abraham Ravenwood terrorising everyone, Ethan losing some of his memories, Ridley joining the cheer squad, the casters having no control over their powers, and Link being an incubus.

The story is more about Ethan trying to figure out his recurring nightmare and Amma going dark than really trying to fix the Order of Things, though it does intersect.

I’m not too fond of the ending, perhaps because it ideates suicide.

Macon, Ridley and Link make this book.

Trigger warnings: overuse of italics, suicide (ideation, attempts), murder, zombies.

About the Book

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles #4) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan’s return, vowing to do whatever it takes — even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.


Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

There’s a lot of journeying in this book, things that could’ve been done shorter (e.g. 3 books in this series) with a lot less whinging.

I liked the way Lena and the others defeated Abraham. I liked the worldbuilding. And if you like being angsty for however long this book was, it’s good.

Ridley, Link and Macon stay my favourite characters.

Seriously, an entire series with an overuse of italics. I had a problem with the italics as it messes with my eyes and head, making it difficult to read and enjoy the book. Authors and publishers: please consider the neurodivergent when making decisions about italics so books are accessible to all.

Trigger warnings: torture, death, losing memories.

About the Book

Dangerous Creatures (Dangerous Creatures #1) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

From the world of Beautiful Creatures-a dangerous new tale of love and magic.

Ridley Duchannes is nobody’s heroine. She’s a Dark Caster, a Siren. She can make you do things. Anything. You can’t trust her, or yourself when she’s around. And she’ll be the first to tell you to stay away-especially if you’re going to do something as stupid as fall in love with her.

Lucky for Ridley, her wannabe rocker boyfriend, Wesley “Link” Lincoln, never listens to anyone. Link doesn’t care if Rid’s no good for him, and he takes her along when he leaves small-town Gatlin to follow his rock-star dream. He teams up with a ragtag group of Dark Casters, and when the band scores a gig at a hot Underground club, it looks like all of Link’s dreams are about to come true.

But New York City is a dangerous place for both Casters and Mortals, and soon Ridley realizes that Link’s bandmates are keeping secrets. With bad-boy club owner Lennox Gates on her heels, Rid is determined to find out the truth. What she discovers is worse than she could have imagined: Link has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay. With their lives on the line, what’s a Siren to do?

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

Interesting worldbuilding. The new bandmates make for a colourful group. But some things, like Ridley working at a hair salon, felt extraneous and like the authors didn’t know what to do with her. As for all the drama from keeping secrets and then suddenly telling the truth… Drama for drama’s sake, in most cases. Nox’s background is murky at best and he could’ve been fleshed out more. There’s loads of head hopping within scenes, making it difficult to keep up with who’s telling the story. The huge blocks of italics are an issue. And the ending… Really? What’s the point? Only the cat’s survival could be a reason to read the next book. I’ll pass.

About the Book

Dangerous Deception (Dangerous Creatures #2) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

From the world of Beautiful Creatures–a dangerous new tale of love and magic continues in the sequel to Dangerous Creatures.

Love is ten kinds a crazy, right?
Let me put it to you this way: If you can get away, run. Don’t walk.
Because once you’re exposed, you’ll never get a Siren outta your head.

Some loves are cursed. Others are…dangerous. Especially the love between wannabe rocker and quarter Incubus, Wesley “Link” Lincoln, and Dark Caster, Siren, and bonafide bad girl, Ridley Duchannes.

But now Ridley is missing, and Link was with her-right up until she vanished. Determined to find her, Link reunites with his New York bandmates and the mysterious Lennox Gates, who wants Rid for himself. Together they travel to the deep south, find the crossroads where blues guitarist Robert Johnson made his deal with the devil, discover a menagerie of Casters locked in cages, and uncover an evil in New Orleans that threatens to destroy them all.

This time, love might not be enough.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

Based on the previous book, I won’t be reading this one.

DNF series

My Book

How You Remind Me (Irascible Immortals #2)

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I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

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