Author(s): Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
4.97 Out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by: Krista
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
Plot Background:
Ethan Wate has lived in Gatlin, South Carolina his whole life. Nothing has ever changed except for the fact that his mother died in a tragic car accident. His father, engulfed in writing a new book has become a recluse, and he has been left to be taken care of by the families housekeeper, Amma. Together, he and his best friend Link (who's mother is a crazy member of the DAR) start the school year, and everything starts to change once he meets a girl. Lena Duchannes is new in town, niece of the other town recluse, Macon Ravenwood. Suddenly, the whole world Ethan thought he knew, the town of Gatlin, has become a totally different world. Lena is a caster (in other words, she is a 'witch') who will be claimed for Light or Dark on her 16th birthday. As they try to run out the clock, and Lena fears what she will be claimed as, Lena and Ethan begin to uncover the past and try to figure out where the future will take them, all the while Lena's Dark cousin Ridley (a Siren) is keeping Link occupied. Nothing is as it seems in Gatlin, right down to the Library...
My review:
I would like to start off by saying this : WOW! When I saw this book was being made into a movie, I became interested in the plot, and decided to read the book. I will admit that I still have not seen the movie, but the book was fantastic! I am currently finishing book three, and have not been able to put them down.
The first thing I loved, was just the writing style in general. The editing of the book was amazing, it was so polished and error free that it really made the book easier to enjoy. It is a quality that I have found less and less, not only in self-published books but in fully edited and published ones as well-- so many editors skip or rush but nothing about this book felt rushed. I was also worried when I started out that having two authors would make one of their voices be lost, or that it might seem like chapters didn't match in the voice, but it was very consistent and just overall one of the most well written books I have read in a long time. This book (editing and writing style and even just overall diction) is what I aspire the books that I write to be like.
I also loved the characters. Link was such a good honest person, that even though he falls for a Siren (which makes Ethan nervous to no end), he is still just somebody you root for. I also felt that even though Ridley was bad, and annoying at times, I could see that being Dark wasn't her nature to begin with. Macon was an interesting character to me, because he is so protective but hes also Dark by nature (he is an Incubus), so he is very complex. Lena is a very interesting character as well. She is so afraid of going Dark that she almost cant even think clearly. I will admit, at times I found Lena to be a little bit annoying, but overall I liked her.
My two very favorite characters, though, were Ethan and Amma. Everyone knows an Amma, whether it is your mother, your grandmother, an aunt (which reminds me, the sisters were hilarious!), or just a family friend- Amma is somebody that is easy to picture and easy to understand. She is a seer, which explains how she knows everything (makes me wonder if my mom was a Seer also...). She does her crosswords (which appear throughout all four books), and she has a spoon called the "One Eyed Menace" that she will swat Ethan with if he is bad. I just loved her, I appreciate her and her place in the story as well.
Then, there is Ethan. I loved him. I loved that the book was in his point of view, I loved his attitude, I loved his dream connection with Lena. I just loved him. He is honest, and he is real and I just fell in love with him and how he treats everyone in his world, and I could really relate to the feeling he has of being "one of them" from the town of Gatlin, but not feeling like "one of them" and wanting to get out. The setting of Gatlin is perfect, and the Civil War reenactments and denial of losing said war made the book feel more genuine to me.
Another thing I loved was the use of flashbacks, and how easy it was to understand when they happened abruptly. Without the flashbacks, nothing would have been figured out, and it all just made perfect sense with them. I loved the order in which things were revealed and I loved the story of Genevieve and Ethan Carter Wate. I will not give away the story, but the dream sequences and the flashbacks are important, so pay attention to them.
The last thing I will mention, and this is something I noticed now that I am on book three, is the ease and the "wading in" that book one does for the reader. For example, I am nearing the end of book three, and there have been creatures and rules and people and places that have been introduced that, were they introduced in book one or two, would have felt like overload and made it hard to read-- but since they introduce new things with each book, it works perfectly. I also have to say, the ending of this book PERFECTLY sets you up for book two.
I could keep going about this book, but I will stop here.
So you may be asking yourself why, after 7 paragraphs of doting didn't I give it a 5 out of 5 Stars? Because the books get better and better with each one, so I had to leave some wiggle room. :-)
Even if you aren't a fan of "supernatural" plot lines or magic, I would recommend this one for everyone. It has the greatness of The Hunger Games, and the intrigue of an unknown world.
Click here for a Link to the Kindle edition, which is only $5.80 USD!
Happy Reading!!!
P.S. I will be posting reviews for book 2, Beautiful Darkness in the next few days, as well as a review for Dream Dark, the Novella that follows Beautiful Darkness.
