Gasp by Lisa McMann

Book: Gasp (Visions #3)
Author: Lisa McMann
# of Pages: 273 (Hardcover)
Challenge: 2014 Series Enders Challenge
Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:
After narrowly surviving two harrowing tragedies, Jules now fully understands the importance of the visions that she and people around her are experiencing. She’s convinced that if the visions passed from her to Sawyer after she saved him, then they must now have passed from Sawyer to one of the people he saved.

That means it’s up to Jules to figure out which of the school shooting survivors is now suffering from visions of another crisis. And once she realizes who it is, she has to convince that survivor that this isn't all crazy—that the images are of something real. Something imminent.

As the danger escalates more than ever before in the conclusion to the Visions series, Jules wonders if she'll finally find out why and how this is happening—before it's too late to prevent disaster.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great ending to the Visions trilogy. Though I'd love to see more of these characters.

As always, I loved Jules's relationship with her siblings, Trey and Rowan. They along with Sawyer, Jules's boyfriend, are very supportive of her and stick by her side no matter how crazy things get.

The action is non-stop as Jules tries to find the person who is now having visions and works tirelessly to help decipher the vision. And although things are pretty chaotic, the story wraps up nicely without any loose ends creating a very satisfying ending.

Overall, Gasp was a great read. If you have not yet read the Visions trilogy, I highly recommend it. With funny, likable characters, mystery, action, and romance, it has something for everyone.

Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Book: Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles #4)
Author: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
# of Pages: 290 (ebook)
Challenge: 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 1.5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
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.

My Thoughts:

The final installment of the Caster Chronicles series was underwhelming to say the least.

After the ending of Beautiful Chaos, I was expecting a interesting and suspenseful story. But alas, I'm surprised I even finished the book.

This book is different from the other thee in the series. Instead of Ethan narrating the whole thing, it's split up into three parts. Ethan narrates the first and third while Lena narrates the second.

Ethan, who at the beginning of the series was smart and strong, really disappointed me. Most of the time he just complained about not being able to be with Lena. Yes, I get that he is in a very frustrating situation, but it was impossible to sympathize with someone who wouldn't stop whining.

As for Lena, well, I stopped liking her after the first book in the series, and in this book, she did not do anything to redeem herself, not for me anyway. She was selfish and careless and really got on my nerves. It really should have been Link or John Breed narrating that part of the book.

The one character that really stood out for me in this book was Link. I've always liked him and was glad to see that he got to play a vital role in this book.

Once again we come close to discovering John Breed's parentage and identity, and once again we hit a dead end. I though John Breed was a fascinating character, and not getting a good background story about him really bothered me. It felt like the authors did not think he was important enough to get proper back stories like some of the other characters.

There were a few fighting scenes, but they were all so blah. A big deal was made about how "evil" the villains were, but to be honest I found them dull. Also, I wish more information about the Greats had been revealed. They play a key part in the series as a whole, but we only ever learn specifics about one of them. What about the others?

Overall, this book just did not do anything for me. It's the last book in the series, but there were just so many things that were not fully explained. 

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Book: Beautiful Chaos (Caster Chronicles #3)
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
# of Pages: 379 (ebook)
Challenge: 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:
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, 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 isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself — forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.

Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.

My Thoughts:

Although Beautiful Chaos did have its ups and downs, I liked it more than Beautiful Darkness.

In this book, everything is falling apart because of what happened during Lena's Seventeenth Moon. Ethan and the others try to figure out what needs to be done to make things go back to normal. And although I liked the apocalypse aspect of the story, I could not help but feel that a couple things were pretty predictable.

We do learn about Sarafine's history. And though it is pretty interesting, I feel like it should have been revealed earlier in the series. We also get to know John Breed better. There are hints about what his is and his parentage, but they are never specified. At the beginning of the book, Macon and Liv have a theory about John and Lena, which I thought was pretty intriguing, but it is never brought up again. This frustrated me. Why was it brought up if it wasn't going to be incorporated into the story?

Also, the actual Caster Chronicles is finally introduced. But, it is given such a simple description and focused on for only a couple sentences, that had the series not been named after it, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. This too should have been brought up earlier in the series.

The pacing of the story was pretty stop and go. There was just too much description in some places, and it felt like it took me forever to get through it.

Overall, Beautiful Chaos was a good book, but there was nothing about it that really made it stand out and it left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Book: Beautiful Creatures (Castor Chronicles #1)
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
# of Pages: 387 (ebook)
Challenge: 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 5 stars

From Goodreads:
This edition features exclusive movie cover art!
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.

My Thoughts:
What a fantastic book! I was not sure if I would like this book. But as the movie is coming out soon and I have had it on my nook for over a year now, I could not put it off any longer. And, I have to say that I was very impressed.

I really like that Beautiful Creatures was set in a southern town. More YA books need to be set in the South! Apart from that, I loved the characters. Ethan is kind and daring. Lena is stronger than she gives herself credit for. And Link is funny and such a good friend to both of them.

This book was full of mystery, humor, and romance. I also enjoyed the historical aspect of it. There were a few unexpected twists that left me wanting to read more.

Overall, Beautiful Creatures was an addictive, enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.