Review: Beautiful Redemption

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles #4)
by Kami Garcia , Margaret Stohl
Published October 23rd 2012
by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary from Goodreads:

Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?
Ethan Wate always dreamed of leaving the stifling Southern town of Gatlin.

But he never dreamt that finding love with Lena Duchannes would drive him away. Lena is a Caster girl whose supernatural powers unveiled a secretive and cursed side of Gatlin, so powerful it forced him to make a terrible sacrifice.

Now Ethan must find a way to return to Lena - and Gatlin - as she vows to do whatever it takes to get him back. Even if it means trusting old enemies or risking their loved ones' lives.

Can Ethan and Lena rewrite their fate and their spellbinding love story in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series?

Thoughts:
I still think that the series should have ended by book 2 because book 3 and 4 although quite enjoyable seems like a bit of a stretch for me. Now, let me explain. I am a fan of the series and was really excited when they decided to make a movie out of it. But after the events of book 1 and 2 and the whole plotline relating to Lena's becoming a Light/Dark Caster, I feel as if the authors are simply putting a spin on another new unnecessary plotline in order to prolong the series. Now, instead of Ethan trying to save the love of his life, it's the other way around.

Lena is trying to bring Ethan back from the dead again (she already did that once in the first book) but now Ethan is trapped in the Otherworld and needed a few things to crossover. And now it's up to Lena, Link, Amma and a whole host of other secondary characters to make it happen.

The book is divided into 3 parts told from the point of view of Ethan and Lena. The first part reminded me of when Harry Potter died in the last book and trying to make sense of what's really happening. Then he realized that he can actually goes back because of the resurrection stone and he has to since he's the only one who can kill Voldemort.

But here instead of 1 chapter (as in Harry Potter style) we have 18 chapters of Ethan scrambling around meeting some dead folks in the Otherworld before finally deciding that he has to go back. Seriously, I just don't get it. I'm more interested to find out more about those other secondary characters since I just knew that Ethan would ultimately succeed in his quest. He's the hero after all. The bittersweet ending is rather predictable for anyone who have been faithfully following the series but I still nearly shed a tear. That ending kind of redeemed the series for me (and the fact that Liv get together with the sexy hybrid incubus- John) otherwise I just might chucked this book away and wait for the movie to come out instead.

Verdict: 4 stars.
In my Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge 
Available on: Amazon