“Beautiful Redemption” Review (The Caster Chronicles #4)

Cynthia Ayala ’16/ Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

By: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Published: October 22, 2013

Publisher: Little, Brown

Series: Caster Chronicles

Genre: Young Adult, (Urban) Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Ethan Wate gave up his life not only for the girl of his dreams and the love of his life, but also for the Order of the Universe and for everyone he loves.  Now he has woken up in the land between, a world around his own with only one thing set on his mind: to find a way to get back home, cheat death and return to Lena and everyone else he loves.  At the same time, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan’s return, vowing to do whatever it takes, even if it means trusting those who burned her.  Together the pair must once again work together to rewrite their fate in the final novel of the Caster Chronicles.

This book’s story was told incredibly differently from the previous novels in the series.  Beautiful Redemption shifts between point of views unlike in the earlier novels, joining both worlds and both lives of Ethan and Lena.  However, the shift gives the story more depth and more character, making it a riveting novel from beginning to end as the pair race to join again.  The shift between characters and between personalities give the story more rich detail.  In the previous books, Lena was never a two-dimensional character but readers only ever saw her through the eyes of Ethan. They never really got a feel into her psyche; into whom she was as a person outside of her relationship with Ethan. Now her personality shines even brighter in this book, as well as her strength in the novel.  The trials and tribulations that she feels and goes through give her side of the story more depth and more life.

As for the rest of the characters, they were as strong and bright as well, even though we only got to see them through the eyes of another.  Link and Ridley for example, shine in the novel and their relationship is a clear opposite of Lena and Ethan.  They are more fun, more risky and adventurous and just down right enjoyable to read, stealing the show.  They aren’t a carbon cutout of what a relationship is supposed to be. Even though they love each other, it doesn’t mean they have to be incredibly sappy and wishy-washy about it, making their relationship shine a little brighter than Lena and Ethan’s.

Nevertheless, while the detail in the novel was good and the pace of the novel was fast, it almost came off as though the writers rushing to get to the end that they wanted.  There is a sense of desperation in the writing that takes away from the overall enjoyment of the novel.  Everything just moves so fast, and while that is good because it keeps the reader hooked, details such as scenery, are lost.  There were times in the novel where it jumps from one scene to another, jarring the flow.  And it happens more than once.  The overall detail was good but with the fast pace of the novel a little more scene specifics would have helped to better ground the reader into the novel, allowing for a less jarring and head-spinning reading.

★★★☆☆ (B-)