Review: Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publication Date: October 18, 2011

Synopsis:
Ever since Lena's Claiming, things in Gatlin have been completely out of control. Locusts are swarming, lakes are drying up, and the worst heat wave in years has settled in town.

The Order of Things is out of balance, and as Ethan's dreams become more and more haunting, it's up to him and Lena to find a solution to the problems they each had a hand in creating.

Rating: 3 stars

Thoughts:
I was hoping to like this as much as I liked Beautiful Darkness, but sadly, that wasn't the case. I think that was partially due to the fact that I already knew a massive plot point in the book (the ending), so I basically spent the entire book wondering when that would come into play.

For the most part, I felt like this book dragged on too much. There were several chapters that didn't really do anything to progress the plot, but only served to add to the drama that we already have. It would've be fine if things were more exciting, but staying true to the previous 2 books, this one didn't actually have much action until the last three chapters or so. In fact, I think this might have been the least action-packed book so far.

I can't say that I was as invested in this book as I was in the second one, but it wasn't entirely bad either. Without the action, I thought that the book could have been shorter. There wasn't enough conflict or drama to warrant the length, nor was the drama particularly interesting. Partly also because I knew how the book would end, I found that since I knew that, everything else became rather frustrating because it all was so clear to me.

The romances within this series has never been something I enjoyed that much. I like Link and Ridley, but even that was lacking in this book. Ethan and Lena have always been quite "meh" for me, especially because I don't really get the basis for their attraction toward each other. But the romance that I completely didn't understand was the new one that sprung up in this book. It felt completely baseless to me, with no explanation for their attraction toward each other, it felt like they were paired together because they were the last single teenagers in the series.

The ending felt dragged out. Even after the reveal that would lead to the ending, there was too much time spent on the day leading up to the end of the book. It really could have been shortened to fewer chapters than what we got. I think that it was a weaker ending, very similar to that of the first book in the sense that I don't have a particularly strong urge to read the final book. But, since I'm so close, I'll be finishing it up to see how things wrap up for this series.

Character(s):
I still don't have enough opinions of the characters to say anything about them specifically. Even with the main characters, I don't really feel like I know them. All I know is that Macon and Amma are my favorite characters.

Overall:
3 stars. Still wouldn't say that this series is a "must read" or something that I would recommend. If it interests you, then go ahead and pick it up, but beware of the mixed reviews surrounding the series.