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delaneysc's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tcgarback's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
⭐️⭐️
Personal Score: C
Critical Score: C-
Sadly we’ve ended this series on a low note. Beautiful Redemption milks the most contrived plot point of the whole series—Ethan’s death—for the entire book, to the point where volume four is just the characters trying to get back to where we left off at the end of the last book.
There are some fun moments in here, mainly in the last 100 pages, but the rest of it was so boring and ridiculous that I had to skim.
So much for waiting years to finally get around to reading this book.
Also, I don’t like how Amma’s character is handled. More than ever, she feels like the “good minority” trope, where her whole life revolves around sacrificing herself for white people. Meanwhile, we never even meet her family members or see her interact with them. To have her kill herself at the end of this book for Ethan, when that doesn’t even seem to make any sense in the context of Ethan successfully destroying the Caster Chronicles page, feels so belittling of her character.
Also, the whole Abraham conquest for evil plotline is forgotten about until halfway through, where it’s resolved like some mere side-plot instead of what felt like the whole series was building up to.
I just feel like the authors really lost the plot with this one.
Also, it was so depressing reading a book entirely about death and grieving, especially when I don’t believe in an afterlife. So this volume just feels particularly immature and off-putting.
I’m really sad to finish this series on such a bad book, but I’ve got to be honest.
At least now I can say that, after years of procrastinating, I’ve finally finished the series.
Personal Score: C
Critical Score: C-
Sadly we’ve ended this series on a low note. Beautiful Redemption milks the most contrived plot point of the whole series—Ethan’s death—for the entire book, to the point where volume four is just the characters trying to get back to where we left off at the end of the last book.
There are some fun moments in here, mainly in the last 100 pages, but the rest of it was so boring and ridiculous that I had to skim.
So much for waiting years to finally get around to reading this book.
Also, I don’t like how Amma’s character is handled. More than ever, she feels like the “good minority” trope, where her whole life revolves around sacrificing herself for white people. Meanwhile, we never even meet her family members or see her interact with them. To have her kill herself at the end of this book for Ethan, when that doesn’t even seem to make any sense in the context of Ethan successfully destroying the Caster Chronicles page, feels so belittling of her character.
Also, the whole Abraham conquest for evil plotline is forgotten about until halfway through, where it’s resolved like some mere side-plot instead of what felt like the whole series was building up to.
I just feel like the authors really lost the plot with this one.
Also, it was so depressing reading a book entirely about death and grieving, especially when I don’t believe in an afterlife. So this volume just feels particularly immature and off-putting.
I’m really sad to finish this series on such a bad book, but I’ve got to be honest.
At least now I can say that, after years of procrastinating, I’ve finally finished the series.
karenholmes's review against another edition
4.0
I so wanted to read this book. It's been on my wish-list ever since I finished Beautiful Chaos. And, in a way, it's sad it's over. I will never approach Lena and Ethan's story for the first time again. I know how everything ends and this saddens me.
But also, this goodbye was bittersweet. There were things that didn't work for me. Others that did work too much.
There are good and strong points in the book of course. First, as always, the world building. Both authors are wonderful world creators and they pull the reader, in this case me, to the South in a way I can see it, but also touch and it and smell it. I've never been in the South of the US but I feel like I've lived there after reading this whole series.
The characters, specially secondary characters are wonderful. I love Ridley, she's always been my favorite and I loved to see her struggle between her nature and her love for her cousin and even Link. I also like Link and his new attitude towards Ridley. Liv wasn't as lovable as she was during Beautiful Disaster mostly and John, well he keeps being John.
I also loved the adults in the book, Marian and Macon and Ama are great. But it was wonderful to see, even if it was just a glimpse of Lila. Loved to know some more of Ama and the great's past. Also loved Sarafine's tiny appearance and her final sacrifice that leads to some hope for redemption.
And yes, there is also the themes that were wonderfully created and webbed. Love and redemption and sacrifice are great themes around this series and this last book wasn't the exception.
So, what didn't I like about this book, a part from being the last of Lena and Ethan? A few things annoyed me.
One is Lena's voice. A third part of the book is written in Lena's point of view, which is something new for the series. But as they are both separated for most part of the book, we couldn't know what happened if we weren't with Lena. But the thing is, Lena's voice is interchangeable with Ethan's. If I started reading a paragraph and I didn't know who was talking, I could not tell by the language who was talking. Yes, we can think they are just a soul that needs to be reunited but come on, they are two different people, they need to be different!
I also thought that Abraham's final scenes were too easy and that the battle should have been more devastating. Everything is so easy that it doesn't feel like sacrifice until the very end, and the ones who really sacrifice are not the main characters but others around them.
But overall it's a great book, I love it, and a great wrap up for the series.
But also, this goodbye was bittersweet. There were things that didn't work for me. Others that did work too much.
There are good and strong points in the book of course. First, as always, the world building. Both authors are wonderful world creators and they pull the reader, in this case me, to the South in a way I can see it, but also touch and it and smell it. I've never been in the South of the US but I feel like I've lived there after reading this whole series.
The characters, specially secondary characters are wonderful. I love Ridley, she's always been my favorite and I loved to see her struggle between her nature and her love for her cousin and even Link. I also like Link and his new attitude towards Ridley. Liv wasn't as lovable as she was during Beautiful Disaster mostly and John, well he keeps being John.
I also loved the adults in the book, Marian and Macon and Ama are great. But it was wonderful to see, even if it was just a glimpse of Lila. Loved to know some more of Ama and the great's past. Also loved Sarafine's tiny appearance and her final sacrifice that leads to some hope for redemption.
And yes, there is also the themes that were wonderfully created and webbed. Love and redemption and sacrifice are great themes around this series and this last book wasn't the exception.
So, what didn't I like about this book, a part from being the last of Lena and Ethan? A few things annoyed me.
One is Lena's voice. A third part of the book is written in Lena's point of view, which is something new for the series. But as they are both separated for most part of the book, we couldn't know what happened if we weren't with Lena. But the thing is, Lena's voice is interchangeable with Ethan's. If I started reading a paragraph and I didn't know who was talking, I could not tell by the language who was talking. Yes, we can think they are just a soul that needs to be reunited but come on, they are two different people, they need to be different!
I also thought that Abraham's final scenes were too easy and that the battle should have been more devastating. Everything is so easy that it doesn't feel like sacrifice until the very end, and the ones who really sacrifice are not the main characters but others around them.
But overall it's a great book, I love it, and a great wrap up for the series.
pelargonia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sarak18's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was an alright way to end the series. I do feel a little dissapointed about the last fight. If Andreas was all powerful, why did he only throw rocks at Ethan? That seemed stupid to me. Otherwise it was fine.
arianah's review against another edition
1.0
I really liked the plot in the beginning with Ethan and his mom in the Otherworld, but Lena's part was really dull and I really did not want to read it. It tied together nicely but the ending was so predictable. The series as a whole was slow. I think they could have condensed the four books into two books or even one. It wasn't worth reading all four books considering that I could have guessed the ending after the first book.
svreads's review against another edition
4.0
Overall I was really impressed with this YA series. I loved the first book, and the last three and a half (including a short story) weren't nearly as good, but they were still worth reading. I loved the characters, and I think they'll stay with me long after. I also loved the town of Gatlin. Maybe you have to grow up in a small town to realize how close-minded, judgemental and yet trustworthy and good people can be. Maybe that's the point. We are all good and evil, Dark and Light. I know this series has gotten a lot of good and bad reviews and that most people seem to either love it or hate it. At the end of the day I would have to say I recommend it.
setaugher's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
edengrove's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
fishbulle's review against another edition
4.0
was a long time since i read this so can't rate it fairly, i just remember i enjoyed it :)