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A review by karenholmes
Beautiful Redemption by Margaret Stohl, Kami Garcia
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.