Of course if you are behind on the series and haven’t read books one through three – you really should not read this review and spoil some huge plot points for yourself!
I trust you to make the right decision on moving forward with this perusal of my review of Beautiful Redemption…
Ethan Wate spent almost his entire life in the small, sleepy Southern town of Gatlin wishing something would happen – or that he could get out of there. He had a map marking all the different places he wanted to go.
Then Lena Duchannes moved to Gatlin – different in more than one way from the ordinary Gatlin resident – and revealed to him that there was a lot more going on his little town than he ever could have imagined – let alone in the world.
Knowing about the enigmatic, magic, cursed underside of Gatlin caused a lot more excitement in Ethan’s life – but also more complication and heartbreak.
Though he’d never, ever turn back.
After making a fateful decision at the end of Beautiful Chaos, Ethan now finds himself longing to return to the Gatlin he once yearned to leave – and return to those he loves.
Separated by dimensions, Ethan and Lena must try to work together when it is nearly impossible to try and alter their destiny and find each other once more.
Their love has never been easy – in fact, it’s been cursed – but is it powerful enough to overturn what most would consider an insurmountable obstacle?
Okay, that was a little vague – but if you read it before reading the first books, against my wishes, you don’t know too much, do ya?!
My master plan.
Anywho, as I entered into Beautiful Redemption I was definitely optimistic, though the end of Beautiful Chaos was certainly a cliffhanger. I was looking forward to this final chapter of the Beautiful Creatures series – until I read the spin-off series Dangerous Creatures, that is!
Right when I started reading Beautiful Redemption, my almost 16 year old cat Rusty was entering the final stages of his life. It was a painful time. This book will always carry that memory. And, of course, this book is centered on loss – so overall it was at times difficult to read because of that.
However, focusing on the novel itself – Beautiful Redemption offers up an interesting Otherworld – a neighborhood in a graveyard. Though I wouldn’t say that this fourth book is as strong as books two and three (in my opinion), there was a ton of fascinating new Caster world depth – including some creepy new situations and newly explored lore.
I did miss interactions with our Gatlin residents, though. Link, Lena and Amma, for example. I like Ethan a lot – but the supporting characters were definitely neglected and caused Beautiful Redemption to feel it was lacking something. Especially for a final book, I would’ve liked more from them.
Beautiful Redemption is still addictive and compulsively readable, though.
I didn’t always love the theme of loss – perhaps because of what I was going through personally – and I again recognized more similarities with Harry Potter – but the Caster details and Southern atmosphere still won me over. I’m still a fan.
Plus, with the little time we had with Link, I’ve realized he definitely is one of my favorite characters – so I am happy he will be the center of the spin-off series!
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