"I love you, and I always will
I need you and I keep you with me.
The good and the bad, the sugar and the salt, the kicks and the kisses - what's come before and what will come after, you and me-
We are all mixed up in this together, under one warm pie crust."

What can I say. When I started book 1, I didn't loved. But, somehow, I LOVED the movie.

And I had a few friends who loved the series and I thought "it must just be me. let's try book 2" After 2 books into the series, I had to finish it! Right, because I hate leaving a series hanging.

So I'm glad I finished it. I can't say I loved the series, but I did love the adventure and the idea behind the series.

And now I can leave Gatlin all tucked away. I'm sure there are more adventures and I might just read them. ( )

A great finish to the Caster Chronicles series. I am happy that Ethan made it back but sad at the loss that was required to make that happen. ( )

Super-natural

Poorly executed wish fulfillment. Read my full review at Notes in the Margin. ( )

This book is still haunting me from early-to-mid last week, I cannot even stress how badly I thought this book was going to go after what happened on the last page of Beautiful Chaos. My brain screaming the whole time "But WHERE do you GO from there?!?!?!?"


Miraculously, these women already had that planned, and not only was it planned it was planned *well*. Oh, guys, the beginning of this book almost tripped me up when we suddenly had Lena POV for the first time, before we got into Chapter One. And then Chapter One blew my socks off, and all of Part I. All people we've only really seen guest appearances of before, suddenly getting full screen time and still being just as awesome as they ever were in those Book 1-3 appearances suddenly stretched across chapters.

The middle part I understand why we switch POV's to follow the story and the action. To tell the story of how things happened and why, with even more guest appearances by familiar faces who hang right at the cracks. I'm still a little unsettled about sudden POV switch for one-third of a book four books in, but I do at least know *why* they made that choice. I just always find it a little eleventh-hour jarring when it breaks the mold that was already set in place.

That said, I still loved getting to see all my normal faces. What they are going, how they were processing, managing, fighting back. How many ways love can make itself apparent on people lives, faces and actions. There were as many Southern Witticisms in this book, which I think happened because Ethan is away and Lena's mind wasn't Gatlin-raised and made of them. The ending I saw coming even if it was heart breaking, but it's also comforting, because you totally know now (thanks to all of earlier book 4) what happens after that step.

The chocolate milk scene was a beautiful ending touch, as was the whole of the text in that scene bringing us full circle to the text at the beginning of the whole series. I am so deeply sad not to have any more of this waiting for me. ( )