(Caster Chronicles, Book 1)
Movie Tie0In Edition
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Trade Paperback, 563 pages
Little, Brown and Company
November 20, 2012
Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, YA
Source: Marshall's Dept. Store
Synopsis: The first book in a lush Gothic fantasy series for younger readers of Charlaine Harris and fans of Cassandra Clare.
This edition features exclusive movie cover art and a foldout poster!
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
Quite honestly, I don't think I've ever felt so conflicted over a book before. I wanted to love this novel. As I began to read it, I did start liking it, and initially at least, kept turning pages. Then I hated it and now I'm not really sure how I feel about it....
The one thing I do know is that, as I read, a feeling of OPPRESSION grew in me. And yet, I couldn't stop reading. This is certainly paradoxical!
The authors have a wonderful prose style, and their well-written descriptions make the setting come alive. The reader really does feel as if they're actually in the town of Gatlin, South Carolina.
The references to historical events related to the Civil War were really fascinating to read. I also enjoyed the authors' not-that-subtle ridicule of the townspeople's staunch defense of the Confederate side, to the point of staging yearly reenactments of one specific battle in the war, ignoring the fact that it was the North that ultimately won.
The authors have a wonderful prose style, and their well-written descriptions make the setting come alive. The reader really does feel as if they're actually in the town of Gatlin, South Carolina.
The references to historical events related to the Civil War were really fascinating to read. I also enjoyed the authors' not-that-subtle ridicule of the townspeople's staunch defense of the Confederate side, to the point of staging yearly reenactments of one specific battle in the war, ignoring the fact that it was the North that ultimately won.
The supernatural events and paranormal characters together make this novel a truly INTENSE experience. Of course, that doesn't mean the experience will necessarily be a pleasant one. It does mean that it will most likely remain indelibly impressed on a reader's memory banks, the way a traumatic event might be. All the unpleasantness, all the morbid feelings and darkness, will haunt the person who underwent the traumatic event.
This is how I feel about this novel. It is a dark story. Some readers might disagree, but then, there are varying reading tastes in the world. I'm speaking from the viewpoint of someone who can't stomach the horror genre. And this novel does come close to a horror novel, at times. Well, the word "Gothic" should have alerted me; really, Gothic fiction is, after all, a very close cousin of horror fiction.
And yet.....even now, as I reminisce about a book I no longer own (I donated it to Goodwill, along with the rest of the books in this series), I can't seem to forget the plot....and I'm wondering whether I didn't appreciate it as I should have. But then again, I could not find the enjoyment in it that I unequivocally found in The Twilight Saga, for instance.
The love story is certainly a compelling one. Ethan Wate, the male teen protagonist, is the narrator. This was a rather refreshing change from all of the female narrators in YA novels dealing with paranormal romance and urban fantasy. At last we get the male point of view! And I did like Ethan. He's a very sweet, unassuming young man. And he falls totally in love with Lena Duchannes, the female protagonist. Both are Gatlin high school students.
One quibble I have with the authors regardng Ethan: there are times when he does NOT sound like a guy, but instead, well, more like a teen girl. His descriptions of clothing, for example, are sometimes too detailed to have come from a guy. Let's face it: guys, and ESPECIALLY teen guys, are not the most observant people in the world.
Lena is a Caster, which is another way of saying that she's a witch, because she's a caster of spells. Although this makes her very different from Ethan, she cannot help feeling very attracted to him, a mortal.
I liked Lena, too. She's very vulnerable in spite of her powers, which she can't always control, and is also a poet. In fact, she frequently likes to decorate her room at the infamous Ravenwood mansion with her poetic thoughts. These thoughts meander all over her bedroom walls, thus serving as a sort of protective cocoon for her.
The other characters are memorable as well, although I have to be honest and state that I didn't like most of them, except for the teen couple, and the town librarian, Marian Ashcroft. This character endeared herself to me because of the fact that she had been Ethan's mother's best friend; furthermore, her take on the unusual events in the town, as well as the existence of the Casters, was a very well-balanced one. I really admired this character!
Well, I must admit that I do like Amarie (nicknamed "Amma") Trudeau. She has raised Ethan since his mother's death, and is very protective of him. She cares about him as if he were her own son, or grandson. What scared me about her as I was reading the book was that she was proficient in voodoo, although she did work white magic. However, I did not like (please forgive the spoiler) her meeting with Lena's uncle, the very strange Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood, in the middle of a swamp, in the middle of the night. During this meeting, she brought offerings for her deceased relatives, whose graves were right in the swamp. Ugh.
Speaking of "dear Uncle Macon", I never liked him. He doesn't like humans much, especially those who live in Gatlin. And he thinks much too highly of himself. Furthermore, although he's supposedly always looking out for Lena, he's not very affectionate toward her. He's more like a legal guardian with paranormal powers.
There were some clichés in the plot, as well, and these bothered me. For instance, there was the usual group of mean girls at school, who bullied Lena and attempted to have her expelled. They were supported in this endeavor by Mrs. Lincoln, the mother of Ethan's best friend, Wesley, known as "Link". Mrs. Lincoln is the stereotypical self-righteous Christian who has gone out of her way to try to get books banned at the local high school, and who is always up in arms about anything she deems "just not right", by her standards. She has a whole slew of friends from a Confederate association she belongs to who fully stand behind her, too.
In spite of the fact that Lena and her family are supposedly good witches (except for Ridley Duchannes, who is a Dark Caster, and who was another stereotypical character -- a femme fatale, luring unsuspecting males to disaster), they sure do seem to use dark magic. Lena has a powerful influence over nature. It seems that whenever she's distressed, she causes terrible storms. Unfortunately, she can't control them. And I STILL don't know why she's always driving around in a HEARSE. Is this just for dramatic effect? It certainly doesn't seem to fit into the plot at all. Why a hearse? Was Uncle Macon an undertaker in his younger days? Or maybe in a previous life? What's UP with that, I wonder....
At one point in the novel, the Ravenwood family members get together for Halloween. One of the visiting cousins enjoys turning his arm into a very realistic snake.... All of you out there are most likely familiar with the scene in the Garden of Eden in which Eve succumbs to the temptation offered to her by....A SNAKE. So yeah, these are GOOD Casters, who only work WHITE magic. Right.
And then, to make things even more creepy, the whole family clan form a circle around Lena in order to protect her from some mysterious force that's trying to claim her. As they stand in the circle, they chant something that has to do with blood....
There's also a curse on Lena's family, due to one of her ancestors having used forbidden magic from a mysterious spell book known as The Book of Moons. And oh, as a "special bonus", there's also some grave-digging connected with this book....
Okay, so I do enjoy reading paranormal romance and urban fantasy, but this novel is just much too dark for my taste. I just felt that strongly oppressive state of mind throughout. It was relentless, too. At times, I even started to question Lena and Ethan's whole relationship. I alternated between wanting them to be together, against all odds, and wanting Ethan to get the heck away from Lena. I kept sensing that this relationship was somehow dangerous for him.
I didn't quite finish the novel. It's one of the longer books I've read in recent years, and I did get as far as page 496. The book has a total of 563 pages. You might think it's silly to go that far into a book and then not finish it. The thing is, though, that I lost patience and peeked ahead to see how the the whole ended. And I didn't much like what I came across; the ending leaves things up in the air, and history ends up repeating itself.
This book has received a lot of praise. It has even garnered awards. I was expecting to love it, since it's been touted as the perfect next read for those who have enjoyed The Twilight Saga, as well as Charlaine Harris and Cassandra Clare fans. However, it just didn't do it for me.
One thing I did find interesting was the constant references to Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Macon is compared to Boo Radley, a reclusive character from the Lee novel. The town of Gatlin is just as fictional as Maycomb, the town mentioned in To Kill A Mockingbird. I think the similarity between the name of Lee's town, and the name "Macon" is not accidental.
All of the ingredients in this novel should have guaranteed that I would love it. Somehow, that simply didn't happen. It wasn't the slowness of the plot, as other reviewers on the Internet have pointed out. I found the pacing to be just right. I repeat, the whole atmosphere of the novel was just overwhelmingly oppressive to me, and I finally couldn't take that anymore. All I wanted to do was to get out from under that evil cloud!
Readers who might be tempted to start reading this book should, quite honestly, pick up either The Twilight Saga, or the Vampire Academy series, instead. In all honesty, I think these are much better choices for the YA reader who's also into PNR and UF.
Then again, I know I'll probably read this book again in the near future, in order to re-evaluate it. If I can take it better at that future time, I will come back and change the rating. I do wonder if that will ever happen, thogh. Who knows....
MY RATING:
The love story is certainly a compelling one. Ethan Wate, the male teen protagonist, is the narrator. This was a rather refreshing change from all of the female narrators in YA novels dealing with paranormal romance and urban fantasy. At last we get the male point of view! And I did like Ethan. He's a very sweet, unassuming young man. And he falls totally in love with Lena Duchannes, the female protagonist. Both are Gatlin high school students.
One quibble I have with the authors regardng Ethan: there are times when he does NOT sound like a guy, but instead, well, more like a teen girl. His descriptions of clothing, for example, are sometimes too detailed to have come from a guy. Let's face it: guys, and ESPECIALLY teen guys, are not the most observant people in the world.
Lena is a Caster, which is another way of saying that she's a witch, because she's a caster of spells. Although this makes her very different from Ethan, she cannot help feeling very attracted to him, a mortal.
I liked Lena, too. She's very vulnerable in spite of her powers, which she can't always control, and is also a poet. In fact, she frequently likes to decorate her room at the infamous Ravenwood mansion with her poetic thoughts. These thoughts meander all over her bedroom walls, thus serving as a sort of protective cocoon for her.
The other characters are memorable as well, although I have to be honest and state that I didn't like most of them, except for the teen couple, and the town librarian, Marian Ashcroft. This character endeared herself to me because of the fact that she had been Ethan's mother's best friend; furthermore, her take on the unusual events in the town, as well as the existence of the Casters, was a very well-balanced one. I really admired this character!
Well, I must admit that I do like Amarie (nicknamed "Amma") Trudeau. She has raised Ethan since his mother's death, and is very protective of him. She cares about him as if he were her own son, or grandson. What scared me about her as I was reading the book was that she was proficient in voodoo, although she did work white magic. However, I did not like (please forgive the spoiler) her meeting with Lena's uncle, the very strange Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood, in the middle of a swamp, in the middle of the night. During this meeting, she brought offerings for her deceased relatives, whose graves were right in the swamp. Ugh.
Speaking of "dear Uncle Macon", I never liked him. He doesn't like humans much, especially those who live in Gatlin. And he thinks much too highly of himself. Furthermore, although he's supposedly always looking out for Lena, he's not very affectionate toward her. He's more like a legal guardian with paranormal powers.
There were some clichés in the plot, as well, and these bothered me. For instance, there was the usual group of mean girls at school, who bullied Lena and attempted to have her expelled. They were supported in this endeavor by Mrs. Lincoln, the mother of Ethan's best friend, Wesley, known as "Link". Mrs. Lincoln is the stereotypical self-righteous Christian who has gone out of her way to try to get books banned at the local high school, and who is always up in arms about anything she deems "just not right", by her standards. She has a whole slew of friends from a Confederate association she belongs to who fully stand behind her, too.
In spite of the fact that Lena and her family are supposedly good witches (except for Ridley Duchannes, who is a Dark Caster, and who was another stereotypical character -- a femme fatale, luring unsuspecting males to disaster), they sure do seem to use dark magic. Lena has a powerful influence over nature. It seems that whenever she's distressed, she causes terrible storms. Unfortunately, she can't control them. And I STILL don't know why she's always driving around in a HEARSE. Is this just for dramatic effect? It certainly doesn't seem to fit into the plot at all. Why a hearse? Was Uncle Macon an undertaker in his younger days? Or maybe in a previous life? What's UP with that, I wonder....
At one point in the novel, the Ravenwood family members get together for Halloween. One of the visiting cousins enjoys turning his arm into a very realistic snake.... All of you out there are most likely familiar with the scene in the Garden of Eden in which Eve succumbs to the temptation offered to her by....A SNAKE. So yeah, these are GOOD Casters, who only work WHITE magic. Right.
And then, to make things even more creepy, the whole family clan form a circle around Lena in order to protect her from some mysterious force that's trying to claim her. As they stand in the circle, they chant something that has to do with blood....
There's also a curse on Lena's family, due to one of her ancestors having used forbidden magic from a mysterious spell book known as The Book of Moons. And oh, as a "special bonus", there's also some grave-digging connected with this book....
Okay, so I do enjoy reading paranormal romance and urban fantasy, but this novel is just much too dark for my taste. I just felt that strongly oppressive state of mind throughout. It was relentless, too. At times, I even started to question Lena and Ethan's whole relationship. I alternated between wanting them to be together, against all odds, and wanting Ethan to get the heck away from Lena. I kept sensing that this relationship was somehow dangerous for him.
I didn't quite finish the novel. It's one of the longer books I've read in recent years, and I did get as far as page 496. The book has a total of 563 pages. You might think it's silly to go that far into a book and then not finish it. The thing is, though, that I lost patience and peeked ahead to see how the the whole ended. And I didn't much like what I came across; the ending leaves things up in the air, and history ends up repeating itself.
This book has received a lot of praise. It has even garnered awards. I was expecting to love it, since it's been touted as the perfect next read for those who have enjoyed The Twilight Saga, as well as Charlaine Harris and Cassandra Clare fans. However, it just didn't do it for me.
One thing I did find interesting was the constant references to Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Macon is compared to Boo Radley, a reclusive character from the Lee novel. The town of Gatlin is just as fictional as Maycomb, the town mentioned in To Kill A Mockingbird. I think the similarity between the name of Lee's town, and the name "Macon" is not accidental.
All of the ingredients in this novel should have guaranteed that I would love it. Somehow, that simply didn't happen. It wasn't the slowness of the plot, as other reviewers on the Internet have pointed out. I found the pacing to be just right. I repeat, the whole atmosphere of the novel was just overwhelmingly oppressive to me, and I finally couldn't take that anymore. All I wanted to do was to get out from under that evil cloud!
Readers who might be tempted to start reading this book should, quite honestly, pick up either The Twilight Saga, or the Vampire Academy series, instead. In all honesty, I think these are much better choices for the YA reader who's also into PNR and UF.
Then again, I know I'll probably read this book again in the near future, in order to re-evaluate it. If I can take it better at that future time, I will come back and change the rating. I do wonder if that will ever happen, thogh. Who knows....
MY RATING:
