Despite the two's rough history, Lena and Liv eventually make amends and even end up becoming close friends; showing Lena being able to forgive and forget. For example, the relationship between Lena and Sarafine is ANYTHING but simple. Still in the house, Lena, powerful even as a baby, had saved herself by making it rain thus putting out the fire. un capolavoro, una lezione di vita. When Lena was just a baby, her mother, Sarafine, had turned Dark and became totally consumed in Darkness. But Lena, knowing she is only trying to deceive her, allows her to die. Helpful. After lying together, she begs tearfully for forgiveness for her actions and Ethan does without hesitance (proving how much he truly loves her) and they make up kissing passionately together before falling asleep together. I am looking forward to the movie. He then silently says goodbye to his dad and takes one final look at his room and belongings and reads a book (Of Mice and Men, one Ethan often found tragic) for the last time. Some magical influence is spelling out a code in the books, and the message tells Lena, Claim yourself. I'm sure there are many DAR chapters that would never dream of ostracizing and criminalizing a family in their community the way these characters do. He would never tell me who I can and cant dance with., "I don't think I could ever love anything the way I love you., The Mortals get so much more time, and they dont even read around here., Yeah, right. 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. Lauren Azzopardi Child. Lena Duchannes, a girl who seems too out of place in Gatlin. I love how this story has so many twists and turns, and surprises that leave you breathtaken. Despite this revelation, Lena warns Ethan against getting to know her, telling him its for his own good and safety. Lena is devastated knowing her choice caused her true love's must-needed death and begs hysterically for Ethan not to go ahead with the sacrifice, even saying she didn't care about the deaths of their loved ones if he did not go through with the sacrifice; insisting she needed him to live and he couldn't ask her to live in a world without him. I can't imagine a world without you in it! Both times Macon used his powers in the movie has to do with Ethan. This being seen in Beautiful Darkness when Ridley betrays Sarafine to help Ethan, Liv and Link save Lena fearing for Lena's safety. At the end of the 3rd book, I had to go to work the next day with swollen eyes. This is considered a huge leap since Ethan is shown to hate talking about his father. In Gatlin, South Carolina, Ethan Wate awakens from a recurring dream of a girl he does not know. But, we all love a happy ending and we definitely got that. During the town's annual County Fair, Lena shows up wearing Ridley's type of clothing (overall that makes her look easy). Lena is afraid that she will become evil as Ridley is and be claimed as Dark on her upcoming birthday. Before moving to Gatlin, Lena begins to have recurring dreams of a teenage boy who saves her. Amma was initially against Lena and Ethan's relationship knowing the risks the two would be taking since Ethan was a mortal and Lena a caster. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, 11.27: Just Your Average American Holiday. They were suspenseful, romantic, and chaotic. Macon "Melchizedek" Ravenwood is the son of Silas Ravenwood and Arelia Valentin and the brother of Hunting and Leah. As Ethan drives, he nearly runs over Lena. Also it is noted it no longer harms Ethan when he touches/kisses her, resulting in a future for the two of them. However, in order to search for the book, Lena and Ethan must wait for the Caster Library to open, according to its own magical schedule. Her 16th birthday was noted to be a huge deal since in Beautiful Creaturesif Lena was to be Claimed for the Light, then she would be the most powerful and strongest Light Caster ever as the other way around if she were to be claimed for the Dark. She is the daughter of Sarafine Duchannes and John Eades, cousin of Reece, Ridley and Ryan Duchannes and Larkin Kent. Arriving for his first day of junior year, Ethan notices newcomer Lena Duchannes . It was very good, had very little cursing and sex. But I don't think I'm strong enough. The series kept me intrigued enough to finish them all. Macon does not want to give Ethan additional information about the locket, and Ethan notices that the interior of Ravenwood Manor seems to be magical, because the interior decoration can change and entire meals can appear and vanish, seemingly according to Macon's will. Although the reason as to why this happened is ultimately left unknown, Macon simply tells the couple to be happy they can now freely touch each other without any repercussions. Every page you turn leaves you wondering what more will happen, and believe me, much more does happen. She is the coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures and Dangerous Creatures novels and her solo works include the YA fantasy novels UNBREAKABLE and UNMARKED (THE LEGION SERIES), YA contemporary romances THE LOVELY RECKLESS and BROKEN BEAUTIFUL HEARTS, and THE X-FILES . She and Abraham in the second follow-up novel Beautiful Darkness attempts to force her to turn Dark, but Lena is saved by Ethan, Macon and everyone else. When I first met you, that's what I remember. However she is convinced that they are nothing more than dreams and that the boy in her dreams isn't an actual person. Link is one of her friends through Ethan. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! The manga adaptation of the novel was released in February, 2013, under the same title. It is also told that Lena, throughout her childhood, had never expressed romantic or any interest in boys nor ever made any efforts to attract the attention of them as Ridley did as a kid either. In Beautiful Chaos, it is soon discovered that Ethan is the must-be sacrifice in order for the Mortal and Caster worlds to be spared from destruction after Lena's claiming causes the balance to be thrown drastically off course due to claiming herself as both Dark and Light. But when Ethan urged her to go with him, Lena did not hesitate to kiss him in a somewhat overly passionate manner before shooting a look directly at Liv "meaningfully.") But the two manage to make amends and even become friends by the end of the novel, forgetting about their rough history together. Despite these problems, the two both manage to get past this by the end of the novel and become stronger together; kissing passionately as a way to make up for all the trouble until Ethan must pull back to avoid further physical harm from the kiss. And did I mention my cute little British accent? The intimacy issue eventually comes to a resolve in the final novel, Beautiful Redemption, when Ethan notices kissing and touching Lena no longer physically bothers him after he is revived in the Mortal world. In voice-over narration, he describes his enjoyment of reading banned books, his despair of his small-town existence, and his dreams of leaving for college. This is not for anyone under 12. He was also the only person, at first, to be kind to her and a friendship quickly blooms between the two. Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. ", "I didn't expect you to be here. He has been sitting in his study, grieving for his dead wife. Lena was also shown to not even approve of Ethan being around or associating with her and even made indirect gestures of Ethan being hers. The characters are so well fleshed out, that when the time comes to say goodbye to them you will feel as though you are saying goodbye to friends. Ethan and Lena need to find the Book of Moons, and they think it might have been buried with Genevieve. Their romance is forbidden since Casters (Lena) and a Wayward (Ethan) are unable to be together due to their incapability of making love without Ethan being killed - therefore severing any chances of true intimacy, marriage, children or a future at all. Since Lena is intensely in love with Ethan, she is shown to have a vicious level jealousy side. Soon after they reconcile, Link sneaks through Ethan's window and interrupts them. She is a Natural, an extremely rare type of Caster who is far more powerful and stronger than all regular Casters are, also having additional powers that can be different for any Natural. (Though Ethan is later revived by Lena and Amma.). Meanwhile, as Lena and Ethan and everyone struggle to figure out what needs to be done to save Gatlin, they realize that a happy ending won't be happening this time. Or when Ridley was slowly suffocating Ethan to death in Beautiful Creatures and she caused a hurricane to hit the room out of anger and frustration for Ridley to let Ethan go for the sake of not killing him and confessing to Ethan later on that she "just panicked". Get help and learn more about the design. The books include the following titles: Beautiful Creatures (2009), Beautiful Darkness (2010), Beautiful Chaos (2011), and Beautiful Redemption (2012). Lena reminisces about the first time she saw him and how she knew she would fall in love with him noticing how even "the sky looked different" after she started to fall for him. They hold hands at the movie theater, which sparks rumors about Ethan and Lena at their high school. She meets and befriends Ethan Wate, a teenage resident in her new town Gatlin, with whom she falls in love with. Ridley has nearly persuaded Mitchell to take his own life, but Link convinces her to release Mitchell from her spell. Throughout the book, Ethan slowly begins losing himself even more. In Mitchell's study, Ethan and Lena notice that several books are open to certain pages, and the pages refuse to be turned. When he stops his car, he suddenly realizes that Lena is the girl who appears in his nightmares. He also explains how Lila Jane's ghost helped him once The Book of Moons took his life by capturing him inside the Arclight; thereby giving him the chance to be freed and live again. Sarafine's fellow Dark Casters attack and kill Macon, and Ethan runs to Ravenwood Manor to get help. Ethan can overhear their conversation, as Amma tells Lena that Sarafine is actually her mother. Since the books came to a natural end regarding Lena and Ethan's future and I thought the movie's ending was kinda trash so this concept was born. Really, we're just friends, even though I'm smarter and blonder than the rest of you combined. Beautiful Creatures is the first book of The Caster Chronicles series, written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. 68 views, 3 likes, 1 loves, 3 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from St. John's Lutheran Church: Welcome to St. John's of Pearl City! Ethan follows Amma to her own home, where he watches as she goes out to the swamp and meets Lena's uncle, Macon Ravenwood. This happens during the time period surrounding the Civil War. She is known to often wear Chuck Taylors type of shoes, her necklace of "junk" that contains memories of her life and a journal of poetry she's often seen with. However, being a kind hearted person with good nature, he instead chooses to . Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms . Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles 1) 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 . He drives to Ravenwood Manor and goes inside to find Lena lying on a table, with most of her family members standing around her. Beautiful Creatures was signed by Little,Brown,and Company for a four-book series,the Caster Chronicles,with the follow-up books titled: Lena also has said that her powers can almost always be triggered by an emotional reaction. (We . Loved this series. Lena (before meeting Ethan) was a loner having always stuck to herself and being very mysterious, always by herself and very lonely. In the end, there is a grave. Ethan then states they were talking about lives and the people they loved and Lena responds shaking her head saying, "I don't care. She brings a bokor, a "darkness of her own" and things start to get hectic as a result of it. Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. What is the Order of the Beautiful Creatures books? Also it is noted it no longer harms Ethan when he touches/kisses her, resulting in a future for the two of them. Lena, though, was often stuck doing her homework since Ridley had been using her Siren abilities to make boys do it for her. Why didn't Link ever complain about the pain touching Ridley caused him before he turned? There are also a lot of Vexes, powerful demons of the underground, who are sent back once Amma, Arelia (Macon's Mother), Gramma (Lena's Grandmother) and Twyla (Macon's Aunt) arrive. The Dangerous Creatures series will weave in other Beautiful Creatures characters, including Ethan, Lena, John, Liv; each book will be set, for the most part, in a different city. Even for some time, Lena did not approve of Ethan hanging out with Liv and made indirect remarks or gestures to Liv that Ethan was hers. However, if she were to turn Light all Dark Casters would die as the other way around if she were to turn Dark. Back in the tunnels still furious with jealousy and anger Ethan nearly, on an act of impulse, kisses Liv and accidentally kelts of the near encounter (making it possible that Lena most likely heard which she later confirms bitterly before she leaves that she did). But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Lena, despite her usual non-physical personality, has shown to become physical if put under enough stress and anger and if so at a certain individual. On the Sixteenth Moon, the Sixteenth Year, the Book will take what it's been promised. Ridley takes the Arclight out of its hiding place and looks at it, then counts down from three and something is "decided" - which is really her decision to lock John Breed in the Arclight. Things continued to remain this way with Lena treating her harshly and making it more than clear she does not want her anywhere near Ethan and Liv barely acknowledging it. She always at first kept her innermost thoughts to herself never expressing herself until after Beautiful Creatures when she begins evolving as a person. She was born a Caster, a powerful being with supernatural abilities and strong powers. Ridley is Lena's cousin and childhood ex-best friend. Her Uncle Macon and others arrive and a battle breaks out with Lena causing a great storm to hit town. Ethan then realizes one thing; he has to die to save Gatlin and the Caster world. Ethan Lawson Wate is our sixteen-year-old narrator. Ridley invites Ethan to the Gathering, a holiday dinner held by Lena's extended family every year. Kami Garcia is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. it is a sweet but lively series with a lot of unpredictable turns and twists. She is also the greatest, strongest and most powerful character in the series. Is Beautiful Creatures on Tubi? I just happen to have a few pictures because Margie and I made Lena's necklace two actually right after we finished writing the book. Ethan discovers that the woman is not Mrs. Lincoln, but the Dark Caster Sarafine in disguise. Macon was an Incubus, a creature who fed on people's dreams and memories to sustain himself and after he was released from the Arclight, he became a Light Caster. When Ridley eventually left the group to secretly aid Ethan, Link and Liv to find Lena aware of the trap to force Lena to go Dark, John and Lena grew even closer as he comforted her in her weak state seeming to understand her (though Lena says that nothing "like that" occurred between them and that he was just a good friend towards her). The day of Lena's 16th birthday, Ethan goes to Ravenwood Manor to see her. Lena was then raised by her relatives. He is hearing voices and is seeing writings and things that no one else can. PG-13. First they suspect Lena, but the Demon Queen tells Ethan directly during a visit that Lena isn't the one who needed to die; even adding on how after the One Who Is Two died; she would be the one to Bind the New Order. 2h 4m. You wont find this theme anywhere else: Southern gothic romance. He goes to see Link and they spend one last day playing basketball. The ghosts are uncommunicative, and Macon and Amma are unaware of Ethan's presence at their meeting. This is an amazing series. ", "When were you going to tell me? They then share one final moment together with Ethan Kelting, "Goodbye." Lena can be seen next to Ridley during their graduation. She is Ethan Wate's love interest in the first novel of the series, eventually becoming his girlfriend. However, on each Caster's 16th birthday they are to be "claimed" by either the Light or the Darkness, otherwise known as good or evil. What book comes after beautiful chaos? She and Ridley had severed ties after that and they had not seen each other for a year afterwards. I couldn't put them down. Liv and Lena's relationship was, for about half of the series, hostile and tense since Lena was fully aware of Liv's feelings for Ethan. Over Christmas break, Ethan discovers that his reclusive father, Mitchell Wate, has not been working on his novel for the past several months. Is falling in love the beginning or the end? After this, Lena cries herself to sleep. Lena has stopped writing in her tattered old journal that she used to always carry around with her. In hope of finding her, Ethan and Link drive to Dar-ee Keen, Gatlin's greasy version of Dairy King. As Ethan and John walk up to the water tower, Amma shows up saying she was "there the day he was born and she'll be there the day he dies" but it wasn't going to be "today." After they pronounce Amma legally dead, Lena and Ethan continue to grow stronger through this experience, (example; Lena running up to him and wrapping her legs around him and kissing him repeatedly). But when Lena fails to decide, she kills Ethan right in front of her and there hoping to provoke her into turning Dark by losing control of her powers. Ethan will come back - you'll see. Amma then blames Macon for the outcome of things that resulted in Ethan's must-be death and vows never to forgive him for it. When Link asks how they can bring the two back together the Seer simply says that he and Amma "have a deal." He is most likely an Evo as he was Dark rather than Light like in the novel, where he is an Telepath. Lena is crying in a garden full of lemon trees, and she begins to talk with Ethan. I appreciated the various struggles that the characters went through - and that there was depth and complexity to the characters and many of the situations they faced. This dream has been recurring for months, and it troubles Ethan because in the dream he loves the girl he is falling with, though he does not know who she is. Beautiful Creatures is a 2009 American young adult novel written by authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl and the first book in the Caster Chronicles series. By Manohla Dargis. So much young-adult fiction these days is narrated by a female protagonist, and you might expect the same from Beautiful Creatures, which is written by two talented ladies.But having a male narrator is one of the many interesting and different things Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have done in their book. Along with these powers, Lena also has elemental control, being able to start an earthquake with one stomp of her foot and cause a fire with one blink of her eye. Had a hard time putting the book down. ", "In case something happens tonight, I just wanted you to know; I love you, Ethan. She also has displayed the power to control the weather, create storms and fire at will, control lightning and thunder and also the ability to control the wind. After following her home one day after school, she allows herself to get to know him and eventually tells him of her family's origins and powers, which he ultimately doesn't care about. Lena loves her uncle very much and is closest to her in her entire family. The first book in the instant NYT bestselling gothic fantasy series; a modern paranormal romance set against the gothic backdrop of an isolated southern town. How long does it take to read Beautiful Creatures? But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home from the Great Barrier, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. In the library, they touch Genevieve's locket again and discover the source of the curse on the Duchannes family of Casters. Aside from Link, Lena is Ethan's only other real friend and he even begins to share some his deepest secrets with her; like his love to read anything from comics to classic novels and even his situation with his father. This angers Lena especially after learning how Macon was not planning on telling her this detail until after Lena Claimed herself when it would be too late to change anything. In Ethan's early conversations with Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), he notices that she is reading Charles Bukowski's You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense, a book of poetry published in 1986. I find it really difficult to believe that a whole town would gang up against someone when there is seriously zero evidence against him or her. ", Look at me, Ethan. However, when Ridley performs a furor cast, causing everyone the wave-like spell hits to act angrily, Liv openly expresses her ferocious feelings towards Lena calling her "emo" and selfish and even slaps her accusing her of not caring about Ethan; bashing her greatly. He then makes her promise to Bind the New Order and do her part in all of this stating that if she didn't then everything he was going to do would be for nothing. He is being haunted in his dreams that are keeping him up all night - and not by Lena. They go to the Gatlin County Library to get information from Marian Ashcroft, a librarian who was Ethan's mother's best friend. Afterwards, during the pie contest sponsored by Southern Crusty, Ridley, John and Lena cause maggots, beetles and grubs to crawl of every pie except Amma's. At the library, they have one more vision of Genevieve trying to bring Ethan Carter Wate back to life by using a magical text called the Book of Moons. Sarafine flees, and Amma arrives with the Book of Moons to help advise Lena. Lena even got into a physical fight with Liv, while under a cast though, about Ethan when Liv accused Lena of not caring about him. Also when Ethan calls Liv "L" (Lena's nickname) Ridley threatens to make Ethan her "slave" if he "so much as thought about hurting her cousin". The books include the following titles: Beautiful Creatures (2009), Beautiful Darkness (2010), Beautiful Chaos (2011), and Beautiful Redemption (2012). ", And Link, how about I save you two dances? In the middle of the day I just start thinking about Ethan,Lena,Ridley,Link,John,Liv,Macon,Amma,and Marian andi have to tell my self its just a book . After awhile I would skip the details yearning for more conversational points. He comforts her during Macon's death and grows close to her inciting jealousy in Ethan. Am I Dark, or am I Light? Her extended family of Light Casters is with her. Lena had not seen Ridley since until the events of Beautiful Creatures transformed as a new person and personality after a year's absence. "The right thing and the easy thing are never the same.". Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history, and their town. If she chooses to go Light, all the Dark Casters in her family will die, including Uncle Macon. I really enjoyed reading the adventures of the Gatlin above and below ground. Ethan never even saw it coming. In the third novel, Beautiful Chaos, when Sarafine is about to be killed by Abraham when he traps her in a circle of fire deciding to dispose of her, she begs Lena to save her insisting she has always loved her and only had did what she did to protect her, even calling Lena her "little girl." She says she has a way worked out to spare him; even though he knew there was nothing left to do to save his life. I looked up at the sky and thought, I'm going to love this person because even the sky looks differentLena, recalling the moment she began to fall in love with Ethan in Beautiful Chaos. She meets and befriends Ethan Wate, a teenage resident in her new town Gatlin, with whom she falls in love with. I think its an amazing love story. Additionally, their association with real-world organizations (the DAR, for example) is a little bit rude toward those organizations.