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Description edit see section history

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets... read more

Summary edit see section history

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer, Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer, Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town’s tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Characters edit see section history

  • Ethan Wate: A normal boy with a secret he doesn't even know has been thrown into the world of the Casters without a safety blanket.
  • Lena Duchannes: A Caster girl in a caster family. A Natural in the caster world, one of the most powerful kind.
  • Wesley Jefferson Lincoln: ,Also known as "Link", Ethan's best friend. A mortal. He is the only one that knows the dark and light secrets of both Ethan and Lena.
  • Ridley Duchannes: Lena's cousin. Dark Caster-A Siren. Has a soft spot for Lena Duchannes and Link. Lollypops help her work her magic.
  • Olivia Durand: Marian's summer assistant.
  • Marian Ashcroft: Ethan's mothers best friend and his Aunt for all reasons. She is a Keeper, she has a quote for everything and will do whatever it takes to protect Ethan.
  • John Breed: Mysterious. Seems to be an Incubus.
  • Macon Ravenwood: Uncle of Lena Duchannes. Died in the last book.
  • Lucille Ball: Cat of the previous owners, The Sisters. Now, Ethan's cat.
  • Boo Radley: Macon's eye seeing dog. Now Lena's.
  • Mitchell Wate: Ethan's father, tried to commit suicide after being influenced by Ridley. He was saved by Ethan. Is a little crazy because of Jane's death.
  • Amma Treadeau: A Seer. Has taken care of both Ethan and his father since they were little.
  • Sarafine: Mother to Lena. A very powerful dark caster.
  • Larkin: Lena's cousin. A dark Caster. Can create illusions.
  • Genevieve: The girl from their past visions that shares the connection between Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes
  • Jane: Ethan's mothers middle name
  • Ryan: Lena's cousin, also a healer
  • Reece: Lena's cousin, Ridley's sister
  • Emily: Ethan's ex-girl friend
  • Mr. Lee: History Teacher
  • Jonah: Caster that can tell when people are lying, or if their leading to make someone believe something else.
  • Mrs. Wilson: Links mother
  • Harlon James: The Sisters dog
  • Silas: Macon's father
Show all 24 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “You guys are idiots." Link grinned, "I would have gone with 'brave as hell, myself”
    Ethan and Link
  • “Can you put <the Arclight> on a lower setting or something?" "I don't think that's working." "Man, you broke the Magic 8 ball." "I didn't break it! I - yeah it's pretty much broken.”
    Ethan and Link
  • “So he's like a human compass? As far as superpowers go, that's pretty lame. You're like the Caster equivalent of Aquaman.""Aquaman?" Marian didn't read a lot of comics."He talks to fish." Link shook his head. "Not exactly X-ray vision.”
    Link and Marian
  • “In light there is dark, and in dark there is light.”
    Lila Jane Evers Wate
  • “You can read minds and you didn't tell me?”
    Link
  • “Hold on. Now we're supposed to believe that you're one of the good guys?" "Hell no. I'm bad to the bone. And I could give a rat's ass what you believe.”
    Olivia and Ridley
  • “The way I see it, we're lost no matter what, right?" "Pretty much." "Or if you look at it the other way, we've got a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right half the time.”
    Link & Ethan
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • There's something about sitting alone in the dark that reminds you how big the world really is, and how far apart we all are. The stars look like they're so close, you could reach out and touch them. But you can't. Sometimes things look a lot closer than they are.
    Highlighted by 199 Kindle customers
  • we don't get to choose what is true. We only get to choose what we do about it.”
    Highlighted by 193 Kindle customers
  • “The right thing and the easy thing are never the same.”
    Highlighted by 169 Kindle customers
  • “The truth is the truth. ‘Rarely pure and never simple,’ as Oscar Wilde would say.”
    Highlighted by 140 Kindle customers
  • “‘All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.’ ”
    Highlighted by 139 Kindle customers
  • “ ‘This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.’
    Highlighted by 105 Kindle customers
  • Seventeen moons, seventeen years, Eyes where Dark or Light appears, Gold for yes and green for no, Seventeen the last to know …
    Highlighted by 105 Kindle customers
  • Seventeen moons, seventeen fears, Pain of death and shame of tears, Find the marker, walk the mile, Seventeen knows just exile …
    Highlighted by 94 Kindle customers
  • Seventeen moons, seventeen spheres, The moon before her time appears, Hearts will go and stars will follow, One is broken, One is hollow …
    Highlighted by 92 Kindle customers
  • Seventeen moons, seventeen turns, Eyes so dark and bright it burns, Time is high but one is higher, Draws the moon into the fire …
    Highlighted by 82 Kindle customers
Show all 17 quotes from this book

Organizations edit see section history

  • DAR: Daughters of the American Revolution

First Sentence edit see section history

I used to think our town, buried in the South Carolina backwoods, stuck in the muddy bottom of the Santee River Valley, was the middle of nowhere.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1- Before: Caster Girl
2- 15.2: Perpetual Peace

3- 17.4: Burnt Waffles
4- 17.4: Lemons and Ash

5- 1.5: Falling
6- 16.5: The Call
7- 17.5: All That Remains

8- 12.6: The Girl of My Dreams
9- 12.6: The Lake
10- 12.6: Caster Boy
11- 14.6: Bookworm
12- 14.6: Beneath the Paper
13- 15.6: Southern Crusty
14- 15.6: Tunnel of Love
15- 15.6: Unmistakable
16- 15.6: Wayward Soul
17- 15.6: Exile
18- 15.6: Vexed
19- 16.6: Revelations
20- 17.6: Inheritance
21- 17.6: Keeping
22- 17.6: The Arclight
23- 17.6: Jump
24- 18.6: Outer Doors
25- 18.6: Through the Looking Glass
26- 19.6: Bonaventure
27- 19.6: Down Below
28- 19.6: Bad Girl
29- 19.6: Consequences
30- 19.6: No One Special
31- 20.6: Common Thread
32- 20.6: No One's Son
33- 20.6: Sea Change
34- 20.6: Out of the Light
35- 20.6: Flesh and Blood
36- 20.6: Army of One
37- 20.6: Dark Fire
38- 20.6: Seventeen Moons
39- 21.6: Darkness and Light
40- 22.6: The Way Back Home
41- 22.6: New Blood
42- 28.6: Sunrise
43- After: Siren's Tears

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 5 in The Caster Chronicles. (standard series)

Preceded by Beautiful Creatures, and followed by Beautiful Chaos.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Kami Garcia (Author)
  2. Margaret Stohl (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Country: United States
Publication Date: October 26, 2010
ISBN: 978-0316077057
Page Count: 512

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PZ7.G155627Bf 2010
  • Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

There's minor violence and angsty teens but other than that it's fine.

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Beautiful Creatures

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