Review: Before the Claiming by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Beautiful Creatures: The Untold Stories #3)

Summary
(from goodreads)

You can't hide from fate...

While looking through her grandmother Emmaline's keepsakes, Lena Duchannes comes across a little blue book with a big history--a book that changed Macon Ravenwood's life and saved Lena's.

When Lena was a baby, Seer and gifted card reader Amma Treaudeau saw a terrifying future in the cards that sent her to Emmaline's door. When a powerful Dark Caster sets fire to Lena's house with baby Lena and her father trapped inside, Amma, Emmaline, and Macon vow to protect the child. Lena's grandmother and her Uncle Macon whisk Lena away, protecting her and moving her to a new place at the first sign of trouble. But a Caster can only hide for so long, and Macon must rely on the teachings in an ancient book to control his Dark nature. Ultimately, it will be his job to protect Lena--and keep her from surrendering to a Dark fate.

#1 New York Times bestselling authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl revisit the events that would define Lena's future in the third installment of Beautiful Creatures: The Untold Stories.

Read on: November 23, 2015

Read on: Ereader

Review:

Short stories? Short reviews. :)

So I enjoy these little short stories that give us insight about how everything came to be in the Caster Chronicles series and sometimes in the Dangerous Creatures series.

This novella was about what was done to protect Lena from her own mother, but I mostly enjoyed reading about her and her cousin Ridley. Two girls so opposite yet, I wouldn't doubt just how far they would go to protect one another.

Want me to admit something? I know they saw Lena's future and feared for her, but I feel like they neglected to check on the others like Ridley. Perhaps, nothing could have been done, but I just feel like their focus was so much on Lena that they missed other signs that could have helped out the others.

Other than that, I really liked how Lena and Ethan learn more about themselves, about their parents and about all the things that led them to meet.

Review: The Seer's Spread by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Beautiful Creatures: The Untold Stories #2)

Summary
(from goodreads)


Fate is a powerful thing... 

Ethan Wate is still grieving the loss of his beloved Amma when he receives an unexpected gift--the old, yellow Whitman's Sampler box that held Amma's most closely guarded secrets. "One day I might let you have a look under that lid, Ethan Wate," Amma used to say. "But today isn't the day."

Now it's time for one of her greatest secrets to be revealed. In a long-lost letter, Amma tells Ethan the story of growing up as a young Seer with a remarkable gift for reading cards. But with a power that far-reaching comes responsibility, and Amma has been honoring her mission since before Ethan was born--to protect the Wate family at any cost. So when Lila Jane Evers enters Mitchell Wate's life, bringing the whole Caster world with her, Amma turns to her cards. This time, it's a the reading that will define the rest of her life--and Ethan's.

In this second installment of Beautiful Creatures: The Untold Stories, #1 New York Times bestselling authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl bring you even deeper into the Caster world.

Read on: July 16, 2015

Read on: Ereader

Review:

This will be a short review, but still. I really enjoyed reading about Amma. It was short novella and I'm sure we could have said a lot more about her, but I liked to have this insight in her past and how she came to be part of the Ethan's life.

I feel sad that whatever she did, her destiny was set in stone. She couldn't change it and even if she could have, a part of me believe she would have done the same things if only for Ethan.

You can see just how deep she cared for him and it's really touching that Ethan got to read about it and learn more about the woman who was part of his family.

These novellas are a nice addition to the series and I can't wait for the next one.